Newark Consulate

[Gianna75010]

I have an appointment at the Newark consulate in November and I have a few questions as I am finishing up gathering the last documents.

My great grandfather never became a US citizen. What documents do I need to provide to prove he never became a US citizen? I am trying to get statements of no record from USCIS, National Archives, and the County Court as well as certified copies of the census and his Alien File (including a letter stating no record of naturalization within the A-file). Which ones will they specifically ask to see?

What documents need the apostille? Is it just birth certificate, marriage certificates and death certificates or other documents as well? Do the statements of no record from USCIS/NARA/County Court need apostilles? How about certified copies of the census and a-files?

What documents need to be translated? Again is it just birth certificate, marriage certificates and death certificates? Do documents proving no record of naturalization need to be translated as well? Do you need to provide a notarized letter certifying the translations are true and accurate?

Also, does anyone know how long it takes to get citizenship once all the correct documents have been submitted? I've heard any where from a couple of months to a couple of years. I'm hoping it's the former and not the latter.

Thanks for your help.

Gianna

[mler]

My grandfather naturalized so I don't have experience with the "no record" letters, but it seems advisable to get as much documentation as you can to demonstrate that your ggf did not naturalize. The more you can show them, the better your interview will go. At minimum, I suspect they will be looking for "no record" letters at the county and state level. A census is helpful for backup.

I applied several years ago, but I think that that translation requirements have not changed. They required translations of only the bc, mc, and dc. The same held true for apostilles. I did my own translations and prepared a statement stating that my translations were complete and accurate.

As far as time frame is concerned, I believe they move rather slowly. I submitted my application in February, and then retrieved them in September of the same year when my citizenship was unexpectedly recognized in NY. The records had not yet been touched. I was told at the time of application that they send any document not originating in their jurisdiction to the appropriate consulate for verification. They also told me that I would not be able to apply for a passport until they received confirmation that my documents were registered in the comune.

I don't know if they still follow these procedures, but if they do, it substantially slows down the process.

EDIT: For more recent Newark Consulate information, you may want to read through this thread:

http://italiancitizenship.freeforums.or ... t1118.html

[Gianna75010]

Thanks for the advice. I'm trying to go to my appointment with as much documentation as possible. I tried to ask the consulate some questions about what I needed to provide since my GGF was not naturalized. Literally, their response was "You can ask those questions at your appointment" which clearly is not very helpful.

All my documents (birth, death, marriage) are either from NYC or NJ and the "comune" in Italy that my great-grandfather is from is very quick (much faster than vital records in NYC or NJ) so hopefully that will be speed things up.

After reading all these threads I'm starting to worry that getting citizenship is going to take a really long time even if they accept all my documents at the first appointment. I have a friend who went through the process in Philly and she said it took a while (2-3 years) to get all the correct documents (e.g. amendments etc) but once they accepted them, she had citizenship in a couple of months. It seems like that might not be the same case in Newark. I'm okay if it takes longer to get citizenship, but I would like to live in Italy soon so I might have to look into getting a "visa while awaiting citizenship" Has anyone had experience with that kind of visa?

[mler]

Try the link I posted. It may be that Newark is moving more quickly than it had been when I applied.