Giving birth in Italy: the paperwork

The paperwork side of giving birth in Italy: dichiarazione di nascita, codice fiscale, the child's permesso, the Russian consulate. Full checklist.

Author: permesso.love editorial team- updated September 11, 2026- 7 min read- how we verify

In short

Giving birth in Italy comes with a dense paperwork program: in the first weeks the family needs to register the birth, get the child a codice fiscale, attach them to a pediatrician, sort out the permesso and, if the parents are Russian citizens, walk the consular line with citizenship and a passport. This article covers the paperwork side: what to do before the birth, what after, and in which order. The medical side - pregnancy care, giving birth in a public hospital, the pregnancy permesso - is covered separately in the article on pregnancy and birth in Italy. Everything below is a guide based on official rules and community experience, not legal advice.

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In brief: community data

Registration deadlines: as a general rule the birth is declared within 3 days via the hospital or 10 days via the comune (dichiarazione di nascita), and every certificate grows out of it.
Prepare before the birth: per the community you check the validity of the parents' passports and permessi in advance, apostille the Russian documents and arrange the tessera sanitaria.
The first weeks: the codice fiscale is often assigned automatically and the child is enrolled with a pediatrician via the ASL; a newborn's residency usually needs no separate step.
The Russian line is the longest: per the community consulate slots are taken months ahead, and the passport takes about a month for the 5-year one.
Money: the main measure is the assegno unico universale via INPS, the amount depends on the ISEE; check the current details on inps.it.

The key points in 30 seconds

The birth is registered fast: 3 days via the hospital or 10 days via the comune.
The child does not get Italian citizenship automatically: the blood principle (ius sanguinis) applies.
The child must be legalized through the parents: addition to a permesso or an own card - it depends on age and the questura's practice.
The Russian line (citizenship and a passport at the consulate) has the longest queue for appointments: plan it ahead.

Before the birth: what to prepare in advance

The paperwork preparation starts several months before the due date. Per community experience, three things get remembered too late most often:

The validity of the parents' documents. Check both parents' passports and permessi: if a permesso expires around the due date, the renewal filing and the wait for the card will overlap with newborn chores. How to read application statuses is covered in the article on checking the permesso status.
Apostilles from Russia. For consular procedures and Italian offices you will need the marriage certificate and your own birth certificates with an apostille and translation. Getting an apostille from Italy is slower and costlier than doing it in Russia in advance - the mechanics are covered in the article on document legalization.
The medical attachment. Make sure the mother has a tessera sanitaria or an STP code and a chosen doctor: that is the topic of the article on the SSN and the tessera sanitaria.

The consulate appointment is the bottleneck

If you plan to arrange Russian citizenship and a passport for the child, look at how consulate booking works right now: per community experience free slots get taken months ahead. How the electronic queue works is covered in the article on the Russian consulate in Italy.

The first week: declaring the birth

The first mandatory step is the dichiarazione di nascita, the official birth declaration. The general rule gives two windows: 3 days via the direzione sanitaria of the maternity hospital or 10 days via the civil registry office of the comune. Based on the declaration, the atto di nascita - the civil record - is drawn up, and every certificate and extract is later produced from it. The whole route - who files, what to bring, where to order extracts and how to get the codice fiscale - is covered in detail in the separate article on registering a newborn.

At the maternity hospital they told us themselves where to go with the birth declaration, and nearly everything was arranged on the spot. The difficulties started later - with the consular papers: there, nobody gave us precise instructions.

community member, rephrasedpersonal opinion

The first month: healthcare, codice fiscale and the permesso

Then come three parallel lines, and all three can be closed within the first weeks:

Codice fiscale. The tax code is often assigned automatically from the comune's data, but if the letter never arrives, you request it at the Agenzia delle Entrate. Without the code there is no pediatrician and no benefits. The code itself is covered in the article on the codice fiscale and residenza.
Pediatrician and tessera. The child is enrolled in the SSN via the ASL and you choose a pediatra di libera scelta - a free children's doctor. The mechanics are the same as for adults with the medico di base.
A permesso for the child. The child is legalized through the parents: as a general rule children under 14 are added to a parent's permesso, and questure practices differ. What to file, the timelines and what the community asks about are in the article on the permesso for a child.

You usually do not need to register the newborn's residency separately: the comune enters the child into the anagrafe at the parents' address when registering the birth. If your family situation is non-standard, check with your anagrafe office.

