chicago consulate

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philip320
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chicago consulate

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I live in the Chicago area. After gathering together all documents, I sent in the appointment forms on June 17th for me and my sister, she then got an email response from the Consulate which said to re-submit an appointment form after January 1st 2012 because they are all booked for 2011. Has anyone had similar wait times with the Consulate in Chicago?
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johnnyonthespot
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Long waits are not unusual for consulates in the US, with six to 12 months being quite common. Slightly unusual and, in my opinion, unnessecary, is the temporary shutting down of the appointment system. Potentially, this means that if you are not one of the first "in line" on January 1, 2012, you could be shut out again for another entire year or significant portion thereof.

It may lessen the pain to know that a few years ago many consulates in South America had waiting lists of five years or more. There are millions of persons of Italian descent there who were (still are?) desparate to find a way to get into Europe legally.
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JoshFM
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Re: chicago consulate

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I have been doing research on the Chicago consulate and discovered that they only make appointments for citizenship application at the beginning of the year for the entire calendar year. I too received the notice to make an appointment request after January 1, 2012. Later, I found (on another forum) instances where people who request an appointment in January receive a spot as early as February and March. These are as recent as 2009 and 2010. From what I understand, the Chicago consulate is one of the busiest when it comes to handling dual citizenship requests.
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Re: chicago consulate

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philip320 wrote:I live in the Chicago area. After gathering together all documents, I sent in the appointment forms on June 17th for me and my sister, she then got an email response from the Consulate which said to re-submit an appointment form after January 1st 2012 because they are all booked for 2011. Has anyone had similar wait times with the Consulate in Chicago?
Philip-I'll be applying in Chicago next year as well (hopefully). I'm curious, did you acquire the relevant copies of birth, marriage, etc. certificates at the county offices or through the State vital records office? I'm wondering if it matters because it will be easier for me to have a relative go into the county recorder's office and get all the documents in person.
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johnnyonthespot
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Re: chicago consulate

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As a general rule, local copies should be acceptable under two conditions:

1) the should be full copies of the original document with all information such as parent's names, ages, address, full place of birth, date, time, weight, etc.

2) make certain that the relevant Secretary of State office will apostille locally issued certificates. See http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publi ... s/i177.pdf for Illinois info.

3) your mileage may vary; read your consulate's requirements carefully.
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philip320
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Re: chicago consulate

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Update: Mailed in appointment request Jan. 2012 together with my sister who lives in Colorado, I never received a confirmation, my sister emailed the Consulate, they said appointment would be "scheduled for sometime in November" - so far it looks like a "big pie in the sky" for dual-citizenship. I need to have the U.S. forms translated to Italian, will be having this done soon, wondering if it will be worth the effort.
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corrado
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I applied on Jan. 2 and did not have a problem getting an appointment. I asked for the summer and got July so it is perfect for me.
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Re: chicago consulate

Post by JoshFM »

Don't give up, Philip320. They will get you an appointment. Get the necessary translations and maybe use the extra time to thoroughly research and double check that you have all the necessary documents. Along with this forum, there's another one, http://italiancitizenship.freeforums.org, that is very useful to read past and present posts. This is how I learned of necessary documents that aren't listed on the application or consulate website. My grandfather's death certificate, for example.
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