I'm back!!

[cdevita]

Hello everyone-I successfully completed the process for italian citizenship for myself and my daughter in july of last year. I was also diagnosed with breast cancer which slowed me down for a little while just before I began to start the process for my husband and my mother. I would love to relocate the whole family within the next 2 years and could use some guidance once again.

My line was GGF-GF-F. My mother was married to my father. ( he is now deceased ) She is of Italian descent as well but her father and grandfather were both born in the USA and her great grandfather became a US citizen.

We all know how helpful the Italian Consolato website is in Los Angeles so I am asking for your invaluable help. All of my forms and Apostilles with translation are filed. But it looks like my mom and hubby need to offer up their possible criminal records for all states they lived in from the age of 14 on. OK.

The other item is that the marriage certificates, even if the marriage occurred in the US which both my parents and mine were indeed, need to be filed with the commune involved in the process. SO-I submitted mine and my hubby's for my citizenship and I submitted my parents as well. Were they actually recorded in the commune for my citizenship process? Not quite sure where to get the copies and how...

Has anybody done this? Is it difficult? THANK YOU!!!!

[johnnyonthespot]

So sorry to hear of your diagnosis; I hope your treatment is going well.

Yes, your marriage would have been registered at the comune. As to that of your parent's, I honestly do not know.

It seems probable that your parent's married prior to April 27, 1983. That being the case, your mother automatically gained Italian citizenship the moment the priest or other officiant said, "I now pronounce you man and wife." Her claiming of that citizenship after the death of your father may be problematic; I am not certain but vaguely recall reading something along those lines once. But, as an example, my wife was granted citizenship at the same moment my own was recognized (we married in 1982); the only extra documentation I needed to present for her was her certified & apostilled birth certificate.

Most definitely, you (or your mother) should inquire about her status with the LA consulate.

As to your husband, the 1983 rule applied only to women who married "Italian" men, not the other way around - so your husband's road is harder regardless of when the two of you wed.

For your husband's jure matrimonio application, he will need to present criminal background checks from the FBI, state, and local police, for each jurisdiction in which he resided since the age of 14. These documents "expire" after, if I recall correctly (but please confirm!), six months, so you must watch your timing. In order to submit the formal application with your consulate, he will need to pay a €200 fee up front. Unlike jure sanguinis cases in which the consulate makes all decisions, in the matter of jure matrimonio the consulate's role is only to ensure that all the required documentation is in order, they then forward the package to Rome where the officials have two years (730 days) to make a decision. From what I have read, it usually takes about 720 days...

Keep in mind that for purposes of moving to Italy, it is not entirely necessary that your husband obtain Italian citizenship. He could instead easily obtain a "visa per ricongiungimento familiare" which would allow him to enter Italy as a family member of an Italian resident citizen (you) and then follow up with a permesso di soggoirno which would permit him to stay in Italy, to be employed, to join national healthcare, etc.

This same procedure could be applied to your mother as well, if you can show that she is dependent upon you for health, financial, or other support reasons.

[cdevita]

Once again-I thank you for your assistance. You were very instrumental to helping me with my citizenship. I contacted Los Angeles yesterday but I know if may or may not even get back to me. It sounds like the "visa per ricongiungimento familiare" is the way to go for my husband, although, in his heart I know he wishes for full citizenship. I need to look into the permesso di soggoirno a bit more. Thank you again, Carmine.

[johnnyonthespot]

See if forum member "kontessa" chimes in on the permesso issue. If not, run on over to http://www.expatsinitaly.com/phpbbforum and try searching for "motive familiare"

Permesso di Soggiorno is commonly abbreviated as "PDS" or "PDiS". Note that the visa gives a person the right to enter Italy, the PDiS gives him the right to stay in Italy.

If your schedule is such that you do not want to wait for your husband's citizenship, he can enter Italy on a visa/PDiS, then apply for citizenship over there. The process will still take 2 years, but at least you won't be waiting around in the US for it to complete.

[kontessa]

Just would like to chime in a little and second the suggestion on researching whether or not your mother is now eligible to apply for citizenship since your father is deceased. I don't know enough about this myself and I could be mistaken, but I thought I read somewhere that in order for her citizenship by marriage to be recognized, she had to be currently married to the person. (No separations, divorces or deaths.) Perhaps I'm mistaken, but the best bet is to do some research on expatsinitaly, italiancitizenship.freeforums, tuttostranieri.it (if you can read Italian).

Also, as excited as your husband is to obtain Italian citizenship, don't make the decision before you do all of the research on how it affects his income, retirement pay while living in Italy (don't know if he's anywhere near that! ), taxes, etc.. It may make more sense for him to NOT be a citizen. He could still move to Italy and live with you, obtaining the visa that Carmine already mentioned. If your mother is one of your dependants, it may be possible for her to obtain a visa to accompany you as well. Once you are all residents, then your mother and husband could apply for the appropriate permits to stay. There were forum members on expatsinitaly who did this - one I do remember that was married to a dual citizen and never claimed citizenship because there was no real advantage to doing so.

Whatever you end up doing, I wish you the very best. In bocca al lupo...here's to planning your new life in good health!! (Why are there no toasting smilies?)

[kontessa]

As Carmine also noted, the permit to stay - permesso di soggiorno - is something that you would apply for once you are in Italy. You do not obtain it beforehand from the consulate. You would obtain the appropriate visas from the consulate, and the permit to stay from the Questura once you are in country. Information on applying for the permesso, where to submit an application, cost, etc., can be found on expatsinitaly. (That research will keep you busy!) Good luck.