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.
Just wanted to give some information. This forum has been very helpful to me and wanted to thank everyone for their advice. much appreciated.
I have noticed alot of posts like my own that have missing marrige records for their ancestors, etc and thought I would share my experience with the philly consulate.
I contacted the consulate in regards to the fact that i am missing my grandparents marriage certificate and to see if i should or could apply for italian citizenship. I did inform them of the many no record letters that I have from many agencies, churches, funeral home and the like.
I do not know the person's name that I contacted via email but they informed me that if I could bring a copy of a census that has them listed as married or at least living together that they would accept it. I found the census from 1950( which was not cheap $95). I hope that this does not change when I have my appoinment in February. Should I bring a copy of the email with me to be on the safe side?
There is hope hope out there for us. So don't give. Trust me, I have been tempted many times, but this is something that I really want and will not give up until I exhaust all options!!! I have bben gathering documents for many years so I hope that this all pays off.
I will say this again - to the best of my knowledge, there is no requirement at all in Italian citizenship or jus sanguinis law which requires that a child be "legitimate".
In theory, you should not require anything more than the following:
a) a chain of birth certificates which links the applicant (you) to an Italian citizen
b) proof that the Italian citizen ancestor did not naturalize or did so after the birth of his/her child
Everything else is fluff and/or "supporting documentation". For example, having an ancestor's death certificate relieves you of the need to produce that ancestor and have him/her make a "Declaration of Living Italian Asecndant". Since he/she is proven to be deceased, you can submit a "Declaration of Deceased Italian Asecndant" on his/her behalf. Realistically, even this (death certificate) should not be required in cases where the ascendant would be more than 100 (110? 120?) years old...
Carmine
My hobby is finding things. Having found most of my own, I am happy to help others find theirs. PM me!
You can order 1940, 1950, etc census pages directy from the census bureau. The rules are strict; you must be one of the persons listed on the page or provide evidence that you are related to a person on the page.
As johnny pointed out it was from the censud bureau. It is $65 for one name and one line of one person. I had to pay addtl. moneys for my grandmothers info.
Johnny, my posting was to inform on my situation with the consulate for others to see. I do understand that you have posted the answer to this question before and agree with you but I wanted to let everyone know what the Consulate had to say.
Thank you
I am in a similar situation... I have no record of my Grandparents marriage... two searches turned out NO RECORDS... but I KNOW they were married... there is a section on my mother's birth certificate that says "Legitimate" YES/NO and it is check YES.
Were you able to get the census for your grandmother and your grandfather or did you have to get your parents to sign the form?
How long did it take...?
I'm fascinated by the idea of obtaining the forbidden 1940 / 1950 census! he he (Does it also list their nationality?)
Vittorioe,
I was able to get it myself. Unforunately my parents and grandparents have sinced passed. For my grandparents info I had to fill out the form along with copies of their death certificates. The census I requested was from 1950.Basically they give a copy of the exact line entry of that person. If you want the full schedule of such person it is an extra $10.00 in addition to the normal $65 fee. For another $16.00 i was able to recieve my grandmother's info. It does not state they were married but they are both listed in the same household. Citizenship status was left blank. Not sure why. In order to order a copy you must know address of person including town and state at the time of the census. Fortunately my mother's birth certificate had their address on it for me to use at that time. They moved a couple times over the years. My mother's new jersey birth certificate also had the section of legittimate child or not and was marked yes. Please refer to the website above and it will give you more information and instructions.
good luck to you
One of the most fun things that I discovered in my research was finding my look alike ancestor, Prince Marino Caracciolo II. Don Marino descends from the Caracciolo Rossi family, one of the oldest families in Naples, that date back to 950 AD. He was born in Atripalda on 9-6-1587 and died in Naples o...