REGISTRY OF ITALIAN CITIZENS ABROAD (AIRE)
Italian citizens living in Italy are registered in the A.P.R. ‘Anagrafe della Popolazione Residente (Resident Population Registry) of the Municipality they live in and they refer directly to the offices of their municipality for all registry-related procedures.
Italian citizens living abroad are registered in the ‘Anagrafe degli Italiani Residenti all’Estero’ A.I.R.E. (Registry of Italian nationals living abroad) of the municipality where they (or their ancestors, for those who have never lived in Italy) lived before moving abroad. For all registry-related procedures, these citizens must refer to the Italian Consular Offices which will act as go-between with the Italian municipality. A.I.R.E. was established by Law n. 470 of 27th October 1988.
AIRE registration is necessary to benefit from many services offered by the Consular Offices as well as to be entitled to certain rights such as:
– the right to vote by mail at the political elections and at referendums, and to vote for the European Parliament at the polling stations organized in the diplomatic and consular representations in the EU countries;
– the right to request the issue or renewal of identity and travel documents, and certificates.
Who should/should not register with AIRE
Who should register with AIRE:
- Italian citizens who transfer their residence abroad for periods of over twelve months;
- Italian citizens born and residing outside of Italy, whose Italian nationality status had been confirmed by the appropriate consular office abroad and whose birth has been registered in Italy at the appropriate Comune (town hall);
- Children, of Italian citizens, whose birth has been registered in Italy at the Comune (town hall);
- Italian citizens for whom their residence abroad has been declared judicially;
- Italian citizens already registered with AIRE but that have moved from one country to another. These will still need to register with the new consular office in the new country or catchment area, which will then inform the Town Hall in Italy about the change.
Who should not register with AIRE:
- Citizens who move abroad for less than a year;
- Seasonal workers;
- Government officials in service abroad, notified to local authorities according to the Vienna Convention of 1961 and 1963 on diplomatic and consular relations;
- Military personnel in service in facilities and other NATO offices.
How to apply
Through the portale FAST IT (SECOLI – Servizi Consolari Online),Italian citizens living abroad must register in A.I.R.E. within 90 days of their arrival in the foreign country. In the Republic of Ireland registration can be done through the Please read through the following guidelines before you start the online procedure:
- First step: Account Registration (REGISTRATI). You have to confirm your Italian citizenship by ticking the appropriate box at the beginning of the procedure. You will need an email account and a password (minimum length 8 characters, maximum length 16 characters, at least one capital letter, one number, one special character). Then you will be allowed to enter your details.
- Second step: you will receive an email asking to activate your account. Be aware you have 72 hours to activate it, if you do not manage to do it within that time frame you can ask for another activation code as indicated in the email.
- Third step: After you have activated your account, you have to access the system and submit the application for the Aire registration on line. A copy of an ID and proof of address need to be uploaded.
To submit the application click on the following link: https://serviziconsolarionline.esteri.it
The same documentation must be attached for each of the family members of Italian citizenship whose registration is requested.
Registration with A.I.R.E. entails the simultaneous cancellation from the Resident Population Registry (A.P.R.) of the Municipality of origin.
Registration with A.I.R.E. is free.
Cancellation from AIRE
Italian citizens will be cancelled from A.I.R.E. of their municipality in case of:
– registration in the ‘Anagrafe della Popolazione Residente’ A.P.R. (Resident Population Registry) of an Italian municipality when they move back to live in Italy;
– loss of the Italian citizenship;
– transfer to the A.I.R.E. of another Italian municipality (cancellation from the previous one).
– death, including legally declared presumptive death.
An Italian citizen will be automatically cancelled from the A.I.R.E.:
– after two failed attempt to contact him/her;
– when the address given for the residence abroad is not valid anymore.
Change of address (Within Ireland)
The Italian citizen must notify the Consular Chancellery of this Embassy of all changes in personal data, in particular the change of address, which must take place through the FAST IT (SECOLI – Online Consular Services) portal to facilitate contact with the citizen and allow the receipt of the postcard or electoral envelope in the event of voting.
Regarding the update of Births, Marriages, Divorces and Deaths, please refer to the Civil Status section.
Repatriation
Citizens registered with AIRE who return permanently to Italy must declare their repatriation directly to the Italian Municipality, which must officially notify the Embassy in Dublin of the effective date of the repatriation. This will result in the cancellation from the consular registry of the Italian Embassy in Dublin and the registration in the APR (Resident Population Registry) of the Italian Municipality.
Transferring to another consular district (Outside Ireland)
Citizens already registered with AIRE and residing in the district of the Embassy in Dublin who move to the district of another Italian Consulate will be able to update the “change of consular district” directly through the FAST-IT portal. It will be the responsibility of the “receiving” Consulate to communicate this to the AIRE Municipality in Italy and to the Embassy in Dublin.
Transferring AIRE to another Italian tow hall
National residents abroad can only request, with a formal application, to register in a different Italian town hall (Comune) to their present one for the reasons listed below:
- If another family member (wife/husband, parents or children (who must be a minor) are resident or AIRE registered in that Italian town hall (Comune);
- If your original birth certificate was registered at that Italian town hall (Comune).
- If your Italian citizenship acquisition was originally at that Italian town hall (Comune).
To submit a transfer request please use the relevant form available at the following link (click here)