The paper the comune issues
The paper you want is the certificato di stato libero, sometimes called a nulla osta. It says that as far as the Italian register knows, nothing stands in the way of your marrying. How to legalize a Certificate of No Impediment starts with getting that print from the comune, because no later desk can create it for you.
The Ufficio di Stato Civile issues it, working from the civil register and the residents' roll. If you are registered in Genoa, the city's counter can print it. If you moved recently, the office that still holds your entry may be the one to ask. A phone call before you set out saves a wasted queue.
From the registry counter to the state stamp
Take an identity paper and, where the counter asks, the details of the person you plan to marry. Some registries want the full name, birth date and nationality of the other party. Check the spelling of every name against the passport it will sit beside abroad. One wrong letter and the file bounces at the far end.
Once printed, the certificate needs the state's own mark before it leaves. Consular legalization of a Certificate of No Impediment in Italy is only reachable after the Prefettura has signed off. That office, the state's provincial arm, keeps specimen signatures for the registrars in its area and matches yours to one.
Court and notary papers do not come here at all; those belong to the Procura della Repubblica at the courthouse. A registry certificate is administrative, so the split is easy in this case. Bring the print unfolded, with the €16 marca da bollo bought and ready. The clerk will tell you where to fix it.
The mission's own stamp
The last link is the destination's own consulate. The embassy legalization of a Certificate of No Impediment in Genoa is finished there, at the mission covering Italy, which adds its stamp above the Prefettura mark. Ring or write for an appointment, since many missions run that counter on limited days.
Whether the embassy attestation of a Certificate of No Impediment in Genoa is needed at all is not ours to decide. It rests with the country where the wedding will take place. Some will accept a single-step certification and want nothing from their mission. Ask the registrar or town hall abroad, in writing, and hold on to what they send back.
Clock, cost and the usual slips
Plan the dates backwards from the ceremony. Standard timing runs 10–15 business days, and a squeezed file can be done in 3–5. The Italian duty is the €16 stamp, and the consulate then charges its own fee. Couples who leave it to the last month usually have to legalize a Certificate of No Impediment in Genoa on the express route.
Two slips come up again and again. The first is a stale print: these certificates are read as a statement about now, so an old one is often refused. The second is a mismatch between the name on the certificate and the name in the passport. Fix both at the registry counter, before any stamp is added.