5 Great Reasons to Apply for Italian Dual Citizenship

There are thousands of Italian-Americans in the United State that qualify for Italian dual citizenship. All you need to qualify is an parent, grandparent or great-grandparent that was born in Italy and never became a naturalized citizen of the United States. Once you've got that covered, it's simply a matter of collecting documents, certifying them and making your application.

The path to dual citizenship isn't easy for everyone and often requires a lot of family research. As such, some people wonder if Italian dual citizenship is worth all of the work. I'm here to tell you that it is! Italian dual citizenship is a fantastic way to preserve your family's heritage and reap the benefits of dual citizenship to another country.

Here are the top five reasons to apply:

• STAY FOR A WHILE: Forget short visits and three-month travel visas because as an Italian citizen you can stay in the country as long as you want!


• THE E.U. IS YOUR OYSTER: Because Italy is a member of the European Union, citizens have the legal right to live and work nearly anywhere on the continent.


• REACH FOR A HIGHER EDUCATION: Listen up high school students (and parents!): college at certain Italian universities is free for citizens and tuition is lowered at many universities across the European Union.


• BEING HEALTHY IS FREE: If you decide to relocate to Italy at any point, you'll be eligible as a citizen for the national healthcare system - giving you darn near free healthcare as long as you live in country.


• CULTURAL CLOUT IS YOURS: From art to architecture to literature to fashion, Italians have been wowing the world since antiquity. Become a citizen and bask in the brilliance of counting yourself a member of this divine culture.

Still not convinced? Remember, even if citizenship is right for you now, it doesn't mean that it won't be in the future. Who knows, maybe in 20 years when you retire you'll want to move to a small Tuscan town and live the easy life there! Having dual citizenship would make that a cinch to accomplish.

Finally, even if Italian dual citizenship doesn't seem right for you, that doesn't mean that your children or grandchildren wouldn't benefit from having it passed down to them. As such, if you qualify to apply, it's worth strongly considering going through the application process. Down the road, your family will appreciate all of the hard work you've done.

This article is written by Kate Hash and originally appeared on EZine Articles. View it here: http://EzineArticles.com/6179359



DOWNLOAD THE 5 GREAT REASONS TO APPLY FOR ITALIAN DUAL CITIZENSHIP IN PDF FORMAT!

living in italy: dual citizenship update!

Things have been a bit quiet on the blog lately, but certainly not because life has been quiet! We're working on a huge project for a client right now, the latest issue of Southern Flourish went live last week, we made some new friends that are also pursuing dual citizenship, and we've made some MAJOR progress with the quest for dual citizenship! Seriously, we're busy.

Bright and early on Saturday morning our doorbell rang. Thankfully, Rob is a quick to wake up and was able to answer the door. Guess who was there? The VIGILI. Finally. Hopefully in a few weeks my official letter of residence will appear in our mailbox and I'll be able to get the magic letter from the comune that allows me to pick up my permesso AND apply for citizenship. Yay! Later that day we took Winston to the anagrafe canine, where he officially became a resident of Florence, too :-)

But, that's not all. Today, on a bit of a whim, we took a completed permesso kit (along with photocopies of Rob's passport, police records from every state he's lived in since he was 18, AND our marriage certificate) to the post office and submitted his application for a permesso di soggiorno per motivi familiari. The woman behind the desk was a little dubious of the whole arrangement, but she ran the application past two of her superiors who told her it was "normale." We thought we would have to wait until I had my actual permesso in hand for Rob to apply for his, but that wasn't the case. This is a really big deal. Why? Because a permesso receipt is just as legal as the real permesso. That means Rob is 100% legal to live here once his imaginary tourist visa expires next month. In a few years he'll actually be able to begin the process of applying for citizenship himself!

In celebration, here are some photos we snapped last week during the 150th anniversary of Italy's reunification. It was kind of a big deal and the streets were packed with people enjoying the day off from work!

Museums were free and the line for the Palazzo Pitti was crazzzzy long.

italian dual citizenship: applying in italy, part two

Today we met up with Georgette again to return to the Anagrafe for the residency appointment. We got called back right at noon when our appointment was scheduled. While we've waited a half hour here and there for things, we've actually found the Italian bureaucracy no worse than the U.S., to be honest. Wow, did I just jinx us or what?!

We have really lucked out with our Italian government workers, too. We had another really nice older gentleman helping us today. He wasn't entirely familiar with what we were trying to do, but after some quick explaining from Georgette he was able to get the ball rolling.

I felt SO proud of myself. First, I understood most of what he was saying. Second, I had every document that he asked for. I had copies of everything. You could tell he was definitely impressed that we had our act together so well.

