Birth certificate for genealogical purposes only?

[italianstall10n]

Hello,

Yesterday I visited the county clerks office in my town and was told I cannot get a certified copy of my great-grandMOTHERS birth certificate. I already received the GGF's birth certificate from Italy, naturalization papers, and almost everything else, but apparently they only give out old records like my GGM's BC for "geneological purposes only." Has anyone else had a problem with this? What should I do?

[johnnyonthespot]

This wouldn't be New York, would it?

Are they willing to give you a "long-form" genealogical use only BC, or just a simple short-form extract?

Tell us what state (birth certificate) and which consulate (your application) we are dealing with and we may be able to offer advice.

[italianstall10n]

Cook County Clerks office, Chicago consulate. The thing is they actually could not even find the birth certificate, but later that day I found it online. It actually has the address of birth on it (the one online). Is this the long form?

[johnnyonthespot]

A short-form birth certificate will usually jusft give the child's name, parent's names, date of birth, town/city of birth, and not much else.

A long-form will give the place of birth (even naming the hospital and its address if applicable), the baby's weight, the parents' full names, ages, and occupations, the attending physician's (or midwife's) name and address, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

I presume that your great-grandmother is not in the direct-lineage for your application? Although the consulate websites say that you need all documents from both sides of the family, the experience of many - including myself - is that non-direct line documents are rarely taken by the consulate or even looked at when applications are finally submitted. In my case in New York (mid-2008), I did not submit my mother's birth certificate nor my grandmother's birth/death certificates, even though the web site said they were required.

Perhaps a recent Chicago applicant can chime in on this question.

[italianstall10n]

Thanks a lot for the timely help. It is the long form so I should be in good shape. I have one more quick question.I am reading on the Chicago Consulate page the following requirement:

12) YOUR APPLICATION AND YOUR DECLARATION THAT YOU AND YOUR ASCENDANTS NEVER RENOUNCED ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP BEFORE ANY ITALIAN AUTHORITY

To explain, my GGF became a naturalized US citizen two years after my grandfather was born. So he effectively renounced his right to Italian citizenship. This requirement refers to myself, my father, and my grandfather correct? So as long as none of us renounced our right to Italian citizenship I am in the clear?

[johnnyonthespot]

The New York consulate has a couple of forms they use for this purpose, Form 3 and Form 4 at the bottom of this page http://www.consnewyork.esteri.it/NR/exe ... =Published

I had to complete Form 4, "Declaration of Deceased Italian Ascendant" for my grandfather (who naturalized after my father's birth) and also for my father who was also deceased by that time. If my father were still living, he would have had to complete a Form 3, "Declaration of Living Italian Ascendant"

I also completed a Form 2, "Declaration of Applicant", for myself.