It has gotten ridiculous

[Angel25]

It has gotten ridiculous. Every TIME I try and book an appointment for the past eight months the calendar at the Boston Consulate closes after the first 30 seconds. I tried four times today right at 4:00pm but people who are faster at typing entered the confirmation code and clicked enter before I did and got them. Every F'n time!!!

I am at the point where I am going to stop trying at Boston. I can't stand it. The entire New England region is served by one lousy consulate that only opens two days a week and accepts two appointments each of those two days. And on top of that, the wait if a person is lucky enough to get one of those appointments is 1.5 years!!!

Has anyone applied at a Consulate outside of their required regional Consulate.

Sorry, but I am extremely pissed off at this point. Trying eight months and failing each time, it has finally gotten to me where either I am able to apply at another Consulate for I give up getting my Italian Citizenship although its something I really want.

I just can't F'n stand how lousy the Boston Consulate is when it comes to accepting jure sanguinis appointments. New York has a constant surplus of appointments but the lousy Boston Consulate has an extreme deficit.

Eight appointments for the entirety of February 2019 and all eight fill!!! By the time I clicked enter, some fast F'n speed-typing ninjas stole all four that I tried to get and those are for 1.5 years in the future.

New York has their calendar open for appointments every day of the week, 10 weeks in advance. Shorter waits, surplus of appointments, more appointments each day. What a significant difference New York has compared to lousy Boston!!!

[mler]

Damn those ninjas!

I wish I could tell you otherwise, but you can only apply at the consulate which serves the jurisdiction of your residency. If you document residency elsewhere, you can apply somewhere else, but if you can't, no other consulate will even look at your papers.

An alternative, of course, is to apply in Italy, but that presents it's own set of issues.

It's ironic that NY is now the "good" consulate. For so long it's been the most difficult. I think these things go in cycles.

Really, though, you shouldn't give up. You will get better and better at this, and one day you will get that appointment.

[Angel25]

Are you 100% sure they would turn me away. Wouldn't they be somewhat understanding and be more understanding if I slipped them $200-$500 cash?

How could I establish residency in New York? I'm sure I could enroll in some cheap college in NYC with only one course and open a bank account to mail it to a relative in New York's address if I asked really nicely, and then drop out of that college since its only one course and then close the bank account. But there would be a mismatch between my ID and Passport, compared to the Bank Statement and my proof of college enrollment.

I don't have the $10,000 required to apply in Italy. I already spent close to $2,000 to get every document and then there are the fees to go to the consulate and fees to apply at the consulate.

So I either need to apply in New York and bribe them to disregard my NY residency requirement or I need to establish fictitious short-term residency in New York to apply in NY. But either way, I know I'm NEVER getting an appointment in Boston.

[mler]

You WILL get an appointment in Boston. Everyone ultimately gets an appointment.

If you do have a way of establishing a residency within the NY jurisdiction, you can apply there. When I applied, they looked at my driver's license, and my son presented his lease.

Ironically, I did receive my citizenship through NY even though I didn't reside within the jurisdiction. During that time, the Newark Consulate was functioning, and that was my consulate. I went into NY with my son (who lived in the city) and asked if I could apply using his address. They told me "NO." But I had filled out the application form and they added it to my son's file since he was applying through my line. Eight months later, both he and I received our citizenship letters from NY, and I withdrew my Newark application. This was definitely an anomaly.

BTW, there are no cheap colleges in NY.

[Angel25]

I calmed down a bit and now have a question.

I might have a way to get a New York State ID if that would be sufficient. I am sure I could convince one of my relatives to allow me to use their mailing address to file a Federal & NY Tax Return. In addition to my birth certificate and SS Card, I need 4 points of Proof of Identity. The Federal & New York Tax Return would give me 1 point on Proof of Identity, 1 Point for a Valid US Major Credit Card, and 2 points for an Out of State issued Driver's License that is still valid or 2 years expired. So if I got a relative to allow me to use their address for a tax return and then to get a New York State ID with their address, I would have a New York State Picture ID.

But my question is whether that New York State picture ID would allow me to apply in New York if my US Passport has a Rhode Island Address? Would the address discrepancy be a problem? Or is it only name and date discrepancies that the Italian Consulates look for when accepting and processing applications?

[mler]

I don't know specifically what IDs they are now accepting, but it seems a tax return and photo ID may work. I don't think the passport is an issue because the passport is valid for 10 years, and the address on the passport is only the address you had when you applied for that passport. I've never heard of a passport address change, and I doubt there is one.

[Angel25]

I don't know specifically what IDs they are now accepting, but it seems a tax return and photo ID may work. I don't think the passport is an issue because the passport is valid for 10 years, and the address on the passport is only the address you had when you applied for that passport. I've never heard of a passport address change, and I doubt there is one.

They also want an electric or utility bill to prove New York residency. I won't be able to get one of those with my name on it. I don't even have one of those to prove residency for the Boston Consulate. I don't have my own place so my parents pay those in Rhode Island.

What would I do about that? Could I bring a letter from my NY relative saying that they pay the utility bill but I do reside with them at their residence? Would that be sufficient in addition to a tax return and photo ID?

[mler]

I don't know how that would work. As I noted earlier, I used my driver's license. My son still had a NJ license, so he used his lease. They didn't ask for utility bills at that time (ten years ago though). If you state you are living with a relative, can you get a lease?

