Signing our Italian Citizenship Papwork | Everyone Is So Excited!
We arrived into the train station in Boiano late one evening to meet up with Peter Farina, owner of italyMONDO!. He picked us up and drove us through the mountains to our wonderful apartment in Sepino, located at the foothills of the Matese Mountains in the southern Italian region of Molise. Peter, and his company italyMONDO!, have been working on our behalf since the summer of 2012 in order to help us request our Italian Citizenship. The remaining process will be completed here in Italy.
When you acquire Italian Citizenship “Jure Sanguinis” (By Right of Blood), you are requesting what is already yours from birth. Believe it or not, you’re not applying for Italian Citizenship. Notice the difference. Since our ancestors emigrated from Italy and did not renounce their Italian citizenship until after their children (our grandparents) were born, we have to prove our blood lines and request recognition of a right we already hold. At the end of this process, we will receive an Italian Birth Certificate (stating we were born “abroad”) which will be registered in the town where we are completing this process. Our Citizenship shows that we are Italian from birth, not starting at some other date. This is why there is no naturalization process, no oath of allegiance, no background checks, financial checks etc. We’ve always been Italian citizens – and thanks to Peter Farina & the italyMONDO! team we simply proved it. (In less than a year!)Interesting Fact
We were excited to find a company that would handle all the documentation that goes into getting your Italian Dual Citizenship from start to finish, because the research on your own could take years and is incredibly confusing. We have read countless horror stories on blogs and forums about losing heart, not having correct documents, and it taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Many people wait for 3 years or more just to get approved.
Handing in our final documents to the Mayor, Mena Zeoli. So proud to be Citizens of Sepino, Italy.
The process of acquiring your Italian Dual Citizenship can always be done Stateside via the Italian Consulates, but since 2007 can be done here in Italy. Doing all of the paperwork in the USA could be more convenient if you have a lot of time to wait (and then wait some more), but I’d recommend what we have done and complete the process here in Italy. One of the major advantages to doing it here in Italy is that — if done correctly — it greatly reduces the process time. But, the greater benefit is in the entire experience around acquiring your Italian Citizenship in Italy.italyMONDO! does a great job at making sure that everyone has a personal and individual experience. We have had the pleasure of living in and visiting some beautiful Italian villages and have met some wonderful people as part of our “Citizenship Vacation” here in the Molise region. (View some of our posts on the village of Sepino and the People of Sepino). There has been so many more benefits than just having a quick turn around time with our Citizenship, many of which that could never happen with doing it in the US. Each experience will be different for everybody, and italyMONDO! helps make the experience completely unique to you and your family. For us, we have hiked all over the outdoors, visited working farms and dairies, made cheese, hung out with the Mayor of Sepino and her family, hiked 8 miles to Robert DeNiro’s great-grandparents village of Ferrazzano, seen the over 2,000 year old Roman ruins of Saepinum (Altilia), visited the Matese mountains and the Lago di Matese, played in the snow and even walked in a procession for Good Friday – all while making some great friends!
Benefits of Acquiring your Dual Italian Citizenship:
I won’t go into full detail about how it all works, but there were some major benefits to receiving our Dual Italian Citizenship that led us to our decision. Here are some of the major benefits to obtaining your Italian Passport:
1. TRAVEL: You can travel freely in the entire European Union & Schengen Area. As an Italian Citizen you can stay as long as you want, with no need for visas or three month travel stipulations for those imposed on non EU residents.
2. WORK: You can legally work in Italy and any of the EU countries. This cuts down on the immense amount of red tape involved for entrepreneurs and also makes you attractive to potential employers because you can transfer between company branches in both Europe and the United States without restriction.
3. EDUCATION: College at certain Italian universities is free for citizens and tuition is lowered at many universities across the European Union.
4. HEALTHCARE: If you are a resident in Europe, with Italian Citizenship you’ll have access to almost free healthcare throughout the entire European Union.
