The consulate in Miami doesn't have an Italian flag out front and it looks like another uptown building next to retail shops. It is easy to find. When you enter the lobby you just take the elevator up to the consualte floor. It's a modern looking building.
1) When you enter the consulate suite there is a bank teller type window that is clearly marked as CITIZENSHIP. There is also a row of about 4 or 5 windows along side the citizenship window. I got there about a half hour early and stood in front of the citizenship window. There was a man in front of me and no one behind the window. The man said she would be back soon as she was checking on something for him. I should not have stood here.
I should have gone to one of the 4 or 5 staffed service windows and told them I was there for my appt, than sat down and waited for my name to be called. I didn't do that until about 10:15, so it appeared that I was late for the appt. The woman who was helping the man was not the citizenship person, she just happened to talk to him at that window.
Still, the woman was very friendly and pleasant to meet with. My mom was with me for the appt. There were usually 50 people in the suite at any given time and the staff all seemed friendly and helpful.
2)SAVE THE FOREST. She din't want any photocopies, and I had made plenty of each document. I would suggest that you make one extra copy just in case and I willl explain in a bit. Also, don't bother to download the 4 forms that are on the Miami web site. They don't use them. From what I can gather, they copied the same format as the other consulates web site but they don't follow all the details they say on the webpage.
3)GOOD NEWS, only documents in the direct line are needed. For us that meant my grandfather, my mom, then me. I had all documents for my grandmother, my dad and my husband. They are not looked at at all.
4) MORE GOOD NEWS, if there are minor discrepancies in the FIRST names of your direct line, it's not a problem. If the name change is something like Maria to Mary and Marie that is ok. My mom's first name was different on each of her documents but close enough that it was ok.
5) AND THE GOOD TIMES COME TO A HALT, my mom's oldest sister changed the spelling of the family name by one letter. She made a ch into a ck so people would pronounce it correctly. When my mom got married she used the k spelling on her certificate. When I was in NYC two weeks ago, I had her marriage certificate corrected. My birth certificate has her maiden name with the k also. I didn't have time to correct this.
I was born on Long Island,NY, so I have to go through New York STATE instead of the city for the ammendment. Miami will not accept ANY discrepancies in the last name.
My mother was with me, the person whose name is spelled wrong. Prior to the appointment I had my mom sign an affadivit, I had that apostilled and Miami still said no. I went on to explain that the change was made to keep the Italian pronunciation. She understood but firmly stated that the only way they can accept any discrepancy is with a court order. She would not take my birth certificate. She did ask for a photocopy of it though, so she could put it in her file as a reminder of what is missing from the documents. I wasn't too upset about this because I had my mom's corrected marriage certificate so I felt that while it would take time and more money, New York State would be able to amend my birth certificate.
(I suggest that if you do have errors, make a copy of that document to submit if you run out of time to correct it before your appt.).
Once I get my birth certificate fixed, she said to mail the amended certificate back to her and she will continue processing our applications at that time. She didn't give each document a thorough review, more of a glance to make sure names and dates were in line. The citizenship department will review the documents in more detail and notify us if there is a problem. I didn't have any records of my grandparents marriage certificate in Italy, but I did have three different letters from the comune telling me in on form or another that the records couldn't be found and that they were probably lost with the damage from the war. At first she wasn't going to accept the letters but she went back to check with someone else and came back and said ok, they will allow them.
6)ORDER OF DOCUMENTS, she wanted the documents in chronological date order starting with my grandfather's birth record and moving forward from there. Again, just the documents in the family line and no copies.
7)Once she took all our documents, she handed us three forms each, the AIRE, and one to register our birth and marriage information. Two of the forms are in both english and italian, the third one is in Italian only but is easy to follow. She will also help you fill it out and double check all of the forms to make sure they are ok. The room was noisy, I was filling out forms for both me and my mom while balancing a book on my lap and I ended up making a few mistakes, such as putting my id number on my mom's forms and putting her address on my forms. I had to cross it out and write over it. She doesn't give out another form to use. My fomrs looked sloppy but she said not to worry about it. It is basic info regarding event/date/location. On one form you will write in english that you declare that you have never renounced Italian citizenship.
We were never asked about where we have lived since we were 18. We didn't need copies of ID. A driver's lic or passport is fine as long as it lists a current address.
They are about six months to one year out on setting appointments for citizenship. They hope to get that down to a shorter wait period and are working hard to do so. They also have a ton of appointments and are very busy. There was a man behind me who was there for his 11:00 appt. 9) The processing time can be under one year once all the documents have been submitted and the application has been processed. They will notify you by email or regular mail about your application and they will send you a letter asking you to come in for your passport once you are able to qualify for it.
10) She also said that they may request additional papers, and if so, the consulate will notify me. I was thrown off by that somewhat, but she just repeated it again when I asked what types of papers. I have no idea what that may mean, but I'm hoping it won't amount to anything.
I'll start the process of amending a New York State document tomorrow. I hope this is helpful to those of you going through Miami. I'll let you know what happens with my application process.
JM
. Her death record does have her maiden name as well as my fathers last name. I legally changed my name and have my mother's maiden name, have all legal documents supporting this matter and I also have BC and DC of my father to prove he was my father. 
