Embassy of Italy in Prague

The embassy is at 118 00 Praha 1 – Malá Strana, Nerudova 20, in Prague 1 (Malá Strana). Open the address in Google Maps. The consular counter is at the same address. If you are flying in for the appointment, our airport-to-centre guide I where to stay in Prague will save you a morning.

The switchboard is open 08.30 – 13.30 14.30 – 17.00 /Mo-Fri/. The consular section keeps its own, shorter hours: 09.00 – 12.00 /Mo, Wed-Fri/; 09.00 – 12.00 14.30 – 16.00 /Tue/. Passport, visa and civil-status matters are almost always handled by appointment, so call 233 080 111 or e-mail ambasciata.praga@esteri.it before you travel across the city. Missions close on Czech public holidays as well as on their own national day — for Italy that is June 2 – Anniversary of the Foundation of the Italian Republic /1946/.

In the Czech Republic a legally binding marriage is performed by a Czech registry office (matrika) or by a church authorised by the Czech state — not by a foreign embassy. A small number of countries allow a consular marriage between two of their own citizens; whether Italy is one of them is a question only its consular section can answer, so call 233 080 111 or e-mail ambasciata.praga@esteri.it. What the mission does do in almost every case is issue or authenticate the paperwork the Czech registry office asks a foreigner for. The whole procedure, venue by venue, is in our guide to the legal requirements for getting married in the Czech Republic.

The Czech registry office asks a foreign national for a valid passport, a full birth certificate (the short version is not accepted), a certificate of no impediment — the certificate of legal capacity to marry, which is the document your own authorities or your embassy issue — an affidavit of marital status sworn before a notary, and, if you were married before, the divorce decree or the death certificate of your late spouse. Every foreign document has to be translated into Czech by a court-appointed translator and carry an apostille or consular legalisation. Start three to six months ahead: verification and appointment slots, not the ceremony, are what take the time. To ask which of these papers Italy issues for its citizens, call 233 080 111 or e-mail ambasciata.praga@esteri.it. Our step-by-step marriage guide lists the fees and the order to do things in.

Bring your own — neither the embassy nor the Czech registry office provides one, and both give you a short, tightly scheduled slot in a small room, so a photographer who has already worked that setting is worth more than a big lens. Two practical points: a mission is a security-controlled building, so ask the consular section in advance whether a photographer may come in and whether their name and ID have to be registered at the door; and if the ceremony itself is at a Czech registry office, ask the matrika where the photographer is allowed to stand. We keep a list of photographers working in Prague and the best photo locations, a guide to Prague proposal photography for the moment before the paperwork, and a city photography guide for the portraits you will want afterwards on the Charles Bridge or in Letná.

No. Visas and residence permits for the Czech Republic are issued by Czechy embassies and consulates abroad and by the Czech Ministry of the Interior — never by another country’s mission in Prague. The Embassy of Italy in Prague works the other way round: it serves citizens of Italy living in or visiting the Czech Republic, and issues visas and documents for Italy to everyone else. If you are moving here rather than visiting, our guide to living in the Czech Republic covers permits, insurance and costs.

Report the loss or theft to the Czech police first and keep the report — the consular section will ask for it before issuing anything. Then contact the mission: call 233 080 111 or e-mail ambasciata.praga@esteri.it. Ask for an emergency travel document, which is normally issued for a single journey home. Outside office hours many missions run an emergency duty line; the switchboard message or the website usually gives it, so note the number down before you need it.

Yes. Besides the main office, Italy is represented by the following consulate in the Czech Republic:

• 603 00 Brno, Výstaviště 1, tel. 548 136 340, 13.00 – 16.00 /Mo, Wed/, Mr. Pavel ZEZULA

They handle a narrower range of matters than an embassy — typically certifying documents, first-line emergency help and business contacts — and many open only a few hours a week, so call before you drive there.

Czech numbers are written locally in three groups of three digits with no prefix. From abroad dial +420 233 080 111; from a Czech phone the nine digits on their own are enough. Every number on this page is already a tap-to-call link, so on a phone you can just touch it.

Usually yes, but only in one direction. A mission certifies signatures and copies for its own citizens and legalises documents issued in its own country. A Czech document that you need to use in Italy normally has to be apostilled by the Czech authorities first — the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for administrative documents, the Ministry of Justice for court and notarial ones — and only then presented to the consular section. Which route your particular paper takes depends on whether both countries are in the Hague Apostille Convention, so call 233 080 111 or e-mail ambasciata.praga@esteri.it and describe the document before you pay for anything.