5. PROPERTY: Having your Dual Italian Citizenship greatly reduces the red tape involved in purchasing property abroad!
6. PASS IT ON TO OUR CHILDREN: We may not take advantage of all the many benefits that having an Italian passport may hold (this by far is not an exhaustive list of benefits), but our children may! Your Italian Citizenship is passed on to your children, and with the world ever becoming more global our children will have an opportunity to live and work with much more possibilities.Interesting Fact
We’re happy to note that we should not only have our Citizenships completed in a month or so, but we will actually have our European ID cards in hand sometime in May! I couldn’t be more pleased with Peter and italyMONDO!, and if you are looking to acquire your Italian Dual Citizenship, make sure you go with Peter and tell him the DiLoreti’s sent you. 😉
Jill’s birth certificate and Italian documents will all have her maiden name. In Italy, the woman legally can’t take the man’s last name. Our ancestors changed their names when they came to the US in order to assimilate into American Society.Interesting Fact
I should also note that of all the companies we contacted, italyMONDO! was the only one to offer a full money-back guarantee on our Italian Citizenship. In fact, the “Skip the Consulate” service fee (their program for applying in Italy) isn’t even paid until we actually become Italian Citizens! italyMONDO!’s customer service has been great, and the other clients of Peter’s that we met while in Italy all had said the same thing.
If you have any questions about the process or how it worked for us, please feel free to shoot us an email.
Some Helpful Links:
NIAF (National Italian American Foundation) – Link For Dual Italian Citizenship
italyMONDO! – We highly recommend the Expedited Worry Free Process that we commissioned, along with his “Skip the Consulate” program in Italy!
Our Family, Mena the Mayor of Sepino, and Peter Farina of italyMONDO! after our final paperwork process. Just look at Rum’s face!
Awesome!
Good information. I am doing the process here in the U.S. right now. My appointment at the Detroit Consulate is tomorrow. I hope all goes well. I think all my documents are in order. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Ted – How did your appointment go?
We worked with Peter and used his skip-the-consulate program also. We stayed in San Martino in Pensilis in Molise. The entire experience was fantastic! I can’t say enough about Peter and his team, as well as our hosts and all the other people we met in Italy.
italyMONDO! is a totally fantastic organization! It has the best team of professionals who are second to none!I was referred to italyMONDO! by friends who had hired them to handle their Italian Citizenship applications. Due to this organization, my friends were successful in obtaining their dual citizenship, and now, after my terrific experience with them, I have been referring italyMONDO! to all of my friends and students as well. My experience at the Italian Consulate couldn’t have gone better! I will always sing the praises of italyMONDO! It is worth every penny spent. If you have a dream such as mine, Peter and his team at italyMONDO! will make it a reality. Do not hesitate to give yourself the gift of a lifetime by hiring italyMONDO! It was one of the best things that I have ever done.
I’m currently going through Peter also to get my dual citizenship , I was just wondering what airlines should I use ,should I fly into Rome and also if I do fly into Rome how do you get to Sepino- if by train do I book that ahead of time , how long did you stay in Italy ?
Rosalie, I would first say to talk to Peter and coordinate with him. Here are some answers to your questions and some thoughts.
1. If you can rent a car, it will give you the opportunity to see a bit more of the area. There are a lot of things that are hard to get to without it. Sepino is only connected by bus.
2. Flying to Rome is most likely your cheapest option, but check Naples and a couple other nearby places. Rome will most likely be the most affordable. Check out Kayak. Every time we have come, we have used different airlines.
3. From Rome, take a train to Campobasso. You can look for trains at Trenitalia.com – you can book ahead or pay at the station. Rome is busy, it could be better to arrange this ahead of time. Depending on your flight plans, it might be good to plan this for the day after you fly in. Stay in Rome at least one night. The Beehive is a great place to stay near the main train station.
4. From Campobasso you will take a bus to Sepino. Keep in mind that the bus station is a hike from the train station. Be prepared to walk. Both are viewable on Google Maps.
We stayed in Italy 4 months during that trip. We have returned and have been here about a year now.
Hope that helps. Please remember to contact Peter directly and coordinate with him. He may advise you differently based on arrangements or logistics.
