What is AIRE?

The Registry Office is authorised for the Registry of Citizens Residing Abroad (AIRE). Law no. 470/1988 states that all Italian citizens who intend to live abroad must register at an authorised Consulate within 90 days of arriving in their country of residence. Even those who emigrated before this law went into effect must register. AIRE registration is necessary in order to obtain any and all documents and certificates issued by the Consulate as well as requests for passport renewal or issuance. Registration with the Consulate significantly reduces the time required for all procedures.

Italian citizens should be registered at the Registry of an Italian municipality. Registration permits the exercise of all the rights and duties of a citizen depending on each individual situation. The Italian citizen is obliged to inform his/her municipality, as well as the Consulate, of all registry data changes (marital status, citizenship, address, family composition, residency).

Italian citizens can be residents either in Italy or abroad: in the former case they will be registered in the Resident Population Registry (A.P.R.) of their Italian municipality and will refer directly to that municipality for all registry-related procedures; in the second case their names will appear in the AIRE lists of their Italian municipality of origin, or where they most recently resided before expatriating: these citizens must refer to the Italian Consulate of their place of residence abroad for all registry-related procedures. The Consulate will act as go-between for citizens residing abroad and the Italian municipality in which those citizens are registered.

How to register with the AIRE

Application for registration with the AIRE can be made (by an individual Italian citizen and family members) through the Italian Consulate in the country of residence. The Italian municipality is also to provide for registration in its AIRE when it is made aware of the fact that the citizen has established residency abroad. Likewise, the Italian Consulate where that Italian citizen has taken up residency is to request the Italian municipality to register the citizen - for whom it has verified permanent residency abroad (e.g. with the issuance of a passport) - in the AIRE.

Registration with AIRE can, therefore, be done in the absence of any direct initiative on the part of the citizen concerned, who will, however, be notified of the fact by means of an administrative act of the municipality, which will be communicated, in turn, through the Italian Consulate where he/she resides.

Persons wishing to request registration with the AIRE of an Italian municipality should do so at the Italian Consulate in the place where they reside abroad, where they will have to show the following documents: