In Other Words

Ho il piacere di comunicarLe che la sua domanda di riconoscimento della Cittadinanza Italiana “jure sanguinis è stata accettata con esito favorevole e la relativa documentazione trasmessa per la trascrizione nei registri di stato civile del Comune di Ragusa. Lei dovrà recarsi presso questo Consolato Generale, per la serie di provvedimenti amministrativi da intraprendere, tesi a regolarizzare la vostra posizione di fronte allo stato: principalmente l’iscrizione in anagrafe consolare e l’iscrizione A.I.R.E. (Anagrafe italiani residenti all’estero)

La preghiamo pertanto di voler compilare l’allegato modulo A.I.R.E. e di inviarlo o consegnarlo con cortese urgenza presso questo Consolato (Att Ufficio AIRE) per il seguito di competenza.

Se desidera richiedere il primo passaporto italiano la informiamo che, per esigenze di ufficio, potrete presentarne domanda a partire da due mesi dalla data di questa lettera.

AT LAST! In early 2008, I made my last stop to the Italian Consulate in Los Angeles. It was then I dropped of all the paperwork gathered for my application for dual citizenship with Italy. Every necessary certificate, every necessary apostille, every necessary translation was then headed to Sicily for confirmation of my blood line.

The confirmation process was supposed to take 4 months or so, and to tell the truth, I completely forgot about the application until late December. I was reminiscing on my vacation to Sicily 2 years previous when I remembered that I had not heard from the consulate. I decided to wait until after the holidays to inquire as to my citizenship status.

It’s hard to make any kind of contact with the LA Consulate. If you call the number outside of work hours, you get a message that directs you to their website for all the answers. Of course, “Is my paperwork ready yet?” isn’t a question the website can answer. The message also tells you that you can send an email with any questions. In mid January, I sent an email to the appropriate email address at the consulate inquiring about the status of my application. And got no response.

The automated voice response system also gives the option to push this button for that, or that button for this. Which I follow precisely. Eventually, after pushing all the right buttons, I finally get an answering machine that says, “Do not leave a message on this line. It will not be heard.”

In late January, I decided to call the consulate during business hours to see if something different might happen. Nothing different really, but during operating hours there is one department that allows you to leave a message, with the promise of “we’ll get back to you as soon as possible”. I left a message with the General Information department and hoped for the best.

Having heard nothing for almost a month after leaving my message with General Information, I decided to head into LA on my first free Friday and make an appearance at the Consulate. Friday February 27^th was that first Friday free and I was determined to find out the status of my application.

Fortunately for me, in Saturday’s mail was my acceptance letter stating (in a courtesy translation):

Dear Ms Popovich,

We are pleased to inform you that your application for recognition of the Italian citizenship “jure sanguinis” has been favorably accepted. Therefore, you may now complete the required administrative procedures to regularize your position towards the Italian State.

Please fill out the enclosed AIRE form and return in person or by mail it promptly to this Consulate General, Attention AIRE Office.

If you wish to apply for your first Italian passport, you may do so in two months from the date of this letter.

I am now free on the 27^th to choose my villa colors!

Ho Finito!

Sometimes I wonder if the roadblocks thrown along my path are signs to just give up and get out of the race, or if they are a test to see how badly I want to reach the end.

Heading to the Italian Consulate in LA today, I contemplated this very thought. Two years ago (almost to the day!) I started my quest for dual citizenship. Shoddy memories, inaccurate dates, cash outlays, international communications, bi-coastal mailings, post office aggravation, missing paperwork…and did I mention cash outlays? The road to dual citizenship was one roadblock after another. I was hoping today would be the last leg of this journey.

Driving to LA in the best of circumstances takes about 45 minutes. For those unfortunate enough to have to travel during morning traffic, the ride takes about 1:30 hours. How long did it take on the rare day it was my turn to be traveling into LA during morning traffic? TWO hours, bumper to bumper, single digit miles per hour. Six gears on my car, and I never got past 3^rd. It was so incredibly frustrating. I was going to be late for the appointment I waited to go to for 18 months. I just hoped they would not say “Oops, sorry! You missed your appointment! Come again, real soon now, ya hear?” ROADBLOCK!

