Visa While Awaiting Citizenship

[Gianna75010]

Has anyone applied for a visa to stay in Italy while awaiting citizenship? I have an appointment in November at the Newark consulate for citizenship. I've heard it can take years to get citizenship, but I would like to go to Italy before then if it takes a long time.

Does anyone know how to apply for the visa after submitting the paperwork for citizenship? Can I apply for it at the consulate during my appointment for citizenship (if they tell me I have to wait years to get citizenship)?

Thanks,
Gianna

[kontessa]

Have you considered applying in Italy instead of the US? Since you want to locate to Italy anyway, why bother with the wait in the US? Some people that have applied in Italy have had their citizenship recognized in 30 days (give or take a few), others in a couple of months. Mine took about 10 months if I remember correctly - longer than others because I encountered some difficulties.

[Gianna75010]

I did consider applying for citizenship in Italy, but I wasn't really sure how to go about the whole thing. I read that you had to establish residency there before applying for citizenship and I don't understand how you can do that if you enter the country on a tourist visa. How did you go about doing it?

[kontessa]

There are no 'tourist visas', you just enter the country as a tourist and have your passport stamped upon entry (and if you forget to do that, I think that you can still declare your presence within 8 days). I'll provide a link to a recent thread from expatsinitaly.com that does a pretty good job of summarizing the steps - http://expatsinitaly.com/phpbbforum/vie ... =7&t=11736. Of course, not all comunes are the same so not everyone's experience will be exactly like the original poster's.

The key, I think, is choosing the right community - one that knows what they are doing. The time factor also increases when in an area where it takes a long time to get your residency. Have a look at some of the threads on expats, post your questions as well because there are people there willing to help and they are very knowledgeable. Good luck to you.

[kontessa]

I didn't answer your question about how I did it...I was already living in Italy. I applied where I had been living since 2001, instead of moving to a more 'forgiving' comune that knew what they were doing. It was a bumpy ride, but worth it in the end.