Over 25 million Italians have emigrated between 1861 and 1960 with a migration boom between 1871 and 1915 when over 13,5 million emigrants left the country for European and overseas destinations.
All: I have a question. When my father came from Italy to America, he changed his name. he never renounced is Italian citizenship.
I have applied for my dual American / Italian citizenship. I just got notified by the Italian consulate
1) my fathers name on my birth certificate needs to be the same name as he was born as in Italy
2) MY last name needs to be the same last name as my fathers name as he was born in italy.
I expected item 1 and that I would need to change my fathers name on my birth certificate to match his name in italy.
I did NOT expect item 2 which the consulate expects ME to change my legal last name to match my dads name in italy. This would mean I need to change everything in the US despite always having my dads American assumed name.
Ive talked to the consulate and an attorney about this. So far we are stuck here. Any ideas???
The name on your birth record is your legal name, even if misspelled. This is crazy.
In my case my dad changed his name to match all records post boyhood . His birth name was Joseph (no middle) however he used his baptism name William Joseph since boyhood. So it was easier to change his name to William Joseph vs changing all documents to be just Joseph.
Thanks: the issue is my dad's name on my birth certificate. My parents were born and married in Italy. They both had Italian names while in Italy. When my dad came to America, he took an american name.
On my birth certificate, I have the American name AND my dad has the same American name. The consulate is telling me that my dads name on my birth certificate needs to be the same name as it was in Italy (the old original family name). So far, I cant get movement on this
If your father changed his last name to anything other than an English language spelling or translation of an Italian name, you're going to have to change everything the consulate told you to change.
My companion was recognized though his ancestral name of Perri. All of his relatives in the US named Perri spell it Perry and Perry is on all of their documents. This was totally acceptable because since there is no "Y" in the Italian alphabet, Perry is the exact same Italian name with an English spelling.
If your father's Americanized name does not reflect at all his Italian name, this won't be acceptable and your own name must also be the same as your fathers.
Jennabet: thanks. I had anticipated that I would need to change my dads name on my birth certificate to reflect his original Italian name.
as for my name, there has been a clarification to the Italian law. I believe that I will not need to change my name. On my birth certificate, it will have my American name and my dads original Italian name. So far, the consulate appears to agree this will work. I havent completed the process yet. Wish me luck
your name should not be an issue and no law stipulates it would be. What consulate are you going through? I had a smiliar issue helping a friend out and at the new york consulate they didnt care about the applicants name just the trail going up. This was in NYC. Good luck
The older generations who lived in southern Italy certainly remember the sound of the bells or the siren that occurred at various times of the day. Life was marked by simple and repetitive gestures: work, the relationship with nature, sharing with the family and the people of the small villages. Now...
