Any experience with Boston Italian Consulate?

[MikeCap]

Hey there-

So I have pulled together documents for the most direct line for Jure Sanguinis thru my father-grandfather-greatgrandfather.

I have just found a problem however with the first name of my grandfather. On his birth certificate he was listed as "Giovaninno Antonio Capobianco" however every other reference to him including his marriage certificate and death certificate he is listed as "John Capobianco" or "John A Capobianco".

(Also, I don't know if this is a problem- on the naturalization record the date of marriage is off by one day for my great grandparents 10 January instead of 9 January which is what's on their certificate I am planning on ordering.)

Will I get rejected at the Boston Consulate for my application?

Is there any way around this? An affidavit or something? Or will they understand it is the same person due to parents names listed and date of birth listed, etc.?

I have 3 other lines to Italy that could work as a last ditch effort...

Thanks for any advice.

Mike and Keira Capobianco

[nfanuele]

Hi Mike & Keira,

Is your appointment with the consulate coming up soon? I would definately not take the risk and have his marriage and death certificates amended to his birth name. From what I hear, and through my inquiry with the Boston Consulate, they are fairly strict with anglicized name variations. Which State did the marriage and death certificates originate from? Depending on the State, an amendment could be easily obtained.

Nick

P.S. I have an appointment with Boston Consulate on April 25th, let me know how it goes if your's is before mine.

[Qliner]

I also will be using the Boston consulate. My extended family of 11 members, affecting 15 of us, has just been awarded Italian citizenship! Once we receive our passports, does anyone know what we need to bring for documentation for spouses and children? I know some will need parental sign off and we have one couple that will need to wait three years since they were just married. It really is the existing minor children and the spouses -- it isn't clear on the website exactly what they need to bring. I will be writing the consulate, but though someone here might have some answers. Thanks!

[MikeCap]

Nick,
Thanks for the words of advice. The documents are all in Massachusetts. My inquiry with the Department of Vital Records about amending the records wasn't promising, they said I probably couldn't get it done.
At Boston City Hall the woman who gave me the birth record said I would have to file a petition with Suffolk County court to make the city of Revere change the record. I don't even know where to begin with that process.
So frustrating! So very close- but so far.

Qliner, congratulations on your citizenship! Obviously I can't answer your questions as I haven't even gotten as far as you. But hopefully someone else can! I'd like to know the answer to that as well. Good luck.
And if you have any insights on how close dates and names have to be for the paperwork to go thru, that would be great.

Keira Capobianco

[nfanuele]

Hi Keira,

I am currently trying to request a Delayed Birth Certificate in Pennsylvania, and I am required to petition the Philadelphia County Court to issue a court order. (I will also need to amend several vital records in Rhode Island.)

Here is a link to a post that might help you with petitioning the court, his situation is similar to your's:

http://italiancitizenship.freeforums.or ... t2649.html

I would call the Suffolk County Court to see what the steps would be to petition the court.

Good Luck!

Nick

[Qliner]

Mikecap, I had to have all our birth certs amended in three different states. Ohio was easy and they changed our mother's whole name on the birth cert. Florida and Texas only allowed me to ADD names, not remove her original without a court order, and I had to provide some documentation showing her other name so for example, her name on her Italy birth cert turned out to be "Francesca Luisa" and her American docs all said "Alice Catherine" so we had a document that showed Alice Catherine Frances so we added Frances to the Texas and Florida birth certs.

Google Massachusetts birth cert amendments and you should get a number.

[MikeCap]

Thanks all!

We have consulted with an Italian translator that does a lot of this kind of work with the Boston Italian Consulate. Just for anyone else who may search for this information later:

Our contact tells me the name needs to be amended because the current Boston Consulate is very particular.

In Massachusetts you can not amend a birth certificate for anyone deceased.

Therefore, we have to amend all subsequent records (marriage, death, etc) to match the birth record. We will be pursuing this in the next couple of weeks. Starting with the Registry of Vital Records.

Wish us luck!
Keira and Michael Capobianco

[JessicaBR]

Hi Keira,

I have gone through Suffolk County Probate Court to get a court order to amend a certificate. The process goes like this:

1. Go to the Probate Court Registry Division (No appointment needed). You need to submit a petition of equity - they will have the form.

2. Fill out the form.

3. Submit the form along with ORIGINAL certified documentary evidence supporting the correct spelling. (I was changing the spelling of my GGM last name on her birth cert so I supplied her parents' marriage cert from Italy w/certified English translation) - You will not get these documents back so request extra copies if you think you will need them later.

4. Wait to pay (this took FOREVER!!!). I believe it cost about $165

5. After a week or two you will get a summons in the mail. You will need to serve this summons to the city clerk, however, only a sheriff can legally serve the summons so you must deliver it to the sheriff's office (double check on this). The city clerk will have 20 days to object to your petition at the court. After the 20 days has passed the case will be reviewed by a judge (For Suffolk county I didn't have to go before the judge, in Worcester county I did). The judge will then sign off on the court order which will be mailed to you - keeping checking the court to see if they have issued it - Suffolk county is quite overwhelmed with paper work so things can easily be overlooked.

6. Once you have your court order deliver it to the Boston city clerk along with a check for their amendment fee (yes, you still have to pay that) and a short letter stating what needs to be changed just in case they don't look at the court order very closely.

I did this a little over a year ago so some of the particulars may have changed. But that's the gist of it. Be aware that each county in Massachusetts does things slightly different (Of course they do!) so the procedure in Suffolk county will be different to procedures in other counties if you need to go through probate court again.

I hope that was helpful!

Jessica

[MikeCap]

Jessica-
This run down is AMAZING. Thank you so much. There is little information out there to help a person out.
I have one follow up question: they let you change the birth record? I was told that birth records can not be amended in Massachusetts.
I have to change the first name of my grandfather. His birth record is "Giovannino" and then he goes by "John" for the rest of his life- marriage and death certificates included.

I'll bring in all the documentation I have and see what they tell me I guess. Thanks so much!
Keira

[guidoboston]

Hi MIke,
I am in a very similar situation with my grandfather. Were you able to get some documents so the all matched? How did that go?
My docs are not from Mass, so details may vary but I will be using the Boston Consulate.
I understand there may be another way to do this - called a "One and the Same Person" but this has several forms, an affadavit, a court order, maybe others. Anyone out there familiar with this?