I used ItalyMondo’s Worry Free service and can honestly say that it was truly a”worry free” process. I started the process with ItalyMondo in March of 2014, by November 4th of that same year I had all the documents necessary and turned in my application to the LA consulate, the application was flawless thanks to ItalyMondo and was accepted the first time around (the lady at the consulate says this is not usually the case)! I received notification from the LA Consulate that I was officially an Italian citizen in May of 2015.
Throughout the entire process Peter and the staff at ItalyMondo were responsive, professional and very knowledgeable about the very technical process required. I couldn’t be happier with their service! I even had the pleasure of meeting Peter and his wife, both wonderful people. I HIGHLY recommend ItalyMondo to anyone wanting to obtain Italian citizenship!
I’m in the process of obtaining my Italian citizenship (via descent, I have all the papers ready to go that have taken me over a year to get) and was told that it could take up to 6 months to get the citizenship from the NY consulate (which is insane). The only way to speed up or expedite getting the citizenship right away is to get proof I have a job, etc. waiting for me in Italy. Is there anyone I can talk to about this (are there people I can pay in order to obtain proof to submit to the consulate). Any info is appreciated. Thanks!
Desirae, My advice would be to contact Peter at Italy Mondo – http://italymondo.com – I believe that he will be able to help you, as he has navigated the US Consulates many times. Good Luck!!!
Getting Italian citizenship for my son and me was a longtime goal, and I explain why here: http://mindset.yoursabbatical.com/2013/11/20/a-mini-sabbatical-in-italy-fulfills-a-longtime-dream-citizenship/. I could not have achieved it without the help of Peter Farina and his staff. It’s a complicated process, to say the least, and you can waste a lot of money trying to figure it out on your own. I tried another company before I found italyMONDO!, and the man was a complete scam artist (if I’d done my research, I would have learned this before sending in my money). Peter Farina is the real deal – he started this business out of deep passion for his heritage and now he splits his time between Italy and the U.S. NO ONE knows the citizenship process as thoroughly as Peter – he’s on a first-name basis with the consulate employees. Plus, he’s just a gem of a guy and completely over-delivers on everything.
Peter and his italyMONDO! team successfully handled my wife’s and son’s citizenship and is now doing mine through marriage. Every step of the way, Peter, Filomena, Rosalie, Mannon and Eric have been there for our family. Whether it’s been navigating the paperwork, the linguistic challenges or guiding us through our surrogate Italian town – Frasso Telesino – our experience has been nothing short of unique, memorable and most of all . . . eccellente!
Peter was awesome to work with. He’s a true professional and a gentleman, and I can’t recommend him and his team highly enough. ItalyMONDO! made a dream come true for me and my entire family with ease, and value of their services can’t be beat.
Glad to hear that you had a great experience as well! All the best!
Like you, we really enjoyed working with Peter and italyMondo. We were impressed with how quickly they were able to locate all of the necessary documentation, especially given the number of times names were misspelled. We chose the “skip the consulate” method and it was everything you’ve described. Peter and Mena graciously showed us all over Molise and guided us every step of the way. For a seamless experience working with wonderful people, italyMONDO is the way to go.
Glad that you guys had a great experience as well. All the best!
– Prior to working with italyMONDO! I actually work with multiple other companies, all of whom were quick to take my money but I still got no where
– Mine was a unique situation and many other companies (including lawyers) even told me that I wasn’t eligible, but thankfully I found italyMONDO! and Peter quickly confirmed that I was in fact eligible!
– My situation was so unique that the San Francisco consulate originally didn’t think I was either — actually sending us away — but Peter gave us all the tools we needed and within a month the consulate actually apologized to us and told us they THEY were wrong and that PETER was right – inviting me back so they can accept my application!
– Since I first contacted them the team at italyMONDO! has really been incredible — always available and profoundly knowledgable — and have now seen both myself, my mother and my sister and her children through successful appointment in San Francisco and Los Angeles
– We’re now working with Peter & his team for my husband’s application for citizenship through marriage (Thank you, italyMONDO!)
Lori,
Glad that you had such a great experience. I hope that your husbands application comes through smoothly! All the best.
