Apply for Citizenship in ITALY or through NEWARK CONSULATE?

[hollyolly7]

Hi Everybody,

I've been living in Italy for 4 years now, first as a student (on a student visa) now I work here (on a subordinate work visa) both of which have been an extraordinarily pain in the ass to get. I have been putting all of this stuff together for about 3 years now, tracing my roots back to my great grandfather who immigrated to the States and I'm finally nearing the end.

Should I get my residency and apply here in Italy for the citizenship? Does it go faster? Or should I do it in the States through the NEWARK consulate?

Thanks for your advice
Holly

[ricbru]

Well, it depends if you want to continue to live in Italy, while you wait to get your italian citizenship.
Also in italy, you get your citizenship in about 550 days
It is up to you

if you apply here in italy and live here in italy you will also have a coverage for health, but you can not work legally in Italy:

1) go to Questura (local police station), within 8 days from your arrival in Italy, to declare that you are in Italy, it will issue for you a temporary permit to stay in Italy;

2) with this temporary permit of Questura, go to local Ufficio Anagrafe (Population registry office) to registrer yourself as a legal resident, bring with you your paperworks done (including translations) to apply for Italian citizenship via blood right (or bring with you a declaration of Italian consulate abroad stating that you already applied abroad);

3) Ufficio Anagrafe will give you a certificate that you are registred as a resident, and Ufficio Anagrafe will forward for you the application for Italian citizenship to Prefettura (local Government/State office);
4) With the documents from Ufficio Anagrafe (receive proving you are a resident, and receive proving that the paperworks has been forwarded to Prefettura, or to Minister of Interior from your Italian consulate abroad) go to CINFORMI , or Patronato, or Union, they will forward for you via internet the request for "permesso di soggiorno in attesa di cittadinanza italiana" (permit of resident while waiting for italian citizenship)

I hope it helps
by Riccardo

[hollyolly7]

Doesn't it take the same amount of time as in the States?
I have a work visa now until next year--but if they give me a in attesa della cittadinanza work visa after that one expires thats good.
If I go through the process in Newark they can't offer me that visa? Anyways, through all of this I've realized that the people at the Comune here are a lot more available and helpful; in Newark I have tried to call a million times for an appointment but they don't answer.
Let me know what you think again, thanks for the advice

[ricbru]

You can also apply in Newark, fly to italy, request the attesa di cittadinanza permit to live in italy, but while you live in italy as a legal resident, you can not work legally.
The problem about contacting italian consulate in newark, is a problem of every single italian consulate in USA.
There is a overwhelming about of things to do, that they have not people who can take care of you on the phone or via email
I hope it helps
bye riccardo

[piccola_pampina]

Ricbru - How do you know it takes 550 days to receive citizenship?? I've read on other sites, for example, Expats in Italy, of those who have applied in Italy. They said that it did not take anywhere near 550 days. They received theirs in only a few months. Someone received theirs in 1-2 months time. It also depends on your comune and the consulate through which they make their requests.


Hollyolly7 - If I were you (you're still in Italy, right?) I would apply in Italy. You can only apply in the area of residency. I am applying in a small town in Italy, which I've read is much better to deal with as opposed to a larger town which can be much stricter and take longer since more people apply. In Bologna, an attorney who deals with these cases said it would take 4 months for me to receive my citizenship.

As for Newark, last time I called and spoke to someone to arrange an appointment to see the notario (notary), the next available appointment (edited to add) citizenship was not until March 2011. Last time I e-mailed them, they said for me to call because they're inundated with requests and appointments. I called the next day to try to arrange another appointment, but no one answer. I left a message but no one called back.

I've also read on another site that there are rumors that the Philadelphia consulate might be closing. Therefore those who would've been applying in Philly would then have to apply in Newark. Think of the amount of time it will take!!! Fortunately a friend's mom was able to get her an appointment in before the mess began. It will take her 2 months or so to get her citizenship. However, this is only because her first appointment was a year ago.

[hollyolly7]

I will be applying in Italy but the time it takes to obtain citizenship is just about as long, if not longer (depending on where you live)....up to even 3 years. The only plus about applying in Newark is that they are much more familiar with the procedure. In Italy most people apply through marriage (which is given priority over ius sanguinis and residency) or after 10 years of residency. Where will you be applying?

[hollyolly7]

I don't know if you read/speak italian but if you do check out this website:
http://www.tuttostranieri.it/forum/topi ... IC_ID=7017

Here they wrote a topic about how long it took people to get their citizenship. I don't think anyone got it in less than a year and in big cities it took about 3-4.

[johnnyonthespot]

I don't know if you read/speak italian but if you do check out this website:
http://www.tuttostranieri.it/forum/topi ... IC_ID=7017

Here they wrote a topic about how long it took people to get their citizenship. I don't think anyone got it in less than a year and in big cities it took about 3-4.

It is not clear to me, but I don't believe most of those caes were jus sanguinis applications.

At least one was matrimonio which has a built-in two year lead time that seems to be rarely if ever beaten.

My impression is that many or most of the others are citizenship by naturalization after residing in Italy for the requisite period.

