I thought that it was about time that I updated you on our tortuous family quest to remain European. My husband is Italian and British, while our daughter, son and I are British. Because of Brexit, we’re applying for Italian citizenship for me and the kids. I’ve been sharing the details of the application process, because people have been asking me about it. You can read my previous posts about our applications here. I hope that they’re helpful – but remember that I’m not a lawyer and I’m no expert in this process, I’m just sharing how we’re doing it.
Italian flag, Cinque Terre, Italy. Copyright Gretta Schifano
Last time I wrote about this (in Applying for Italian citizenship – part 4), my husband and I had just been to the Italian Consulate in London to make the application for our adopted son. The documents to register our marriage had been sent by the Consulate to the authorities in Italy, and the documents to register our daughter’s birth had been returned to us (because she’s over 18 and therefore has to visit the Consulate in person and pay 300 euros rather than registering for free by post). This is what happened next.
Birth registration
Our daughter made an account with the Consulate’s ‘Prenota online‘ system so that she could book an appointment to go there and apply to the Citizenship Office in person. Appointments are released online at 7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and you have to be very determined and organised in order to get one. The first few times that she tried to book, the appointments were all gone within seconds of becoming available. Eventually she managed to book a slot for three months’ ahead. It meant a trip to London from university during term time, but she was very relieved to have finally got an appointment.
She was worried about going to the appointment on her own (‘What if they ask me stuff in Italian?’), and so my husband took a day off work to go to the Citizenship Office with her.
Citizenship Office
On the day of the appointment my husband and our daughter set off for London bright and early. They queued up outside the Consulate. Once inside, my husband was told that he’d have to wait outside the building while our daughter went alone to the Citizenship Office, because she’s an adult.
Although she’d been worried about the appointment, she says that it was actually fine. She presented her form and documents and was asked some details about her Sicilian grandparents. Everything was in order and when it was time to pay the 300 euro fee, my husband was allowed back inside the building so that he could make the payment by debit card.
The Consular official told my daughter that she’ll definitely get Italian citizenship, but it will probably take two years because of a backlog in London. Apparently she will eventually receive an email telling her that she’s an Italian citizen.
Adoption Registration
The documents to register our son’s adoption have been sent by the notary from the Italian Consulate in London to a local Court in Sicily. The notary says that she’ll let us know when she has confirmation that the adoption has been registered in Italy. Once this happens, our son will be an Italian citizen.
Marriage registration
I’m still waiting for our marriage to be registered with the authorities in Sicily. Once that’s happened, I can apply for Italian citizenship by marriage. I understand that this application is a long and bureaucratic process which is likely to take at least two years.
What happens next?
Here are the next instalments:
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 6
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 7
The previous parts of this story are here:
The one where I decide to apply for Italian citizenship
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 2
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 3
Applying for Italian citizenship – part 4
Hi Gretta, I was wondering if you could tell us how long it takes to get the appointment in the consulate to show the documents? because I have read that the certificates that I need to request from Italy are only valid for 6 months..
Hi David, I have no idea, sorry!
Hi Gretta,
Does your daughter have any tips on how to grab one of the appointments at the London consulate? Have been trying and failing for several months!
Hi Natalia, I know it’s really tricky! My daughter just kept on trying and eventually managed to get one.
Wow – two years. That’s a long time to wait! I had no idea it would be so long and tortuous, when you said you’d decided to go for it. Worth it in the end, though.
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I hope so, when we eventually get there!
Hi Gretta. Good luck with this. I’m on this journey too as my dad didn’t register mine or my brother’s birth in the 60’s and early 70’s. With my brother they were worried he would be called up for national service. My documents have been completed and (hopefully) with the consulate for the last year but I have heard nothing since they went in last January (2018). It doesn’t seem possible to check on the status of applications and the last documents I sent in, I didn’t get an acknowledgement of receipt so I don’t even know if the application is proceeding. I found the process costly despite the seemingly initial outlay of €300. I think I’ve spent closer to £1000 with documents, translations, apostilles and I also had to do a costly check to get a certificate to say that my dad did not renounce his Italian citizenship. If anyone knows of any way of checking the status of applications please let me know. I have a house in Italy and would like to end up there one day so am hoping this process all works in the end! Good luck!
Hi Lorena, thank you – it’s all so complicated and time-consuming isn’t it! I’ve found the same as you, there’s no way to find out how the applications are going. My husband is visiting relatives in Italy soon, and he’s going to go to the local town hall to try to find out from that side. I’ll update things on here if there’s anything helpful to share. Good luck with your application, I hope that it goes through soon.
Hi Gretta, I have been following your citizenship story with interest, and wondering whether I might embark on a similar process. My husband’s father and grandparents (who met and married in London) were Italian but his grandparents both died at an early age and his father was sent to foster parents. He adopted their name and – it being that time in 20th century history – rarely mentioned his Italian heritage.
What do you think are the chances that my husband – and I – have of now obtaining dual citizenship? Just for the record, I am retired so have time on my hands and I am pretty persistent!
Best wishes on your journey…
Patti
Hi Patti,
I’m not sure at all! If your husband has his father’s birth certificate with his Italian birth parents’ names on, then that would be a start I guess. If he doesn’t have it, I think he can order a copy from the UK General Register Office (I’m assuming he was born in the UK?). Once he has that, then he should be able to apply to the Italian Consulate in London to have his birth registered with them. He would problem also need details of his grandparents – names, dates and place of birth. Then once he’s registered, you could register your marriage. If you read all of my posts about what I’ve been doing, then you could follow the steps that I’ve gone through to register our daughter’s birth. I reckon you have a chance of doing this, so it’s worth a try. It will take a long time though!
Hi Gretta
I was told the same as your daughter at my consulate appointment. It’s a minimum 2 year wait once the application is in the system with thousands of applications waiting to be processed.
Good luck with your application!
Thank you very much – you too!
Best of luck with this, the only thing to do in these cases is persevere. Wishing you a happy and peaceful new year.
Thank you, it’s a very long process, but hopefully we’ll get there eventually.