Tips for Italian Dual Citizenship Applicants in New York

We asked one of our customers, who applied through the Italian Consulate in New York City and ultimately was granted Italian citizenship (CONGRATS!), to share her “experience” with us. It all started in 2010...

“Always remember that the Consulate needs undisputable proof of the link between the applicant and the Italian ancestor that you are obtaining the citizenship thru. They are very strict with the documents that you are presenting. What is expected is clearly defined on their website. For discrepancies they will tell you what they require to insure that the information is acceptable. 

Very old documents have many errors regarding dates, spelling and places. 

• Birth certificates drawn up by mid wives in the early 1900’s in the USA seem to be an issue as they were not accurate in the information they recorded. Changing the name to a correct one is possible but birth dates are very difficult to change as the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene requires an affidavit from someone who was present at the time. 
• Birth dates may also differ from Italian to American documents. Here too the documents must match. In my case I needed proof from the Italian municipality stating there was no one else by that name, born in that town that year. 

Contradictions in the place of birth in old documents. Small hamlets in Italy are now part of municipalities and here I needed proof that the hamlet and the municipality were one in the same.

The names of all parties in the ancestry trail must appear exactly the same on all documents. This includes middle names/ initials—the name cannot be one way on a birth certificate and another on a passport or marriage license.

I found the US Dept. of Homeland Security USCIS Genealogy Program and The National Archives at NYC to be very helpful in getting Immigration documents.

The letters that I needed from the Italian municipalities to clear up the discrepancies between documents, I would never have been able to obtain without the help of My Italian Family.”  

If you would like to learn more about the qualification requirements and with our assistance determine if you qualify for Italian citizenship by descent, book a FREE CONSULTATION with us. 

If you already know that you qualify and you are ready to get started, sign up for our Full Assistance Start-to-Finish Program: we will acquire all the needed vital records from both Italy and the U.S., process all the required amendments, and complete your portfolio with apostilles and translations to Italian. We’ll prepare you for your appointment at the Consulate, instruct and coach you if applying in Italy, or introducing you to our affiliate law firm in Italy for handling the 1948 Challenge Lawsuits.