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.
It can be a disheartening process at times. I've gotten everything together, spent all that time and money (which turned out to be more expensive than I thought going in, especially the translations) and now I can't get an appointment!
I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end, so I'd say don't lose heart!
BTW, if you decide to cancel, let me know, I'll take your appointment
I knew there would be a long wait so I actually didnt start collecting documents until AFTER I made the appointment. I dont have everything yet or translations and apostilles. Ill be working on it up until my appt. I have about a year. Im just afraid Ill walk in and they will find some indiscrepancy or any reason at all, to turn me away. I have many of generations to gather documents on. So it will cost more for me, way more. And then to hear "no" would be a kick in the stomach.
I'm sure you will be fine. I was stupid enough to gather all my docs first, then try to get an appointment. I didn't know how long it would take and I wanted to make sure I'd be ready for the appointment. I had to get docs all the way back to my GGF, the most expensive part was the translations which cost me about $600, if I remember correctly.
who cares about the Japanese? They kill whales in the antarctic water off Australia with impunity and they whaliong ships are political sincde there coastal fishermen lament that they are denied killing any of their "quota" of whales because of the political connections between the owners of the Japanese whaling fleet and the Japanese government..(see fighting the Japanese whaling fleet each friday on TV by volunteer whaleship fighters hurling stink chemicals to spoil the whale meat. =Peter=
DeFilippis78 wrote:$600???!! Oh my goodness. Im going back to my gg grandfather. So thats an extra generation plus my 4 children. What is the usual charge per document?
Alicia
I priced around a bit. My first attempt came in at $780, the translator I went with charged something like $0.12 a word and it came to like $600. It is a lot, I remember thinking going in I'd spend $100, but I was way off. The good news is that is the most costly part.
I didn't spend that much on translations yet. I only translated a handful of documents, the set that would be used in Italy, not the full set required in the US. I think it was at $20/document/page or something like that, so I could have spent more per word than you did, not sure as I didn't do the math.
Yeah, that was my advice, get appointment first, then collect documents. Even if you show up without everything, the follow up appointments shouldn't be years out. In my case, I am just being brushed off. Had visited 3 times already. The consulates really don't want to process applications, is my experience. Good luck...
Ive always heard they charge per page not word. Im wondering if a family member can do it. Im not sure if its allowed. Also, isnt there an expiration date on apostille seals?
DeFilippis78 wrote:Ive always heard they charge per page not word. Im wondering if a family member can do it.
I guess it depends on which consulate. I asked at the philly consulate and they had no problem with me or anyone else doing the translation. I specifically asked if the translations needed to be done by someone on the consulate's approved translators list, and I was told no. I have heard that the LA consulate requires the translator on the list.
DeFilippis78 wrote:Im not sure if its allowed.
For Philly, you are allowed. You can call them to double check to see if things have changed, I called a year + ago.
DeFilippis78 wrote:
Also, isnt there an expiration date on apostille seals?
Nope. The signatures on the originating documents might get stale if you don't get the apostille right away though. What I mean is that the department of state has a list of approved signatories (notaries/clerks/such) on a list that they can look up and verify the signature on the document. When those officials change, so does the look up documents. So if your birth certificate was signed 15 years ago, they might not have that signature on record anymore. But from what I have heard, once apostilled it is good and won't expire.
I've actually heard the opposite. I've heard that the Apostille expires after one year, but that the docs themselves are fine for however long. Just to be on the safe side, if I were you I'd make sure the Apostilles were issued within a year of your appointment, since you already have one scheduled it would be easy to do.
Well thats good news for me then being I have to go to Philly. Is there any good websites out there that tell you how the translation is written up? I mean is there a particular form or way it needs to be done?
ForzaItaliaPgh wrote:I've actually heard the opposite. I've heard that the Apostille expires after one year, but that the docs themselves are fine for however long. Just to be on the safe side, if I were you I'd make sure the Apostilles were issued within a year of your appointment, since you already have one scheduled it would be easy to do.
ForzaItaliaPgh wrote:I've actually heard the opposite. I've heard that the Apostille expires after one year, but that the docs themselves are fine for however long. Just to be on the safe side, if I were you I'd make sure the Apostilles were issued within a year of your appointment, since you already have one scheduled it would be easy to do.
When in doubt, best to call to find out.
My birth certificate was apostilled in 1995 and it was considered good and acceptable. But I know for sure, I could not take my birth certificate obtained in 1995 to get an apostille on it now, as the signature can't be verified with today's signatories on record, so that document, although still legal and valid, is stale, and can't have an apostille applied to it. good luck...
Just thinking aloud, but I wonder if this whole not scheduling appointments in 2012 problem isn't related to the possibility of the Philly Consulate closing. Could they be closing in 2011 and just don't want to admit it? Or maybe they don't know for sure yet if they will be open or not in 2012. Well, I guess I'll have to ask and see what they say...
A quick update for anybody interested in trying to get an appointment in Philadelphia.
I was told that as the consulate has not received "official word" of being closed they cannot comment on if they are staying open or not. My local honorary consulate tells me that Philadelphia is "absolutely not" closing.
Nevertheless, their appointment book for 2010 and 2011 is full and 2012 is "not opened" yet.
Maybe someone else is having better luck getting an appointment in Philly, I'm sure not.
Nowadays, very few Italian actors are able to emerge on the world cinema scene. Until a few decades ago it was different, but we talk about the age of the young Cinecittà, where it was not unusual to meet world-famous directors who set their stories which became known all over the world in those stu...
