So I have listed a shorter one page version of the process I took to get my Italian citizenship. If you want to get the real details, you should read from the beginning. However, the below info should give you an idea of what I did.
January 2004
- Started researching the process I needed to take to get Italian citizenship.
- Contacted my family members to get as much info as possible on my great-grandfather who was born in Italy.
February 2004
- Contacted the National Archives to obtain a copy of my great-grandfather's
Petition for Naturalization. - Received certified copy of my great-grandfather's
Petition for Naturalization. Based on the dates of this document and the date of the birth of my grandfather, this proved that I was eligible for Italian Citizenship.
- Started making requests through
http://myitaliancitizenship.com for certified copies of great-grandfather's birth certificate from Italy.
- Also started collecting certified copies of birth, marriage and death certificates of all family members of direct descent of my great-grandfather.
March 2004
- Received copy of great-grandfather's birth certificate from Italy.
April 2004
- Started to receive copies of all the other US based certificates that I had applied for.
- Once I had all the documents, I made an appointment to meet with the Italian Consulate in Boston so that they could review. During the review, I was told that for me to get Italian citizenship, my father would first have to get it since he was still alive.
May 2004
- Went to the Italian Consulate in Philadelphia with my father so he could apply for citizenship.
- The Philly Consulate reviewed the documents and confirmed that everything was in order. We were told that the next step was to start collecting all the Apostilles which are additional add on documents to the certificates that you need when sending vital statistic docs overseas.
June 2004
- Once we obtained all the Apostilles, we sent the entire package to the Italian Consulate in Philly. They took those documents, translated them into Italian and mailed them to the town in Italy where my great-grandfather was born to be recorded.
August 2004
- Still waiting for a response from the town in Italy where our documents were sent. We need to receive a notice back from them confirming that they did in fact received the documents and have recorded them. Once we get the notification back, then I can start my process of applying.
- Spoke with the Boston Consulate and was told that if I got confirmation from the Philly consulate that they recognized my father as an Italian citizen, then I could start the process.
- Philly sent the appropriate paperwork and I was able to apply
September 2004
- Checked in with the Boston consulate and the Philly consulate. No word back from the
Commune di Manoppello.October 2004
- Still nothing
November 2004
- Still nothing
December 2004
- Still nothing
January 2005
- Since I still hadn't heard anything, I contacted myitaliancitizenship.com and requested that they contact the Commune on my behalf.
February 2005
- Checked in with myitaliancitizenship.com and was told that they still didn't have anything
May 2005
- Was informed by myitaliancitizenship.com that they received a copy of my recorded birth certificate as well as my father's from the Commune and that they were sending it to me.
- Once I had a copy of my recorded birth certificate, I made an appointment with the Boston consulate to complete the process
- During my meeting with the consulate I was given the necessary paperwork so that I could go apply for an Italian passport
End of May 2005
- Received my Italian passport
I hope this gives a little insite as to the process I went through. I know that for a lot of people, the process of obtaining Italian citizenship can be very long and tedious. Luckily there weren't any name changes that I had to deal with, etc.
Please feel free to ask me any questions and I suggest that you read the entire blog because it has a lot of detailed information that this truncated version doesn't have.
Ciao a tutti!
