Requesting my birth certificate from Italy

[jalapeno89]

Hi, i received confirmation that my application was accepted. They told me to contact the commune where my birth certificate was registered to request a copy of it. Only problem, i dont speak italian. Can anyone help me write a letter to them requesting a copy of MY birth certificate? any help would be appreciated greatly... thank you -- Mike

[mler]

Congratulations, Mike. This may work. I sent a similar letter to Napoli and received mine within two weeks.

Gentili Signori:

Vorrei ricevere una copia del mio certificato di nascita, registrato recentamente da il Consolato Generale d'Italia a (your consulate's city). Vi comunico il mio data:

Cognome: (last name at birth)
Nome: (first and middle names)
Data di Nascita: (date of birth - day, month, year)
Luogo di Nascita: (place of birth)
Genitori: (parents' names - mother listed with her maiden name)

Grazie per l'attenzione.

The letter says: I would like to obtain my birth certificate, recently registered by the Italian Consulate of (your city). Following are the details: Listing of details. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

[johnnyonthespot]

Month names in Italian:

gennaio — January
febbraio — February
marzo — March
aprile — April
maggio — May
giugno — June
luglio — July
agosto — August
settembre — September
ottobre — October
novembre — November
dicembre — December

They are traditionally not capitalized. Hence, today is "24 giugno 2011"

Luogo di nascita refers to the city of birth as listed on your birth certificate. The state (for the US) seems to be ignored in the Italian system, but you can add "Stati Uniti d'America". So, for example, "Chicago, Stati Uniti d'America."

It is always a good idea to include a large, self-addressed, envelope when making requests for documents. Make certain the final line of your return address is "Stati Uniti d'America - USA" (presuming, of course, that you are located in the US).

PS: Which consulate did you apply at? Not all of them require the applicant obtain a copy of his registered birth certificate in this manner.

[Rodio]

Mike--

First of all, congrats! The hardest part is over!

In addition to your request, send a photocopy of your driver's license, as some comuni will not answer your request without it.

I assume you have the address to the comune where you are registered. If you do not, tell us what your comune is and we can get the address for you.

In boca al lupo!

[priere]

Luogo di nascita refers to the city of birth as listed on your birth certificate. The state (for the US) seems to be ignored in the Italian system, but you can add "Stati Uniti d'America". So, for example, "Chicago, Stati Uniti d'America."

They put the city and state on both my BC and my passport. I may be a one-off case though.

[johnnyonthespot]

They put the city and state on both my BC and my passport. I may be a one-off case though.

Guess I missed this comment.

Both my and my wife's Italian passports list the city of birth followed by "(USA)". Our certificati di nascita say "STATI UNITI D'AMERICA - [city of birth]". Neither document mentions the state by name or abbreviation.

Our case was handled by the NYC consulate and our passports were issued there as well.