Going for Dual Citizenship; Need help with a few Questions

[Bforni]

Hello,

First off, I want to commend this website and its users. Without your assistance over the past year, none of this would've been possible. Because of you I am close to fulfilling the dream of officially becoming an Italian.

There is a lot of information out there regarding what documents need to be translated and which don't. My question(s) are:
1. Do the U.S. Naturalization documents need to be translated to Italian and do they need an Apostille?
2. Do the Apostille's attached to Birth/Death/Marriage certificates from US documents need to be translated to Italian?

And lastly:
3. Does anyone know a translation service that's reasonably priced? I asked a bunch of companies and one gave me a quote of $1,200 - for 12 pages.

Thank you in advance. I am truly grateful for any advice. Once the translation is done, I will be turning my application into the Italian Embassy.

Sincerely,
Brian Forni

[AdrianBattaglia27]

the apostille does NOT need to be translated.

you should go to your consulate and find a translator who they recognize to do your translations, as the consulate will need to legalize the translations. 1200 for 12 pages is outrageous. for NYC the rate is about 40 to 50 pp and that is the highest I think anyone would encounter....

In my case, my ggf's naturalization document was issued from the Erie County Supreme Court of New York State, and yes, I had it authenticated by the county clerk and apostilled, and the translated was legalized by the NY consulate.

[jennabet]

Ciao Bforni, first off Apostilles come from the offices of the Secretary of States of the individual states so the Secretary of State is responsible for apostilling State documents, such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, etc.

But the Naturalization document is not a state record. It is a Federal record (only the US government can authorize a naturalization) and does not need an apostille. My Grand-father's naturalization record was issued by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives in Philadelphia which keeps the records for the county court that performed the naturalization. Even though that county court is in the State of Pennsylvania, my grand-father's document was a Federal record and did not need an apostille. I suppose if you DO decide to send your federal document for an apostille, the Secretary of State WILL apostille it -- for a fee, of course, by why spend the extra cash if it's not necessary? Also your Federal naturalization document does not need to be translated. And none of your apostilles need to be translated. I would go with a translator recommended by your consulate. Good luck.

[Bforni]

Thank you so much for all your replies. This information is extremely helpful. Of course from this, one final question arises. When you do go to have your documents translated, do you give them the original or a copy of the original? Some places have specifically said don't send the original.

[AdrianBattaglia27]

I just emailed my translator copies -- why give them the originals anyway, you will take the translations with the originals to your consulate for them to authenticate the translations.

I never dealt with US (federal) documents, but if you have one and want it apostilled, you go to the state dept. in Washington d.c., an individual state does not (to my knowledge) apostille federal documents. I'm not sure why a federal document wouldn't need an apostille, but, I didn't deal with that issue myself so I can't comment on it from experience.

[Bforni]

Thanks, Adrian, this is very helpful.

[carubia]

If you are applying at the Italian embassy in the US (in Washington, DC), then your US naturalization docs do not need translation or apostille. If you are applying at an Italian embassy outside the US, the US naturalization docs will need to be translated into Italian and will need an apostille from the US Federal government (if they are from USCIS) or the state where they are archived, if they are from a local county court or archives.

[weixiehong]

If you are applying at the Italian embassy in the US (in Washington, DC), then your US naturalization docs do not need translation or apostille. If you are applying at an Italian embassy outside the US, the US naturalization docs will need to be translated into Italian and will need an apostille from the US Federal government (if they are from USCIS) or the state where they are archived, if they are from a local county court or archives.

This is very interesting and a new bit of relevant information to me - since I will have to eventually apply at a consulate outside of the US.

So since documents are apostilled at the state level, where would we have to send away for the apositlle for the Federal US naturalization docs?

[johnnyonthespot]

So since documents are apostilled at the state level, where would we have to send away for the apositlle for the Federal US naturalization docs?

See http://travel.state.gov/content/travel/ ... tions.html