Trying to get birth certificates from Benevento…for an entire year

[JTSD20]

Hi guys,

I’m working with ICA and they submitted for my 2x great grandparents’ birth certificates from Benevento when we started this process a year ago. They have been following up as well so I don’t want to bug them about it. But it has been one year since the initial request. Has anyone had such trouble getting BC’s from a commune?

[qualdom]

Contact Francesco Curione of 007 Italian Records - he will at least get them on the phone.

[suanj]

By letter: Addressed to the Ufficio di Stato Civile of the Municipality of Benevento. The request must be made correctly, in Italian, with correct and precise data, clearly specifying what you are asking for (what type of certificate), and for what use (Italian citizenship), adding a postal coupon for international reply, a pre-addressed envelope to you , and a photocopy of your ID card or driver's license.
Otherwise it is ignored.
By email: Addressed to the email address of the Ufficio di Stato Civile of the Municipality of Benevento. Writing everything as indicated above, excluding the international reply coupon and the envelope for returning the birth certificates to you (the certificate to be requested is called: "Extract of the Birth Certificate") and awaits the reply. But an essential condition is to always send a picture of ID card as an attachment. Otherwise the request is discarded.
Don't miss to write your full postal address, also the Country, because many persons writing all, name, address, town, state, zip code, but,don't writing the Country.

If you've done all of this already, email the Mayor and ask if he can help you get what you need.
suanj

[JTSD20]

Thanks guys! I’ll keep those suggestions in mind. My ICA rep said the commune is really backlogged and I don’t want to go over her head since she is actively working on it.

Worst comes to worst, it’s good to know of these options though! Hopefully they come through in the next few months while I’m still waiting on a couple other things.

[SteveS]

Hi Suanj;

What a timely post - I have a question for you.

As I've been researching my personal case I've discovered timing issues which will probably thwart me, but I'm still gathering my information together because, well, this is immigration law and immigration law can change with one court case - and besides now I'm on a mission, dammit.

Aided by some help from cedrone and mmogno (thanks, guys), I wrote to my family's commune for my mother's and grandparent's docs. Mmogno linked a very useful PDF of the proper request document, which allowed me to ask for paperwork in the native language of bureaucrats everywhere, the long, detailed, form.

https://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/ ... 36#p328236

Unlike JTSD20, I got a reasonably timely reply. It took about 6 weeks, but three of those weeks were during August, which probably doesn't count, because... August.

It also probably didn't hurt that it's a small town in Calabria, and the mayor has a name found in my family tree. (But then again, so does everybody else - it's a little hill town where the family trees look more like hedges, so he almost certainly knows my family).

I asked for a 'copia integrale', but when I got the documents they didn't look like what I think of as "official" birth certificates.

I'm used to seeing modern documents, with just a few lines of data (record number, date, parents, sex, etc). These documents are abstracted from the old files, but are a modern document, embossed with an official seal and flowery signature and such. I've seen Italian documents like this online, so I know they exist.

In fact, I have an old birth certificate from my Mom issued in the 60's in this style.

The documents I got instead seem to be (very good) photocopies of the old Atti di Nascitti, stamped with what looks like an officials ink-pad stamp that says "Commune de Isca", etc, and a fill-in-the name and date area (which is dated and squiggle-signed in ink)

It's probably because I asked for the copia integrale instead of the abstract, and if that's what I want, well, that's what I've got. But compared to all the other documents I've gathered, it somehow it doesn't seem "official enough", especially seeing how legal proceedings dislike photocopies.

Any thoughts?

[suanj]

Hi Suanj;

What a timely post - I have a question for you.

As I've been researching my personal case I've discovered timing issues which will probably thwart me, but I'm still gathering my information together because, well, this is immigration law and immigration law can change with one court case - and besides now I'm on a mission, dammit.

Aided by some help from cedrone and mmogno (thanks, guys), I wrote to my family's commune for my mother's and grandparent's docs. Mmogno linked a very useful PDF of the proper request document, which allowed me to ask for paperwork in the native language of bureaucrats everywhere, the long, detailed, form.

https://www.italiangenealogy.com/forum/ ... 36#p328236

Unlike JTSD20, I got a reasonably timely reply. It took about 6 weeks, but three of those weeks were during August, which probably doesn't count, because... August.

It also probably didn't hurt that it's a small town in Calabria, and the mayor has a name found in my family tree. (But then again, so does everybody else - it's a little hill town where the family trees look more like hedges, so he almost certainly knows my family).

I asked for a 'copia integrale', but when I got the documents they didn't look like what I think of as "official" birth certificates.

I'm used to seeing modern documents, with just a few lines of data (record number, date, parents, sex, etc). These documents are abstracted from the old files, but are a modern document, embossed with an official seal and flowery signature and such. I've seen Italian documents like this online, so I know they exist.

In fact, I have an old birth certificate from my Mom issued in the 60's in this style.

The documents I got instead seem to be (very good) photocopies of the old Atti di Nascitti, stamped with what looks like an officials ink-pad stamp that says "Commune de Isca", etc, and a fill-in-the name and date area (which is dated and squiggle-signed in ink)

It's probably because I asked for the copia integrale instead of the abstract, and if that's what I want, well, that's what I've got. But compared to all the other documents I've gathered, it somehow it doesn't seem "official enough", especially seeing how legal proceedings dislike photocopies.

Any thoughts?

And what thoughts can you have? You must make the request again and expressly request "Estratto dell'Atto Di Nascita-modello Plurilingue" if you want the birth certificate, or "Estratto dell'Atto di Matrimonio-modello Plurilingue", if you want the marriage certificate ... the full copy you received is for genealogy purposes only or, sometimes, it is attached to the Extract, when there is some gap, or discrepancy, in short, as a clarification of the Extract itself, mainly for use by the Consulate, to make people understand. An example if the register is damaged, and the Registrar cannot read the mother's name, puts dots, and also attaches the complete copy, to make it clear that it is not that the child did not have a mother named in the birth registration, but only because the page is broken and the mother's name is illegible.

So if I understand correctly, you have received everything from Isca but you do not need it for the use you have to make of it. So you have to re-apply and you have to request the right Estratti. Not the full copy.
suanj

[afecad]

I'm also using ICA, it took 6 months + to get my great grandparents records from Isca sullo Ionio.

Due to the pandemic, everything is backlogged and taking longer than normal, 8 month processing time with the State of PA to get birth certificate with corrections, can even take longer if the person is deceased, court order and etc.

I was suppose to file my case in July, now it will be sometime in the spring of 2023, probably late spring.

[JTSD20]

Thank you Afecad. It’s good to see other’s experiences so I can temper my own expectations. Like the USCIS docs I just have to have faith that one day the documents will arrive. We still have some other stuff outstanding so it hasn’t held anything up so far. We haven’t gotten to the correction stage yet. I have some PA records and I hope that they don’t have anything that needs fixing since the turnaround like can be so long.