What is self-certification?
Self-certification is a statutory declaration written and signed by the interested party with regard to personal situations, facts and conditions, in its dealings with the Public Administration and with private providers of public services. In dealing with private entities, the acceptance of such self-certification is left to the latter discretion.
From 1st January 2012 new legislation has been introduced with regard to self-certifications and to statutory declarations, pursuant to art. 15 of the Act No. 183 of 12 November 2011.
From that date certificates will be valid only in the dealings with private entities, whilst Public Administration offices may not any longer request, or accept certificates, which in all cases must be substituted by self-certifications.
Rules on self-certifications apply to all Italian and European Union citizens and also to non EU citizens legally domiciled in Italy, limited to the information verifiable by public entities.
Statutory declarations as per Articles No. 46 & 47 of D.P.R. 445/2000 may be signed before an authorized clerk or may be lodged or sent already signed as long a copy of an identity document of the declarer is attached to them.
- Self-certification as a substitute for certificates (art. 46 DPR 445/2000) – Dichiarazione sostitutiva di certificazione
With such declarations, it is possible to state the following personal conditions and situations:
- Date and place of birth;
- Residence;
- Citizenship;
- Entitlement to civil and political rights;
- Single, married, widow or free-to-marry status;
- Family status;
- Being alive;
- Birth of own issue, death of spouse, ancestor or descendant;
- Enrolment in registries or listings kept by public administrations;
- Membership to professional associations;
- Educational qualifications, examinations taken;
- Declarer’s professional qualifications, including specializations, licences, training, retraining and technical qualifications;
- Financial or economical personal situation, also suitable to apply for any benefit provided by special legislation;
- Payment of specific contributory obligations with mention of the amount paid;
- The possession and the details of own fiscal code, IVA code and of any other information in the records of the Taxation Office;
- Own status of unemployment;
- Own status of pensioner and pension type;
- Own status of student;
- Own capacity of legal representative of persons or of legal entities, guardian, curator or the like;
- Membership with associations or with any kind of social group;
- All circumstances connected with national service obligations, including those recorded in own military state of service;
- Absence of criminal convictions and not being the subject of provisions regarding the application of preventative measures, of civil injunctions or of administrative;
- Deliberations recorded in the judicial registry in accordance with current legislation;
- Not being aware of any criminal proceedings;
- The fact of living as a dependant;
- All information of personal knowledge with regard to the demographic registries;
- Not being subject to a liquidation or to a bankruptcy provision and not having applied for a bankruptcy agreement.
No stamp duty is due when there is – by law – an exemption in the use of the document.
Requests and declarations to be submitted to public administrations may be forwarded by fax and by email.
- Statutory declaration (art. 47 DPR 445/2000) – Dichiarazione sostitutiva di atto di notorietà
A statutory declaration can be used to declare all personal situations, facts and conditions of direct knowledge to oneself.
This declaration can also be made with regard to other persons circumstances, of which the declarer has direct knowledge, as well as to the trueness to the original of copies of deeds kept or issued by a public administration, of copies of publications, of copies of academic or of service certificates, or of taxation documents, that must mandatorily be kept by private parties.
Self-certifications can never be used for the following certificates:
- Medical;
- Health;
- Veterinary;
- Of origin;
- Of EC compliance;
- Of trademark or of patents.
When the public administration has doubts as to the veracity of a self-certification, it has the duty to proceed to appropriate verification.
When a self-certification is proven false, this false declaration may be punished pursuant to the provisions of the criminal code and of the special legislation in this matter (art. 76 DPR 445/2000). Furthermore, the declarer will forfeit all benefits he/she may have obtained as a result of false statements.