italian dual citizenship: the d.i.y. approach

Rob and I are DIYing (do-it-yourself, for those that aren't familiar with the acronym) most, if not all, of the tasks associatd with moving abroad. It is just a more cost-effective route for us. That being said, we are still collecting quotes for everything. Why? It's a huge shot of confidence to know that you have saved yourself X amount of dollars.

Case in point? I don't want to jinx it, but last week we filed the legal papers to get my grandfather's birth certificate amended. When I say file, I mean we wrote the petition and the proposed order ourselves and then filed them ourselves. After receiving a quote from a law firm for $1,500, we knew the best route was DIY.

We went to US Legal Forms and downloaded templates for the documents we needed to file. Then, we customized them to fit our specific situation. Clearly, Rob and I both missed our callings toward legal careers, because we spent hours debating the semantics of the documents.

There is a chance when the court clerk reviews the documents that we will need to fix certain things before they go on to the judge -- in fact, we've already mentally planned for it. But even if we have to pay the filing fees again, we are still saving around $1400 doing it ourselves. Sweet!

In many states, amending vital records is a pretty straightforward process. Not in Pennsylvania! You literally need a court order to get typos fixed. We are hoping to have the amended birth record in hand and apostilled by Christmas. Cross your fingers for us!

Lessons Learned

1. Get quotes for everything! It's good for budgeting, as well as knowing what you may save by doing things yourself.
2. Google like crazy -- it's almost a guarantee that someone has dealt with the same exact situation. Even the tiniest bit of insight can clarify questions that you may have.

italian dual citizenship: do i need to hire a researcher?

When we first discovered that dual citizenship was available to us, we seriously toyed with the idea of hiring a consultant/researcher to do the legwork for us. I think this is a great option if:

1. You aren't in a rush.
2. You are willing to pay someone for work that you could most likely do yourself.
3. You are in no way, shape or form a "type a" personality.
4. You are extremely un-tech savvy.

As you've probably gathered by now, I didn't meet any of these criteria.  The thought of having this process in someone else's hands basically gave me an anxiety attack ("type a" personality? Check!).

Ten years ago I think hiring a researcher would have been the fastest way to find answers. But now, with message boards, online records requests, indexes, and tools like Ancestry.com, even a novice genealogist can find what he/she is looking for. The key is knowing exactly what you need and staying insanely organized.

In addition, as stressful as the process has been at times, it's also been deeply rewarding. I've discovered things about my family that have been a true joy. What's more, I'm putting together a collection of records and information that will be available to my own children and grandchildren in the future. 

What I might suggest is hiring a consultant to advise you on the process at the beginning and/or the end of your process -- to get you off on the right foot and/or to confirm that your paperwork looks to be in order.

italian dual citizenship: requesting records from sicily

In my first dual citizenship post, I talked about all of the records that I requested from Italy. I want to talk a bit more in depth about the records from Italy/Sicily that I requested.

Why did I request so many? First, I wanted to corroborate names, dates and locations that I already had, but wasn't 100% convinced on. Second, I had an "in" at the commune and didn't want to miss an opportunity to get all of the records that I might ever need in a quick turnaround time.

Any other reasons? Funny you should ask. The full family last name in Italy is "Collurafici," but by the time it got to me it was simply Collora. Tricky for two reasons: it was shortened and then the spelling was changed.

By reviewing the indexes online, I discovered that my great-grandfather and his first wife used the name Collura in their daughter's birth records. Fantastic! Proof that he was using a shortened version before he came to America (I believe this was actually in anticipation of their voyage, as they left only a few months later). Having the daughter's birth record is a great supporting piece of evidence.

But, the commune's records also come with another great feature: a stamp on the back with additional information about the person. For instance, my great-grandfather's birth certificate has a stamp on the back with marriage information about his first wife (including her date of death) and his second marriage, to my great-grandmother. This is important, because I believe it helps weave together the records as the name changes slightly over the years.