The Russian line: the consulate

A child of foreigners is not entitled to Italian citizenship by birth: Italy applies ius sanguinis, the blood principle. A child of Russian parents receives Russian citizenship, but it has to be registered, and then the child needs their own passport - without it there is no trip to Russia and no way to complete most Russian procedures. For the consulate you will need an extract from the Italian civil record with an apostille and a translation. The whole consular line - booking, document sets, community timelines - is in the article on a child's passport at the consulate.

Money: payments and bonuses

The main state measure is the assegno unico universale, a monthly per-child payment via INPS (who qualifies by permesso type and how to apply is in the article on the assegno unico). The amount depends on the ISEE - the household means indicator calculated through a separate procedure: how to arrange it is covered in the article on the ISEE and DSU. There are also regional and municipal newborn bonuses - the overview of support measures is collected in the article on bonuses and benefits. Amounts and conditions change every year - check the current rules on inps.it.

The full checklist: from the maternity ward to the passport

Step	Where	Rough timeline
Dichiarazione di nascita	Hospital or comune	3 days (hospital) / 10 days (comune)
Extracts from the atto di nascita	Comune	Right after registration
Codice fiscale	Automatic / Agenzia delle Entrate	First weeks
Pediatrician and tessera	ASL	First weeks
Permesso for the child	Questura / postal kit	As early as possible, practice varies
Apostille on the extract for the consulate	Prefettura	Ahead of the consulate appointment
Russian citizenship for the child	Russian consulate	By appointment, months per the community
Passport for the child	Russian consulate	About a month for the 5-year one, per the community
Assegno unico and bonuses	INPS / region	After the ISEE

This is not legal advice

Deadlines and procedures differ from comune to comune and questura to questura, while benefit rules and consular procedures change regularly. Verify against the official sources below and your own offices' announcements.

Registering a newborn - the dichiarazione di nascita, atto di nascita, codice fiscale and extracts for the consulate.
Permesso for a child - addition to a parent's permit or an own card, timelines and documents.
A child's passport at the consulate - Russian citizenship and the passport: booking, the document set, community timelines.
Pregnancy and birth in Italy - the medical side: pregnancy care, the birth, the pregnancy permesso.
Bonuses and benefits - the assegno unico and other family support measures.
The Russian consulate in Italy - how booking works and what the consulate does for families.

Official sources

interno.gov.it - Italian Ministry of the Interior: civil status, citizenship, rules for foreigners.
salute.gov.it - Ministry of Health: newborns' and parents' rights, pediatrics, the SSN.
agenziaentrate.gov.it - Agenzia delle Entrate: a codice fiscale for a newborn.
inps.it - INPS: the assegno unico and family payments.
esteri.it - Italian MFA: legalization and apostilles for documents going abroad.

Frequently asked questions

What does a child need after being born in Italy?

The basic chain: the dichiarazione di nascita (birth declaration) at the hospital or comune, then a codice fiscale, enrollment with a pediatrician via the ASL, updating or arranging the child's permesso and, for Russian citizens, citizenship and a passport at the consulate. The order and details depend on the comune and questura - this is a community-based guide, not legal advice.

Does a child born in Italy get Italian citizenship?

No, not automatically: Italy passes citizenship by blood (ius sanguinis), not by place of birth. A child of foreign parents receives their citizenship, and can request the Italian one at 18 after continuous legal residence since birth. Check the conditions on interno.gov.it - this is not legal advice.

What is the deadline for declaring a birth?

The general rule gives two windows: 3 days via the direzione sanitaria of the hospital or 10 days via the civil registry office of the comune. The maternity hospital usually explains where and how to file, and it is often done right there. Confirm the deadlines and procedure locally - this is a guide, not legal advice.

Does a newborn need their own permesso di soggiorno?

The child is legalized through the parents: as a general rule children under 14 are added to a parent's permesso, though a number of questure issue children separate electronic cards. You report the birth to the questura and file for the addition or an update. Practice varies between questure - check with yours, this is not legal advice.

Which documents should be prepared before the birth?

Per community experience it pays to check the validity of both parents' passports and permessi in advance, apostille the marriage certificate and other Russian documents, arrange the tessera sanitaria and make sure both parents have a codice fiscale. Anything that needs a consulate appointment should be planned months ahead - this is not legal advice.

What payments can a family with a newborn get in Italy?

The main measure is the assegno unico universale via INPS; the amount depends on your ISEE. Regional and municipal bonuses also exist. Most payments are tied to legal status and the ISEE, and conditions change regularly - check the current rules on inps.it, this is not legal advice.

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