And then, it happened. He asked to see mine and Rob's marriage certificate so that he could register it and get us both in the system. Translated? Check. His eyes lit up. Apostlle? Very good. Certified by the consulate? Perfecto.

I can't tell you how amazing it felt to finally give someone one of those damn records.

I have been collecting, translating, stamping, sealing, paying for and basically bleeding on those records for almost a year. I wanted to kiss the Italian man across the table for being the first person to actually find them useful.

The appointment only lasted about 20 mintues, I signed a few documents and I now have temporary residency here in Florence! At some point in the next month special police will come to the apartment to make sure I actually live here. Once they confirm that I do, I will get a letter in the mail. I then take that letter back to the Palazzo Vecchio's citizenship office and get another letter from them. That letter I take to apply for my permesso di soggiorno (basically a permit of stay). Once I apply for that I'll get an appointment at the Questura (yes, another office) to officially receive my permesso. Then, finally, I'll be able to go back to the citizenship office and apply. Lots of steps, yes, but so very worth it.

Interesting to note...I am now eligible for the Italian health system! I have the option of applying for a temporary health card (and going back again once my residency is official), but I think I will just wait until the residency is official so that I only have to go to the health office once. Also, once I have my residency letter I can get my Carta d'Identita...all Italian citizens and residents carry these at all times. It's the most important thing to have when living in the country.

So, a ton of movement lately on the citizenship front! It will be quiet for a little while. I basically wait until the police show up and then it's lots of activity again.

A quick sidenote: the residency stuff at this point is technically just for me. I will need to go through a few more steps of the process to get "legal," and then Rob will piggy back off of me and do many of the same things.

italian dual citizenship: another trip to the philly consulate...

...and another positive experience. Why the surprise? I have heard SO many nightmare stories about this consulate, yet I've had nothing but positive experiences with the people there. I was there to get 7 more document translations certified and it went very smoothly.

I follow these simple guidelines when visiting the consulate:

• Budget a lot of time. The Philadelphia consulate, in particular, is always packed and you will spend a few hours there even when taking care of a seemingly simple task.
• Be patient. Patience is not one of my virtues, but I know that patience is an absolute necessity when dealing with the overworked folks at the consulate.
• Be sweet as pie. When the woman behind the desk apologized to me today ("Today you were not so  lucky, I'm sorry for the wait"), I said "That's OK, I don't mind waiting. Thank you so much." I got the most gracious smile in return.
• Be prepared. Papers not collated? End of the line. Cash not on hand? End of the line. Missing original copies of things? End of the line. They do not mess around at the Italian consulate. Do yourself a favor and come prepared.
• Know that they aren't doing you any favors. I watched a girl walk into the consulate today, announce that she had decided to study abroad at the last moment and explained that she needed a study visa -- by TOMORROW. That entitled attitude gets you nowhere -- and fast -- with Italians.

Over the course of two visits, I've spent a total of 5 hours at the consulate in Philadelphia. I've overheard conversations about study visas, healthcare, dual citizenship, marriages, and just about every other consulate service possible. What has shocked me the most is just how poorly the consulate workers are treated by the non-Italians that come in for various reasons.

If you somehow swing an appointment for dual citizenship and the person sitting across the table is in a bad mood it's probably for a good reason. Be cordial, kind and understanding to them and I guarantee it will get you further.

Countdown to Italy: 4 Days

italian dual citizenship: how to find a translator

At a certain point in the Italian dual citizenship process you'll want to start thinking about how you will get all of the birth, marriage and death certificates that you've collected and certified translated into Italian. The quality of your translations is exceptionally important, so this is not a step to be overlooked or taken lightly. Whether you are applying at a consulate in the U.S. or in Italy itself, your application can be rejected due to poor translations.

You have the option of translating the records yourself, but if you want to be absolutely sure of quality you can outsource to a professional translator. How do you find a translator?

We've compiled a list of tips to get you started:

1. Call the consulate - Some consulates absolutely require that you use one of their pre-approved translators. If this is the case you will obviously want to use someone on the list! While others don't have this requirement, the suggested list that they provide can be extremely helpful. Call each person and ask for a quote for both individual documents and your entire lot. Also, ask to see samples of their work.
2. Try search engines - You may also want to try using your favorite engine to search the terms "Italian translation" or "Italian translator" followed by your city or state. You may find talented local translators that don't advertise in other places. Once again, ask to see samples or work and get price quotes.
3. Use ELance.com - This site boasts hundreds of qualified translators, including companies and individuals based in Italy. Using this site allows you list a job and ask for bids. It's a great way to let the professionals come to you.

Quality is key, so if your translator provides a finished product that doesn't meet your standards, be sure to let them know so that the work can be redone.

This article was originally written by me for EZineArticles.com. Find it here.