Tony pointed out that if I’m believing Dominico, I really ought to get right to work at collecting all these documents. Since we’re going back so many generations, there’s quite a lot of work to do. Since we plan to apply in Italy, but I don’t have a list of documents required by Cuneo, I’m using my current consulate’s list as a starting point (Los Angeles), and have included it below. The only difference is that I’m going back one more generation. So actually, I’ll modify the list to reflect what we’re dealing with.
. IF CATEGORY #5 APPLIES TO YOU, YOU MUST OBTAIN THE FOLLOWING:
(for instructions on the proper documents, follow information under Paragraph n. 1)
– FORM1
– YOUR MATERNAL GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE (from Italy)
– YOUR MATERNAL GREAT GREAT GRANDMOTHER’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE (from Italy)
– YOUR MATERNAL GREAT GREAT GRANDPARENTS’ MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
– YOUR MATERNAL GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER’S CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION (or other – see above )
– YOUR MATERNAL GREAT GRANDFATHER’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
– YOUR MATERNAL GREAT GRANDMOTHER’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
– YOUR MATERNAL GREAT GRANDPARENTS’ MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
– YOUR MATERNAL GRANDFATHER’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
– YOUR MATERNAL GRANDMOTHER’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
– YOUR MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS’ MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
– YOUR MATHER’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
– YOUR MOTHER’S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
– YOUR PARENTS’ MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE
– YOUR BIRTH CERTIFICATE
– YOUR DECLARATION THAT YOU NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY, LISTING ALL YOUR PLACES OF RESIDENCE (see attached form 2)
– DECLARATION THAT YOUR GREAT GRANDFATHER NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY, listing all his places of residence (if he is living, ask him to sign his own declaration. Signature must be notarized. Copy of his passport and i.d. card are requested – see form 4)
– DECLARATION THAT YOUR GRANDMOTHER NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY, listing all her places of residence (if she is living, ask him to sign his own declaration. Signature must be notarized. Copy of his passport and i.d. card are requested – see form 4)
– DECLARATION THAT YOUR MOTHER NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY, LISTING ALL HER PLACES OF RESIDENCE (if she is living, ask her to sign her own declaration. Signature must be notarized. Copy of her passport and i.d. card are requested – see form 3)
– ANY PERTINENT DEATH CERTIFICATE/S RELATED TO THE ITALIAN ASCENDANTS.
PLEASE NOTE CAREFULLY:
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ALL CERTIFICATES MUST BE IN “CERTIFIED COPY” A.K.A. “LONG FORM” OR “FULL FORM” (NOT “CERTIFICATION” OR “ABSTRACT”). SAID FORMS CAN BE OBTAINED AT THE VITAL STATISTICS OFFICE OF THE STATE IN WHICH THE BIRTH/MARRIAGE/DEATH TOOK PLACE.
CERTIFICATES REPORTING ONLY THE “COUNTY” OF BIRTH CANNOT BE ACCEPTED. YOU MUST REQUEST THE VITAL STATISTICS AUTHORITY TO DECLARE THE CITY OF BIRTH.
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APOSTILLE: U.S. BIRTH/MARRIAGE/DEATH RECORDS RELATED TO THE “ITALIAN SIDE” MUST BEAR AN “APOSTILLE” (ACCORDING TO HAGUE CONVENTION OF DEC. 5TH, 1961) OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE STATE WHERE THE DOCUMENT WAS ISSUED, (EXCEPT FOR THE CERTIFICATE OF NATURALIZATION AND/OR SIMILAR DOCUMENTATION)________________________________________________________________________________________
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL CATEGORIES:
1) If you are married, you must also submit your marriage certificate (license and certificate, in certified copy and legalized with the “Apostille” of the Secretary of State) along with a copy of your spouse’s birth certificate.
2) If you have children under the legal age (under 18) you must also submit certified copy of birth certificate/s, legalized with the Apostille of the Secretary of State.
3) If you are a male under the age of forty five you will have military obligations to Italy, which can generally be fulfilled by completing the necessary paperwork in the pertinent Consulate, after your citizenship has been processed. However, if you are under the age of twenty seven, until you reach that age you may not permanently reside in Italy for reasons other than study, unless you wish to serve in the Italian Armed Forces. Further information on military obligations can be obtained by contacting the military section of the pertinent Italian Consulate or Embassy, depending on where you are residing.
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. CERTIFICATES IN LANGUAGES OTHER THAN ITALIAN : must be translated into Italian_______
Documents that do not need to be translated and do not need an “Apostille” are the U.S. Certificate of Naturalization or any statement releasing information on the naturalization status of the interested party and certificates related to the “not Italian side” of your family tree. Please note “Apostille” does not need to be translated.
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DOCUMENTS ISSUED IN COUNTRIES OTHER THAN THE U.S.A. (Argentina, Mexico, Peru’, Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, etc.) must comply with the local regulations on the legalization of documents, they must be translated into Italian and the translation certified by the Italian Consulate/Embassy in the Country where the document was issued (for further Information, you may contact any Italian Embassy/Consulate in the world by logging on to the pertinent web sites. A list of all the Italian Representatives abroad is available at www.esteri.it
. DISCREPANCIES:
Check all documents word by word to make sure that there are no discrepancies or changes in the names, last names, dates and places of birth. If there are discrepancies In first and last names, please contact this Office before presenting your application. If there are major discrepancies in dates and ages, you must have certificates amended. All variations or errors must be corrected with an official “affidavit to amend a record” to be requested from the Vital Statistics Office that issued the document or with another appropriate official document. Please have a list of all the discrepancies that you found in the documents. This is required for the Citizenship Office to expedite your request.
. When all the required documentation is complete and translated into Italian, you can either MAIL it to the Italian Consulate (IN ORIGINAL PLUS ONE COPY) – in this case your signature must be notarized and one recent passport size photograph must be enclosed – or DELIVER IT IN PERSON to this Office . Should you like to submit the documentation in person, please WRITE FIRST TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH THE CITIZENSHIP OFFICER. (cittadinanza1.losangeles@esteri.it or cittadinanza2.losangeles@esteri.it FAX N. (310) 820-0727)
More on this later, but it’s a good start.