[Angel25]

I am not sure I could get a lease because that is an official legal agreement specifying I pay rent. I wouldn't be able to get a lease from my relative because I wouldn't actually be living with my NY relative.

[TerraLavoro]

Angel25....it IS ridiculous! I have been helping a friend who is in the same situation as you, and Boston seems impossible. My Dad had his citizenship recognized in Boston in 2012, when Corrao was still the guy making appointments by phone, and back then you could get an appointment in 3-4 months.

Do you sign on a few minutes before to get there when the system opens up? I just want to know how to advise my friend who is not on this board. He is also a RI resident.

[Angel25]

Angel25....it IS ridiculous! I have been helping a friend who is in the same situation as you, and Boston seems impossible. My Dad had his citizenship recognized in Boston in 2012, when Corrao was still the guy making appointments by phone, and back then you could get an appointment in 3-4 months.

Do you sign on a few minutes before to get there when the system opens up? I just want to know how to advise my friend who is not on this board. He is also a RI resident.

I signed on at 3:59pm EST and at exactly 4:00pm EST (counted the seconds down from 10) immediately refreshed for 4:00:00pm EST. All eight days with a total of 16 appointments for the month of February were opened and within 30-45 seconds had completely filled. F'n Speed-Ninjas that were faster at typing got every single appointment. If they didn't have that long confirmation code I would have gotten an appointment 1.5 years in the future, but now I'm going to say I just made up my mind to say "Screw it, I'm not trying again to get an appointment at that lousy F'n Boston Consulate." I will probably try New York City regardless of my residency and if that fails I'm forced to use an expensive Apply in Italy program. It would be cheaper than actually establishing residency in New York State with a lease and getting utility bill...but even a $5,000 trip would take me about 4 years to repay if I'm able to get a 4-year unsecured loan for that amount. I'd probably have to sell my car just to be able to pay the monthly payments on the loan to afford to apply in Italy.

I am a college graduate with a business degree and since I graduated, which was a 3 years and a few months ago, I have been unsuccessful in getting any job or even interviews. Even bank teller jobs I applied at 10 times over the years at each bank, grocery store jobs, retail store jobs, fast food places, and even Dunkin' Donuts won't even give me an interview.

I really want to move to Italy and/or the EU because I know I'd at least be able to pick crops on farms since the EU has many farms, and I heard online that good workers can earn up to 100 or 120 Euro a day which is a major difference compared to US farms that pay below minimum that only migrant workers from Mexico would want to do those farm jobs in America. But in Europe with the better daily wages and national healthcare, even those jobs are decent. And with all the farms in Europe, there would be plenty of work. But usually only the young EU citizens are the ones who do them, but like everything in the EU, a person must be an EU citizen to even pick crops in Europe.

[jennabet]

Oh calm down. It's not like you're stateless. Why do you even need an Italian passport if you aren't going to live in Italy? Jures sanguines citizenship is not the priority of the Italian consulates in the USA. Italian consulates are there to serve the consular needs of Italian citizens living abroad, of which you are not one.

[Angel25]

Oh calm down. It's not like you're stateless. Why do you even need an Italian passport if you aren't going to live in Italy? Jures sanguines citizenship is not the priority of the Italian consulates in the USA. Italian consulates are there to serve the consular needs of Italian citizens living abroad, of which you are not one.

I do want to live in Italy. By the way, I am a de facto Italian Citizen because I qualify for Italian Citizenship through Jure Sanguinis.

If I really got fed up with America then I would travel outside America and renounce my American Citizenship to render myself stateless. Because for as a far as I am concerned, I am already stateless since no company in America gives me a chance for work, I live with my parents, I'd be homeless if I didn't live with my parents, and my car is more of a financial burden I can't afford, and when I need to go to a doctor I try my best to skip it in America because the cost of the co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses just keep increasing.

So the answer is I do want to live in Italy, NOT America, which for me has been a place of zero hope, zero opportunity, and zero freedom (since freedom is only what money can buy, and my money is as you can read, extremely low).

[mler]

I understand your frustration, but try to keep it real.

If you were indeed able to "render yourself stateless" you would find yourself even less able to travel and access health care and educational and employment opportunities in Europe or anywhere else.

If you want your Italian citizenship recognized, you will have to go through the process established by the Italian government. Jennebet is correct; the consulates exist to support Italian citizens living within their jurisdictions. Until your citizenship is officially recognized, you do not fall into that category despite your credentials. That they offer the opportunity to make your case for citizenship at the consulates is a courtesy. Italy could well have required that applications be made only in Italy.

Italy's citizenship requirements are among the most generous in the world, and for that we should be profoundly grateful.

The application process is not easy, but it is fair and, despite some long waits, it is accessible.

Hang in there, and it will get done.

[nfanuele]

I'm not sure living in Italy would be the right move for you, since you would probably lose your mind due to Italian bureaucracy. Booking the appointment (in Boston) is probably the most frustrating part of the process, but a little patience and determination should help.

I do have a few appointments booked in April 2018 for my cousins and siblings, but I don't want them to go to an appointment when the consulate has yet to make a decision on my case. (My appointment was in April 2017, they prob won't decide until late 2018).

So...if you are confident you will have all of your documents in order I could slip you an appointment...

By the way, if you are going to Italy in hopes of finding a job, you are making a mistake. Italy is a land of even less opportunity and hope for someone our age. But I do understand your frustration all around, you just need to take it in stride and it will eventually work out.