As I understood hollyolly7's question, she will be applying jus sanguinis and can do so in her US consulate (Newark), or in Italy. For sure, there have been several reports on the ExpatsInItaly board ( http://expatsinitaly.com/phpbbforum/vie ... eb18b010ad ) by persons who have had their jus sanguinis applications approved very rapidly in Italy, especially in smaller comuni.

Remember, citizenship by jus sanguins is not at all the same as citizenship by naturalization. The latter can be refused for any number of reasons including criminal history, lack of reasonable Italian language skills, failure to meet strict residency requirements, and so on. Jus sanguinis, on the other hand, cannot be refused except for failure to prove an unbroken bloodline. Even a convicted serial murderer can have his Italian citizenship recognized if he can prove his/her bloodline...

[kontessa]

I will be applying in Italy but the time it takes to obtain citizenship is just about as long, if not longer (depending on where you live)....up to even 3 years.

I have to agree with j-o-t-spot. Strange things happen all the time. However, the average amount of time to have citizenship jure sanguinis recognized in Italy seems to be less than one year. Many have their cases recognized quickly - 1, 2 or 3 months - while others take a bit longer - maybe 6 - 10 months. Three years for jure sanguinis? I doubt it.

In my opinion, the clock doesn't start ticking until you turn in your documents and from my experience, the comune doesn't accept them until the packet is complete. Delays enter into the process if the comune discovers grave errors that they want corrected, if the documents take a long time to go back and forth to the consulates in the country of origin for verification, etc..

I went back and forth for almost one year before my application was officially accepted for processing. Once I actually submitted my application, my citizenship was recognized 10 months later. Much quicker than some of the consulates in the US.

BTW, hollyolly, did you ever resolve the naturalization paperwork for your ancestor?

[hollyolly7]

Wow ok that makes me feel a lot better...I wasn't sure. I'm always ready to expect the worst for this citizenship thing lol.
I got a reply back from USCIS for the search and they did say they found a naturalization record so now I'm going to send in for that. I just wish they wrote what date.
As far as the BC goes for my GGF, I spoke with someone on tuttostranieri.it about the problems I was having and they said that the Ufficiale dello Stato Civile can and should change the name & sex on the BC himself and that it's not necessary to go to court..he attached the law to prove it which I also wrote in my letter. I just got back to the States for a couple weeks so I guess I'll have to wait and see when I get back what new excuse this guy can come up with........If he refuses I'll be contacting the mayor.
If all goes well I should be ready to apply in the comune of Ferrara in early Oct. of this year. Speriamo bene..........

[kontessa]

Good luck, hollyolly!

[teddi]

Hi Everybody,

I've been living in Italy for 4 years now, first as a student (on a student visa) now I work here (on a subordinate work visa) both of which have been an extraordinarily pain in the ass to get. I have been putting all of this stuff together for about 3 years now, tracing my roots back to my great grandfather who immigrated to the States and I'm finally nearing the end.

Should I get my residency and apply here in Italy for the citizenship? Does it go faster? Or should I do it in the States through the NEWARK consulate?

Thanks for your advice
Holly

You should already be resident- required to apply within 20 days of receiving 1st pds:

Upon arrival in Italy, the American must obtain a permesso di soggiorno (permit of stay). As of December 11, 2006, an application "kit" for the permesso di soggiorno may be requested from one of 14,000 national post offices (Poste Italiane). The kit must then be returned to one of 5,332 designated Post Office acceptance locations. It is important that applicants keep a copy of the receipt issued by the Post Office. Additional information may be obtained from an Italian immigration website via Internet at: http://www.portaleimmigrazione.it. Within 20 days of receiving the permit to stay in Italy, Americans must go to the local Vital Statistics Bureau, Anagrafe of the Comune, to apply for residency. It generally takes one to two months to receive the certificate of residence (Certificato di Residenza).

http://italy.usembassy.gov/acs/general-visiting.asp

Here's a good description of application for recognition of jure sanguinis in Italy:
http://expatsinitaly.com/forum/download/file.php?id=62

[hollyolly7]

its actually not completely necessary that you do it.....I know a lot of people that don't because of tax reasons/health care coverage in the States and Canada.

[kontessa]

its actually not completely necessary that you do it.....I know a lot of people that don't because of tax reasons/health care coverage in the States and Canada.

Um...I think that you DO need to declare residency if you are living in Italy. Research this topic before making a costly legal mistake. Better to get this clarified so it doesn't interfere with your plans to apply for citizenship. Good luck.

[hollyolly7]

"Quando vi verrà concesso lo stato di residente, potrete godere della maggior parte dei diritti e privilegi che possiedono i cittadini italiani, a prescindere dal diritto di voto per quanto riguarda le elezioni parlamentari italiane.

Per tutti coloro che progettano di stare in Italia per diversi mesi, consigliamo vivamente di fare la domanda per la residenza. A differenza dei paesi dell’Unione Europea, chiunque soggiorni per più di 183 giorni all’anno non necessita ufficialmente di effettuare la domanda di residenza."

They recommend it but it is not required. Residency allows you to do certain things like get your license, own a car, vote in parlamentary elections etc but as far as being legal in Italy.....I am. As a student in an American University in Italy I tried to get my residency but they said I wasn't able to.