I hate to be late. If I am not 15 minutes early, I am late. And, I hate to be late. I arrived 30 minutes past my appointment time. This, in my world, made me 45 minutes late. And, I hate to be late.

I checked in, and had a seat. I could feel the stress leaving my body, realizing that yet another roadblock had been overcome. I met with Monica, who remembered me from my incomplete visit 3 months ago. She was much happier this time because I had all the necessary paperwork. I had it all stapled nice, in the order of the blood line, with all my raised seals, all my translations, all my apostilles, all my i’s dotted and my t’s crossed. I signed here, dated there, gave her my passport and driver’s license to photocopy and my package was now complete.

Or was it?

In case my sister and nephews want to apply for their dual citizenship, I wanted to make sure all the paperwork was in order, and that they would not have the same problems I had. Upon further discussion, Monica advised me to make a photocopy of my package, give her the copies, and send the originals to my sister to use at the New York Consulate. Ordinarily, making copies is not a big deal, but I left my copy machine at home.

Promising Monica I would be right back, I headed out to the information desk to inquire as to the whereabouts of a Fed Ex Kinkos (not just any copy store, but one I own stock in). I was told to go out the lobby, make a right and there was would be a CVS there with a copy machine. I might not own stock in CVS, but time overruled ownership loyalty here. Walking for blocks, I finally saw the CVS. Inside was one dinky copy machine that required a host of dimes to make operate. ROADBLOCK! I asked the manager if I could just make copies then pay the amount based on the page count when I was done.

Of course not. However, he did know the location of a Fed Ex Kinkos. Just out the door, right, then a few more blocks up. Spending what seemed like days making copies, I considered the cost of the copies an investment in my investment!

I headed back to the consulate with two packages of documents and to Monica so she could verify that my copied package was complete.

Getting her A Okay, I learned that the package would be sent to the originating town (Ragusa Sicily) for verification. In approximately 4 months time, I would get a letter stating my status—rejected or accepted. Two months after an accepted status, I can apply for my Italian passport.

Shifting gears, another roadblock overcome.

Back to the Consulate!

I hope this is it. It has been a long, expensive process toward my dual citizenship goal! With the simultaneous arrival of the apostile from Connecticut and the translations from Irvine in Tuesday’s mail delivery, I now hope that I have dotted every “i” and crossed every “t”.

To recap, I needed

• Maternal grandfather’s birth certificate from Italy
• Maternal grandfather’s naturalization paperwork
• Maternal grandfather’s death certificate
• Maternal grandmother’s birth certificate
• Maternal grandmother’s death certificate
• Maternal grandparents’ marriage certificate
• Mother’s birth certificate
• Mother’s 1^st marriage certificate
• Mother’s 1^st marriage divorce decree
• Father’s birth certificate
• Father’s death certificate
• Parents’ marriage certificate
• My birth certificate

Then any document NOT from Italy needed an apostile

• Maternal grandfather’s death certificate
• Maternal grandmother’s birth certificate
• Maternal grandmother’s death certificate
• Maternal grandparents’ marriage certificate
• Mother’s birth certificate
• Mother’s 1^st marriage certificate
• Mother’s 1^st marriage divorce decree
• Father’s birth certificate
• Father’s death certificate
• Parents’ marriage certificate
• My birth certificate

Then any bloodline document NOT from Italy needed a translation

• Maternal grandfather’s death certificate
• Maternal grandparents marriage certificate
• Mother’s birth certificate
• Mother’s 1^st marriage certificate
• Mother’s 1^st marriage divorce decree
• Parents’ marriage certificate
• My birth certificate

The initial research to get my grandfather’s birth certificate was $700. Certified birth, marriage and death certificate copies (10) cost $5-10. Current copy of Divorce decree was $25. Apostiles (11) cost $25 each, translations (7) $50.

Ouch. I hope this turns out to be one of those “priceless” commercials!

My appointment is for April 29^th, at 9:15!

What colors would look good in my villa?