Go Global

PalmBeachPost.net recently posted an article about dual-citizenship that I thought was interesting.

As more and more US corporations go global, why not have more and more Americans go global? An estimated 40 million Americans are eligible for some form of dual-citizenship. The real question is: are you eligible?

ItalianDocs.com

As I was compiling my documents from Italy, I used (and raved about) ICGS. ICGS has since been sold and is under new management/ownership, which in the past has had some issues. I believe most of those issues have been settled and that the site is better. One change that I did notice since the new management has taken over is the price has risen $13 to $55 from when I ordered my documents. I believe that is unreasonable, as is $125 for some other services.

This spring I started discussing with members of the Expats in Italy forum about starting a competing service at a reasonable price. Today, I would like to inform you that I am ready to start accepting orders for Vital Records (birth, marriage and death certificates) from Italy at my website, ItalianDocs.com.

I can be contacted at info@italiandocs.com.

Apply in Italy; sounds good to me!

For some strange reason, I just discovered this link on Expats in Italy and am hoping it is the key to my Italian Citizenship. What it basically states is that you can apply for citizenship in Italy by presenting all the same documents you would show the local Consulate. The process also *seems* to be a lot faster if it is done in Italy, which is surprising to me.

I have decided to give applying for citizenship in Italy a shot since I'm about ready for a career change, love live in Italy, and wish to become more fluent in Italian. So at the end of February I will move to Italy, go to the Questura and get my permesso di soggiorno, then go to the Comune of whatever city I'm going to live in and present my documents to apply to citizenship, then I will bring a document from the Comune back to the Questura and hopefully get a permesso di soggiorno per attesa di cittadinanza, then I will go back to the Comune and give them my documents to apply for citizenship. In case you weren't counting that's going to be 2 trips to the Questura and 2 trips to the Comune. The permesso di soggiorno per attesa di cittadinanza will allow me to stay in Italy as I apply for citizenship. I believe the permesso will allow me to work a little bit (I hope so at least) and after about 6 months (on average, I believe) I should be a recognized citizen.

I'll post again when I know where I'm going and more details.

A presto!

Updates Galore

I've been pretty busy since the last post with a trip to the Mass Vital Records office, a trip to Italy, and general laziness. I'll begin with the Mass Vital Records office and all the fun stuff that's been making my mind race.

In order to correct Massachusetts' error on my grandfather's birth certificate, I have to give them my only copy of my great-grandfather's birth certificate (which means I need to get another one from Italy), pay $18 for a copy of my grandfather's sister's birth certificate to prove that the last name stayed the same, pay $50 for the state to correct the record, and pay another $18 to get a corrected certified copy.

I need a copy of my great-grandfather's Certification of Naturalization, I only have the Declaration, which isn't enough. In order to get this I have to do a Freedom of Information Act Request (FOIA) which, I believe, will take quite some time as I've seen "rumors on the internets" that the US Government is 60,000 requests behind. Hooray for bureaucracy!


On a happier note, I was in Italy for 2 weeks with my family (my parents, 2 sisters, and an aunt) playing tour guide. We went to Rome, Greve in Chianti, Florence, San Gimignano, Bologna, Venice, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and Torino. It was quite a whirlwind tour of the country and was probably a little too much, but I had an excellent time and can't wait to get back (for a much longer stay!) We rented apartments for a week in Greve in Chianti, a small town that was a 25 minute drive south of Florence on the S222 between Florence and Siena. We rented the apartments from Villa Prono and couldn't have been more pleased with our experience. Andrea, the owner, was very helpful telling us about Greve in Chianti and giving us a few recommendations about where to go in and around the area.

Our experience in Rome was quite memorable. We walked to the Vatican, Forum, Colosseum, Pantheon and over to the Spanish Steps. While in the Vatican we walked up to the top of the Dome of St. Peter's and had a breathtaking view of Rome and surrounding areas. I'll put links to a couple photo sites of mine down below so you can see what I'm talking about.

It's always nice to see Venice. I'm not a huge fan of Venice because it's so touristy, but some parts of the city (Piazza San Marco & the Waterfront) that no matter how crowded they may become are just great places to relax and take in all the history.

It was great being back in Torino. Walking around the covered sidewalks (arcades) gave me an immediate feeling of deja vu from 3 years ago when I studied in Torino. Showing my family where I lived, going to some of my favorite restaurants, and just walking around the city was an excellent way to wind down a busy vacation.

Ciao..

First Attempt

I recently went to the newly located Italian Consulate at the Federal Reserve building across the street from South Station to find out if I have all the right stuff for my dual citizenship. I'm just about finished with all the paperwork gathering, I thought I was, but I was quite wrong.

There were a couple small issues with my documents. THE major issue is something I was a little bit concerned about in a recent post: my grandfather's last name being misspelled. I thought it wasn't going to be quite a big deal because there's enough evidence to show that the "official" document is wrong. Now since somebody spelled Caporale phonetically as "Caporelli," my mother and I need to go to the state's Vital Records office and present enough paperwork and show evidence that an 86 year old document is wrong. I can't wait.

Also, my great-grandparents' marriage certificate isn't certified, and that's a problem. And finally, there's a slight discrepancy with my mother's middle name being spelled as Ann on some documents, and Anne on another. I don't know, I just have to get it fixed.

When I told the gentleman at the Italian Consulate that these "errors" are going to be a little pricey to fix, he explained to me that Massachusetts' fees and taxes are ridiculous sometimes. I was quite surprised by this because I thought all European taxes were ridiculous compared to ours'. Oh well.

I'll probably finish soon after I return from my lovely Italian holiday. Rome, Florence, Greve in Chianti, San Gimignano, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Siena, Venice, Torino, and Rome one more time. I can't wait. I leave next Wednesday and return the 31st.

A presto