Lessons learned:

1. Family is extremely important in Italy. You will find that in many areas, while buildings may be crumbling, church and communal records are kept not only in tact, but quite well.
2. Particularly for original immigrants to America, Italian communes still kept in touch. Even though my great-grandfather's second marriage took place in Philadelphia, he notified his commune in Italy and they made note in their records. This is huge, especially considering my great-grandmother's name is spelled three different ways (none of them accurate) on the Philadelphia marriage certificate.



italian dual citizenship: dealing with mysteries

When I initially began searching my family's Sicilian commune index online for my great-grandfather, I kept overlooking the right person. Why? Well, despite the fact that the birth dates lined up, in 1901 it listed him as getting married -- but, it sure wasn't to my great-grandmother.

I checked with my dad and other relatives and nobody recalled ever hearing about a first wife. So, I kept checking and checking, but could not find another similar record. I decided to give the Italian records search a rest and focus on the U.S. documents. My first stop was to  request my great-grandparents marriage certificate from the city of Philadelphia.

The record showed up in a few weeks. My eyes scanned the document...my great-grandmother's name was spelled three different ways (no worries, nothing an affidavit can't fix), but no other surprises. Wait, wait...does it say he was married before?!

The beauty of old records is that they are often very detailed and my great-grandparents' marriage certificate is no exception. It clearly lists that his first wife had died two years previous in Philadelphia.

Turns out, I had the right guy in Sicily all along. Something in my gut told me I was right all along, but sometimes it's hard to go against what the family tells you. The official documents from Sicily would corroborate the information on the marriage certificate.

Lessons learned:

• Question family oral history
• Review all received records very carefully, particularly the really old ones. Quite often they will provide additional information that you don't already have.
• Requesting uncertified documents speeds up processing times. I requested a simple photocopy of the Philadelphia marriage certificate to make sure it was the right one. I immediately put in a request for an apostilled version, which took about 6 weeks to arrive, once I confirmed that is was indeed my grandparents' certificate.



italian dual citizenship: what i requested

In my previous post, I talked about what jure sanguinis is and what it takes to qualify for dual citizenship. I qualify under the third scenario:

...your great-grandfather was an Italian citizen at the time of your grandfather’s birth. Neither you, your parents or grandparents ever renounced Italian citizenship.

The instructions provided by the consulate in Philadelphia (which I reference often because the site is quite informative) clearly outline exactly what I need. But, I'm going to let you in on a little secret: I requested A LOT more than what is required. What's more, despite the fact that only a few documents technically need translation, I am getting every single document translated into Italian.

Why? It only took a few visits to Italy dual citizenship message boards (ICGS's is my favorite) to realize that every single experience is different. Every consulate is different. Every person that works at the consulate is different. Sometimes people have bad days.

My point is this: don't trust what you read. Don't assume what you read on a consulate site is 100% accurate. Don't assume because a person in California didn't need something translated that you won't be required to have it done. Don't assume anything during this process. I can't stress that enough.

I'm applying for my dual citizenship once I get to Italy, which will hopefully alleviate some of the wait time. But, it also means that I won't have easy access to vital records in any state and it will be tougher to solve problems. So, this is the laundry list of what I've requested in chronological order (most of which I already have on hand).

• Great-grandfather's birth record from Sicily
• Great-grandfather's first marriage record from Sicily
• Great-grandfather's daughter's birth certificate (from first marriage) from Sicily
• Great-grandfather's first wife's death record from Sicily (even though she died in Philly)
• Certificate of No Records from INS for great-grandfather
• Letter of No Records from National Archives for great-grandfather
• Great-grandparents' marriage certificate
• Grandfather's birth certificate (more on this crisis in a later post)
• Grandmother's birth certificate
• Great-grandfather's death certificate
• Grandparents' marriage certificate
• Dad's birth certificate
• Mom's birth certificate
• Parents' marriage certificate
• My birth certificate
• My husband's birth certificate
• Grandmother's death certificate
• Grandfather's death certificate
• My marriage certificate

Why so many records from Sicily? I'll talk about this in a later post, but there are two main reasons. First, I believe that these records corroborate the early timeline that is a little fuzzy with just the U.S. records. Second, the commune my family is from in Sicily recorded everything and I was able to gain new information from these documents.

What about apostilles? I'm splurging to have every birth, death and marriage record receive the apostille. I'm all about the CYA, man!  Learn more about the apostille here.

Is all of this record requesting, translating and apostilling overkill? I sure hope so. I will be happy if I get to Italy and they don't need most of it. BUT, I'm not taking any chances!