DIY jure sanguinis citizenship?

[Italia1969]

We're wondering how hard it is and how much money we might save doing the jure sanguinis citizenship process ourselves (vs using an agency -- I have another post wondering if any good recommendations for agencies). Our Italian relative is a great-grandparent and we've found most of the important documents digitally (birth records from Italy, US birth records, passenger ship manifestos, naturalization records, etc). We've been quoted about $7k from 2 agencies.

We definitely don't have the time to take this on as a full-time job (if that's what it would turn out to be) so would welcome any thoughts on how long it generally takes to get all the Italy/US documents yourself, approximate cost of everything needed (original docs, translations, apostilles, copies, etc.), if it turns into a full-time job for DIY'ers, etc.

At this point we're not sure if we'll use the Italian consulate in Los Angeles (where we live) where appointments are 2 years out, or whether we'll go to Italy next year and do it there so that we can get it faster (which I may also post about).

Thanks so much for any insight and thoughts in advance!

J.

[bbivona]

I did it myself through Houston. It took me about 3 months to get all the documents needed, some locally, some at the state of Texas, some through national archives, some at the Comune of Gibellina, Sicily. I checked with the consulate and they said that I was permitted to do my own translations, but that I should be sure I know what I was doing because they're strict on accurate translation without errors. I decided to go ahead and do it myself, but that took quite a while because of the complexity of the legalese on all the different certificates, etc. and because of my parents really long divorce documents, but I got it done and it was accepted. That was far and away the most difficult and time-consuming process, probably a month or so doing some every night, checking and rechecking it. For all the documents and certifications I needed I probably spent around $500-$600. I saved a lot of money on translation, but it was definitely a lot of effort to do it. In hindsight I probably should have paid for translation. I was taking some risk with that because it's so hard to get an appointment at the consulate. With inadequate translation you end up getting sent away and go back into the queue to get an appointment, and that could cost you months or years. The rest wasn't that hard. You just have to read the requirements very carefully and check over it a couple of times to be sure it's all there.

[Italia1969]

Thank you so much @bbivona. That's very helpful. I wonder how much translation services might cost, but that's something that I could look into.

[mler]

Costs vary, but if you ask around, you will find someone who will translate for a reasonable fee. I sent my translator a copy of the documents and at the same time I sent the originals out for apostille. Professional translators generally have templates that will allow them to complete the task accurately and efficiently.

It makes sense to schedule an appointment in LA immediately since the waits are long. If you are concerned about cost, you need to understand that a short trip to Italy is insufficient to apply there. You will generally need to establish residency and stay there approximately two months. There are services that will help you with both the residency and application process, but recent posters on other sites have reported fees of approximately $10,000. Since COVID, there have been more restrictions.

[Italia1969]

Thanks, @mler. Unfortunately LA is not currently booking citizenship appointments (they say due to Covid) and the calendar already shows July 2023 being the earliest possible appointment even once they do start taking appointments again. And I did find some very qualified translators so feel prepared for that portion of the process once we have all the docs.