What you need before you can sign anything in Italy

First, the word

An Italian notaio is not a notary public. A notary public in the United Kingdom, Ireland or the United States witnesses signatures on a document somebody else wrote. An Italian notary is a public official, and the deed is the notary's own act: we check who owns what and what is registered against it, draft the deed, read it to the parties, calculate the taxes, collect them and pay them to the State, and register the deed afterwards.

We are appointed for the transaction and are impartial between the parties. We do not act for the buyer against the seller. If you want someone arguing your side, that is a different professional, and you can have both.

If you came here looking for a notary public — to have a signature certified, or a document apostilled — that is a different service and we do it too: what the difference means in practice.

The first question is your citizenship

Not your residence, not where you pay tax: your citizenship. It decides whether there is a preliminary check to make at all.

If you are a citizen of an EU country — or of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Switzerland — you are on the same footing as an Italian for what concerns us here. There is nothing further to verify.

If you are not, Italian law admits a foreign citizen to civil rights on condition of reciprocity: the act you want to carry out must also be open, in your country, to an Italian in your position. This is not a formality invented by the notary. It is a condition the notary is required to verify before drawing up the deed, against the register kept by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In practice reciprocity exists with most countries, and for most acts. But it is not universal, it is not always the same for every kind of act, and establishing it takes time. Tell us your citizenship when you first write, not the week of the signing. It is the single most common reason a date has to move.

A residence permit usually removes the question

A non-EU citizen who is lawfully resident in Italy with a valid permesso di soggiorno — for work, for family reasons, for study, or a long-term residence permit — is placed on the same footing as an Italian citizen for civil rights. Where that is the case, reciprocity is not verified at all.

This is worth stating plainly because it surprises people: two citizens of the same country, wanting to buy the same flat, can be in two entirely different positions depending on whether one of them holds a permit. If you have one, send us a copy early — it is often the document that makes the check unnecessary.

The codice fiscale

Everyone who signs needs an Italian tax code, the codice fiscale. It is not a declaration that you pay tax in Italy and it does not make you resident: it is the number by which the registers identify you, and without it your deed cannot be registered.

You can obtain it from the Agenzia delle Entrate in Italy, or from an Italian consulate in your own country — which is usually the easier route if you are not here yet, and the slower one, so start early.

The deed is in Italian

It cannot be otherwise, and this has a practical consequence people rarely expect. If you do not understand Italian, the law requires an interpreter to be present, and the deed records that they were. In some cases a written translation is required as well.

The interpreter cannot be the other party, or their agent, or your estate agent. Tell us in advance if you will need one: it changes who has to be in the room and how long the signing takes.

You do not have to be in Italy

A great many deeds are signed by someone acting under a power of attorney, and there is nothing irregular about it — it is ordinary practice. What matters is that the power of attorney is drawn up in the right form, and in the right form for the country where you sign it, which is where these things usually go wrong. If you cannot come, say so early enough for the document to be prepared and to travel.

What it costs, and how much of it is us

Most of what you pay on an Italian deed is tax, not fee. A figure that mixes the two into a single number makes the notary look expensive and makes the tax invisible — and it is the tax that varies enormously depending on what you are buying, from whom, and whether any relief applies.

We answer with a written quote, usually the same day, with the two separated. Write to segreteria@notaiochianese.it with what you intend to do, and your citizenship.

The specific operations

Each of these builds on this page and deals only with what is particular to that operation.

• Buying a home in Italy — the three steps, the deposit, what we check, the taxes, how long it takes.
• Mortgages for non-residents — why the mortgage is signed at the same table on the same day, and what the charge costs.
• Setting up an Italian company — the S.r.l., quotas rather than shares, and what a founder abroad needs.
• Signing without being in Italy — the form the power of attorney must take, and why it is the first thing to arrange.

What this page is not

It is general information about how things work, written to save you from the avoidable surprises. It is not advice on your situation, which depends on facts this page does not know — where the property is, who is selling it, how they came to own it, what you intend to do with it. That is what the quote is for, and it is free.

Last updated 4 September 2026