My process so far -- Pittsburgh (Philly consulate)

[anitapgh]

Hello all!

I've been reading these boards for months now throughout my own process of gathering and certifying documents. First, thanks so much for all of the guidance you've provided--it's been a far smoother ride with this as a resource!

I just wanted to share my process so far. In December 2010 I began collecting documents in my (living) grandfather's basement. I am going through GGF line. I also made my appointment at the Philadelphia consulate then--the earliest of which was March 8, 2012. So I have not yet had the appointment.

I think I have everything I need, including all relevant birth, death, naturalization and marriage certificates, all with costly and shiny new apostille seals. My total cost incurred so far has been about $400, not including translations. In fact, I will likely attempt the translations myself, with my limited Italian and generosity of others sharing their templates online. Has anyone done it this way?

My only concern is that I did not get court orders to change misspellings on birth certificates. In fact, I wrote one affidavit listing all name discrepancies, attributing them to an Anglicization, and had it notarized. I am hoping desperately that this is satisfactory to Philadelphia. Anyone have any experience on this at this consulate?

From what I've read, Philadelphia isn't as strict as some others (NYC, for example). I still have seven months until my appointment and am mostly done with the legwork, minus translations. Anything else I should prepare for? Also, if anyone is in Pittsburgh and would like to communicate, please don't hesitate.

Thanks again!

Anne Marie

[caridimondo]

Ciao Anne Marie,

Congrats on finding all the documentation needed in one place! That's pretty rare. I live in Philly and my appointment is on March 1, 2012 so we must have set them up around the same time. Unfortunately, I'm not as far along as you are. I received my GGP's birth/marriage docs from Italy and my grandmother has their naturalization records, but I still need to get all other birth/marriage/death certs and apostilles/translations. So I have some work to do and lots of money to spend!

As far as the misspellings go, I'm not sure if Philly will require a court order to have them corrected or if your affidavit will suffice. Maybe one of the experts on this site can help you out there. Sorry I'm not a big help, I just saw that your appointment is within a week of mine in Philly so I wanted to say hello.

In bocca al lupo,
Tom

[anitapgh]

Tom,

Thanks for writing! Great that our appointments are so close--we can either commiserate or celebrate together! I hope you'll be able to let me know how yours goes a few days ahead of mine, so I can better prepare.

I definitely didn't find the documents in one place--but the basement was a good start, and I found lots of interesting extraneous docs there. One was a certificate of good conduct from the comune in Italy that my GGF needed to be naturalized--ha! I spent many hours of many days dealing with the awful bureaucracy of orphans courts and so on. One highlight was the microfiche archives in Carbon County--I'm a sucker for that stuff.

I was reading some threads last night that talk about the possibility of the Italian government rescinding the opportunity for those going back 3 generations to get citizenship. I can't even tell you how heart-breaking, frustrating and infuriating that would be to me. This process has really been a labor of love and I sincerely hope that the law does not pass before our appointments, if at all.

Take care, and keep me updated!

Anne Marie

[caridimondo]

Could you send me links to those threads? I have always wondered if that could happen and yes, it would be extremely devastating as this has been a dream of mine for a long time. My gut is telling me we'll be okay, so let's knock on wood.

[anitapgh]

Tom,

Sorry for the delay. Here is the link:

http://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/t ... ml#p162494

AM

[caridimondo]

Thanks! Ok so it seems like this might be something that won't affect us in the near future (knocking on wood).