Looking for some advice requesting docs from Italy

[SteveS]

I'm hoping someone can offer me some advice about requesting birth and marriage documents from italy

I'm going to request atti di nascitti for my mother and atti di nascitti and atto di matrimonio for my grandparents.

They were all born in a small town, Isca, on the Calabrian coast in the 1890's and 1930's respectively.

I think I have the general idea for the request from other posts on this forum. Cover letter in Italian (of course), ask for just a few docs at at time (is 4 too many?), provide ID and the specific reason I want the docs, and enclose a self-addressed envelope.

So far, so good.

But I also understand that it's traditional to pay for the postage and official stamps.

Makes sense, I'm in the US and here my home state charges $20 per doc to pay for the search cost, and this seem s fair enough.

But how do you actually do that?

In the States I would just drop a check in the envelope, but that won't work for Italy.

If there was a way for them to bill me I would happily PayPal it over, or whatever, but these things seem to be done on paper, not online. (Isca has a website, but they don't seem to do this via the site)

It would be straightforward enough for me to get a couple of 20E notes and send them in with the request, but I get the feeling that this is not how things are done.

Is there someone in Italy that could advise me?

And while I'm asking questions...

The US consulate in Italy helpfully offers two forms that they suggest should accompany all requests for documents, so as to make it as easy as possible on the local officials

For atto di nascita and atto di matrimonio

OK, these seem quite helpful, but they mention both "Certificato di nascita" and "Estratto dell’atto di nascita con generalità complete".

I didn't know there were two versions. Is the "complete" version like the atti di nascita you see on the older microfilms? I would assume this is the version I want, and would have assumed that this would be the one provided by default.

Um.. Is this, in fact, what I want? Am I missing something?

And lastly, my mom's village was Isca Superiore in Catanzaro. It was about a mile inland, up on the hill, but it's been getting smaller, and municipal functions seem to have be moved to its larger, growing, section, Isca Marina, down on the coast.

Is this the correct way to address an envelope to the right agency?.

Ufficio Stato Civile
Piazza S. Michele, 21
88060 Isca Marina CZ
Italy

I kind of don't want to be the idiot who gets the official's title wrong or puts the postal code in the wrong place

thanks;

Steve

[mmogno]

Form to request birth and marriage documents.
Choose "Estratto per copia integrale".
In the field "Per le seguenti finalità:" write "Richiedere la cittadinanza italiana jure sanguinis"

[cedrone]

For the request you may use a form or a text written by you with all the data of the person you ask about, your data, your ID (both sides).
As already said, you may ask a 'copia integrale' that is a photo of the register as those on Family Search.
You should ask in your country if the consulate prefer the photo of the register or a certificate with all the useful data copied by the Comune (it seems better in the case of bad writing of the original register).
These certificates are made on a plurilingual form useful if the certificatr should be presented to a foreign authority (don't know if accepted in the US, not part of this convention).
I think all comuni now has an e-mail address, so the request of certificates usually are made by e-mail.
In this case you need a certificate on paper, as Consulates still want so, so the only problem is the shipping of tthe certificate.
The certificates are made without any payment.
For the shipping many comuni don't ask payment and send by the ordinary mail.
I suppose in the US the mail service is enough good and the letter arrives.
In some Countries someone said the letter didn't arrive and had to ask a new certificate.
It should be better to ask to send by registered letter (raccomandata).
(tomorrow I'll give you more details)