The Eternal Headache of Requesting Documents

[Marconucci]

Just sharing my experience and asking a couple questions:

I need official copies of my grandparents birth and marriage certificates from Serra San Bruno.

I mailed a letter with an official request form for each document. I asked them to contact me if there was a fee. Miraculously, they took the time to answer and communicated to me via email that there is no fee, they just need a SASE. I should have known that but whatever.

Getting the right postage from the US was apparently very difficult, so I hired somebody on Fiverr who lives in Milan to mail the request and a SASE to the comune for me. I received a letter from Serra San Bruno with a postmark date a month and a half prior, but sadly found that they only sent one of the documents I requested!

I tried sending them an email in Italian explaining the situation but I never got a response, possibly because I wasn't sending it from a PEC email?

So I hired the person on Fiverr again to send another SASE requesting the other two documents. It's been over two months, still waiting. The tracking shows they did receive my request in July.

I hear that Poste Italiane is notoriously unreliable. They claim mail from Italy to US arrives in 10-25 days. Where was the first mailing for that month and a half after it was postmarked? Do you think they fulfilled my request immediately but it's just lost in the mail?

Why did they only send me one of the documents? I've seen the images of all three in an online database so I know they exist in that town.

Is there a better way?

[qualdom]

If all else fails, try Giovanni Montanti. You can easily find his contact information online. I've hired him many times and I am always happy with his results.

[harrystyles7117]

Thank you so much!
papa's games

[Marconucci]

Thanks for the tip