Ciao,
I am traveling to Italy in September and thought it would be prudent to get official records while I'm there. This will be my second trip and while my first was incredible, I was very lucky to run into some great people to help me out along the way. I have been able to keep some contacts (sadly some have not responded back), but for this trip I'd like to be able to walk into the Ufficio di Stato Civile in any of the towns and request official birth, marriage and death records for my ancestors. This would be helpful to a future JS application. So I have some questions:
- Is not speaking Italian going to be the worst hurdle I encounter? I'm learning, but I won't know enough before September. In my previous trip I found the language not to be as big a barrier as I thought it would be, but I did have a lot of help and was lucky to run into people that spoke English. They also seemed to have sympathy for Americans looking to re-connect to their past.
- I have 2-3 days in each town. I could drop a request and pick it up the next day. Will it make it easier and faster if I had a form already filled out that will show what I am requesting? I know all of my names, DOB's and DOD's. I've gone online and found all of the documents I need on FamilySearch. Now I just need the official copies direct from the comunes.
- Should I mail a letter ahead of my arrival stating the purpose of my visit? I know these offices can be busy and that there are everyday citizens trying to get things done in their own town. I want to make it as smooth as possible. I also want to put my best foot forward and give them a face to put to the name when they see it again.
- Are my requests just going to perturb people at the comune? Should I just mail requests to them and wait like everyone else does?
Any answers, thoughts or comments are welcome and thanks for reading my first post!
Jeff
Obtaining Records IN Italy
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Cristina319
- Rookie
- Posts: 26
- Joined: 23 Oct 2011, 23:29
Re: Obtaining Records IN Italy
Hi, Jeff. I got my grandparents' birth certificates on the day I went to the comune....IOW, no waiting. I walked in about 20 minutes after they opened, had my grandparents' names, their parents' names, and DOBs, and within 15 minutes I had both certified birth certs.
At the time, I didn't speak Italian, but I had everything printed out so as to avoid problems. A man who happened to be there, too, translated a bit for me that day.
I think a lot depends on the comune and the clerk. The one I had was snarly until she realized who my relatives in town were; she then went out of her way to help. I took her a bouquet of flowers the next day in appreciation.
Hope this helps a bit.
C
At the time, I didn't speak Italian, but I had everything printed out so as to avoid problems. A man who happened to be there, too, translated a bit for me that day.
I think a lot depends on the comune and the clerk. The one I had was snarly until she realized who my relatives in town were; she then went out of her way to help. I took her a bouquet of flowers the next day in appreciation.
Hope this helps a bit.
C