anyone here speak (write) Italian?

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

I have been wanting to get my Italian (dual) citizenship. I collected all the documentation (originals from the 20s) and went down to the Italian Consulate in Boston and spoke to someone about it. Apparently the documents I have are too old and I need to get fresh copies from Italy. I don't speak Italian (yet!).

I kind of stalled on this and then saw something about Gaeta (Italy) being one of Somerville's sister cities. Well gag me with a spoon! That's where my paternal grandparents came from - so it has kind of re-energized my hope to be able to do this.

I guess I need to write to a records office in Gaeta (can't seem to do it over the web...damn! ;-) I guess I should call city hall here to see if they can put me in touch with someone.

Comments

[xmasfruitcake.livejournal.com]

i am going through the same process and i just got my apostilles today! i also just got back from a couple of weeks in rome where i took an italian language course, but alas, not enough to make your request for you. i went though myitaliancitizenship.com for my documents (which were from atina, italy). they are expensive though! anyway, the good news i've heard about the boston consulate is that you don't need translations for the english documents. have you found this to be true?

if you want to make a simple request to the comune di gaeta, online translators have worked for others according to the forum on myitaliancitizenship. i can give you the italian "wording" for birth and marriage certificates off the ones i just got this week if you need it. good luck!

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

hey congrats! That's very exciting. I didn't know about myitaliancitizenship.com - I'll check it out. Did you meet with the guy at the Consulate in Boston? He was a hoot. I didn't get further than showing him all my documentation and hearing that I need to get more recent copies.

How long has it taken you so far?

[xmasfruitcake.livejournal.com]

i didn't meet him yet. i've been scouring the net for information on the boston consulate and it sounds pretty good compared to the others in the country. hopefully i'll get in there within a few weeks. i did read that if someone in your "path" is still alive, they have to attain citizenship with you so i'm waiting for a day my father can accompany me in there.

i started collecting my stuff in june. i placed the order for the italian documents at the end of june and got them last week. so that was the longest part. the rest was easy (but costly!). i am going through my great-grandfather who is long dead (as is my grandfather).

if you need anymore info, i'll try to answer. the national archives in waltham was the most exciting part of this so far. and the naturalization papers sure look pretty with that official red ribbon! :)

looking forward to my italian passport and eventually the EU identification card. cool to see someone else around here is going for this!

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

When I went to the Boston Consulate, I just walked in without an appointment. He wasn't cold or mean or anything, just a little bit prim and harried (in an Italian clerk sort of way ;-) When he saw that I had done the legwork of gathering the documents he warmed up quite a bit. (I imagine he goes through this a lot).

I looked at that myitaliancitizenship.com site - great find! Thanks! When you say it was costly - it didn't seem too bad $35. for the first doc, etc. I think I only need a birth certificate (maybe two - grandmother + grandfather) and their marriage certificate. I have their naturalization papers (copies...) but those are U.S. and my father's birth certificate (certified). Are there other costs (I guess translation, if I need that).

Yeah - the EU card... ;-)

[http://users.livejournal.com/cgull_/]

My sister got us our French citizenship confirmed some years back. Be aware that once you've gotten your citizenship, it then becomes pretty easy for your siblings to do so as well, modulo the issue of military service for boys.

[xmasfruitcake.livejournal.com]

i also got my mother's birth certificate and my parents' marriage certificate. all together i think i have almost 15 documents! but you only need apostilles for the people in the direct line (and NOT for the italian documents). i guess i've spent so much money because i needed everything (we're talking two city halls, the national archives, and the comune in atina). fingers crossed he doesn't have me get translations since i have so many documents! all in all, i guess about $500 isn't so bad for free university and healthcare if i ever decide to move there. anyway, looking forward to hearing how it goes for you!

[azores.livejournal.com]

I got my Portuguese citizenship/passport about 5 years ago after a tortuous 2-3 year process. I don't know if Italy has the unbelievable red tape/beaurocracy that Portugal offers, but for your sake, I hope not. It is kinda cool to use the quicker EU Passport line at Customs when travelling to Europe, though.

[snowwand.livejournal.com]

I have nothing productive to add except that a lot of people have been going for their Italian cit. lately. I work at a genealogy society and had this nice guy come over to talk because he wants to retire to Italy.

What are the requirements, btw? I wouldn't mind dual citizenship either...

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

I only know for Italy - the Consulate has info - but the link that xmasfruitcake posted: http://www.myitaliancitizenship.com/index.jsp?f=home.jsp has a section on qualifying.

Basically - it's the "line" is unbroken. Ex. My father was born *before* his parents had naturalized (US) so the "line" to me isn't broken. Had he been born after his parent got citizenship then I wouldn't be eligible.

Seems like a bit of bookkeeping and a bit of voodoo...

[snowwand.livejournal.com]

That is interesting. So since my great grandfather was naturalized in 1912 and my grandmother born in 1909, that might work? Hmm.

It does seem a bit skeevy, but fairly generous. I'm sure they will be changing the rules in the future.

This should help

[luci2114.livejournal.com]

Check out either of these sites. Great information and native italian translations. They can also get you your Italian documents very fast. I used them for my documents, translations and apostilles. Just a fantastic service. No problems at all when I went to the consulate. http://www.italiandualcitizenship.com and/ or http://www.italiamerica.org