Italian Citizenship Jure Sanguinis Pt. II - Documentazione!
By Red Sox Steve
This is a follow up to the first piece I wrote back in March 2009 about my desire to obtain Italian citizenship.
At the time, I was in the process of obtaining one of the most important documents needed to determine my eligibility for Italian citizenship: The Certificate of Naturalization for my great-grandfather.
Based on what I have found about my ancestors, they left Naples on January 6, 1920, and arrived in New York, February 15, 1920. This information is found on the Petition For Naturalization, a document completed by my father's mother's father... my great grandfather. He presented himself to the Providence (RI) County Superior Court on November 21, 1925 with a petition that he had lived in the US for 5 years, had fathered three children here and desired US citizenship. This was witnessed by two people, and the Petition for Naturalization was accepted by the court that same day.
On April 5, 1926, he was awarded a Certificate of Naturalization by the US Department of Labor. He was handed the original document, which I haven't located, and the US government retained a copy. This document was awarded in the days before the Social Security Administration (founded in 1935 with the signing of the Social Security Act that same year), therefore, he was given a file number. According to the USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Services), his Certificate of Naturalization was in the "C-File" Series, presumably one of the ways they kept track of documents. According to the Freedom of Information Act, I am able to complete a request, pay a fee and obtain a copy of the Certificate, if they have it. Lucky for me, they did!
Along with my great-grandfather's Certificate of Naturalization, USCIS also had the completed "Petition for Naturalization" which was originally filed in RI State Court and another document called the "Declaration of Intention" which he completed in 1921. The RI State Court system provided certified (with a nifty red stamp!) copies of the Petition and Declaration, while the USCIS provided a copy of the much coveted Certificate of Naturalization.
So, as of early June 2009, I had all the documents I needed: birth, marriage and even death certificates for me, my parents (both born in the US, married once and still alive), my father's parents (born in the US, married once, and grandma is still alive), and my father's mother's parents (born in Itri, Italy, married there, and both died in the US). I also had the (certified copy) Petition for Naturalization and (a copy of) the Certificate of Naturalization.
I needed to do a few things with the birth, marriage and death ("BMD") certificates relating to my ancestry which were acquired during my family's time in the United States. These documents came from the RI Office of Vital Records. Each of the 10 or so documents cost about $20 to obtain. In order to present them as legal documents to a foreign government, I needed to attach a document called an apostille to each one. An apostille is an internationally recognized legal certification as per the Hague (International Court) Convention of October 5, 1961. The function of the apostille is to certify that within the US state the document is issued, it has legal effect and is accepted as a legal document. In this way, getting the apostille from the RI Secretary of State allows an American birth certificate to be accepted and used by a foreign government. I needed to get apostilles (which were attached to each of the American BMD certificates with a grommet by the Secretary of State's Office and returned to me) for each of the BMD certificates I was using at a cost of $5 each. Furthermore, I had to provide officially translated copies of each of the American BMD certificates into Italian... at a cost of $75 each.
So, I was able to obtain the following for my application:
- a court-certified copy of the Petition for Naturalization
- a photocopy of the Certificate of Naturalization
- BMD certificates for me, my parents, my dad's parents, and his mom's parents all with translations and apostilles
But, that's not all...
The next set of documents I put together were Forms 1 through 4 of the application. These forms can be found at the very bottom of this page.
Form 1 is an overview of the application - they are asking for my ancestor's file number, dates of birth, marriage and death, and locations where these all took place. The applicant signs at the bottom, stating that all the information is true and accurate and indicates the Italian ancestor through which they will obtain citizenship. Form 2 is my declaration that I, as the applicant, have never renounced my Italian citizenship. Form 3 is the declaration of every living ascendant (mother, father, father's mother) that each has never renounced his or her Italian citizenship, and Form 4 is a declaration, signed by the applicant, that any deceased ascendant (my grandfather) has never renounced Italian citizenship. Each document must be signed by the attestee and notarized.
So, add Forms 1 through 4 to the list I provided above of documents that must be presented to obtain Italian citizenship. In addition, a photocopy of all these documents is needed as well as a copy of the US passport and a utility bill (or other appropriate document) indicating you are a resident of the jurisdiction that Italian consulate presides over. Consulates are located in California, Florida, New York and Boston. A complete list can be found here.
In part I, I gave a general overview of the process as I understood it at that time. Part II is an update - obtaining all necessary documents and finalizing the application. In Part III, I will discuss the appointment and subsequent steps. As of today, Nov. 2, 2009, I still don't have citizenship, and we will discuss this further next time.