This year my son received an opportunity to play professional football in Italy, but he was told that he would have to become an Italian Citizen within two months in able to play! Unfortunately we live in the NYC Italian Consulate’s jurisdiction, so everyone told us it was impossible… but thankfully we found Peter at italyMONDO! and — literally just two weeks after signing their contract — my son had a successful appointment at the consulate! Peter and his entire team were fantastic to deal with and were totally flexible in our unique, rushed situation… always available, always knowledgeable. I can honestly say that we couldn’t have done it without their expertise. The process for my son was seamless, and now they are taking care of my citizenship as well as my children’s and my husband’s. Thank you, italyMONDO!!!
Great to hear about another great experience. Best of luck to your son and your entire family.
I began this process on my own with the help of my cousin, who is a part-time genealogist, but we quickly realized that navigating all of the bureaucracy required a specialist – even prior experience with apostilling documents wasn’t enough… My cousin stumbled upon and referred me to italyMONDO! as a result and it has been a smooth ride ever since. Peter & his team literally took care of everything and — even though I had a unique situation (I currently live in Milan and therefore had to do things directly through the town hall here) — he ensured that my application was prepared exactly as the Comune needed. Even after they lost part of it in the mail, the team gave me great advice about how to remedy the situation and what to ask for. Needless to say I am now writing this review as one of Italy’s newest citizens (with a huge thanks to italyMONDO!!) I really couldn’t have asked for better service.
Italy Mondo is amazing! From the personal attention you get to the multitude of options for pursing your citizenship or Italian genealogy. I am married and have 3 kids and I completed my Italian citizenship about 4 years ago and we’ve been living in Italy for going on two years.
It’s a lifetime dream come true. I’m still in touch with Peter regularly to ask question or to just say hello, I consider him a friend. Everything went super smoothly and Italy Mondo made going through the process fun. Everyone we worked with was great! I consider Peter and everyone at Italy Mondo the foremost experts on Italian citizenship and genealogy and I’m extremely grateful that I made the choice to work Italy Mondo.
I’d spent nearly 10 years accumulating family history and documentation, but was lacking the knowledge to make the last push to obtain recognition as an Italian citizen. Peter and team accomplished in several months what it would have taken me another 10 years to do: retrieval of all remaining docs from Italy, translations into Italian… the list goes on. Once that was done, I simply paid for services rendered and came to Italy to enjoy lunch with Peter, meet the mayor of the town in which my application was being made and sign the requisite documentation.
Shortly thereafter my birth was registered in Italy and I was able to apply (and obtain) my passport via the local consulate.
I’m hugely appreciative that a business like Peter’s exists, let alone that it’s so well run.
Thanks to italyMONDO! my son and I have our Italian Passports in our hands as of last month! Peter actually discovered and met our relatives still living in Sicily today and sent us pictures! Peter, Mannon, Rosalie and everyone we dealt with through the process were very professional; warm and responsive. We can’t imagine having to go through this process alone. The package they created for our consulate interview in L.A. was perfect; we had everything and more than what was required. From start to finish, the italyMONDO! team created a truly a worry-free experience. I have already referred four new families to them!
I first hired italyMONDO! when pursuing recognition of Italian Citizenship for both me and my son through the San Francisco Consulate. They made the process simple, easy, and fast. Their customer service was excellent. Our experience was so positive that I have hired them again to handle my wife’s citizenship through marriage. This is an excellent company, and I highly recommend them.
I contacted Peter in August of 2014 after spending years trying to gather and finalize documents with some mixed success. Peter got back to me within 48 hours and set up a free phone consultation. I had several questions and he answered them all. I decided to apply in Italy. Everything from my end was seamless. I took my trip to Italy in October; the accommodation was wonderful and the people they connected me with, both ItalyMondo! and those in the area were friendly, helpful and made my time in Italy meaningful. I received recognition in December and returned for my ID card and passport in February. Peter took care of drafting everything for my AIRE registration which was incredibly helpful. I cannot speak highly enough of ItalyMondo! and Peter. He is friendly, helpful and responsive. As I’ve shared with him, in a world where kindness and courtesy is often lost, I appreciate his considerate nature and eagerness to help in any way. I highly recommend working with Peter and ItalyMondo!
Hi,
My name is Dot Palmer and my grandmother came to the United States in 1925. My mom was born in Italy but it wasn’t until 1954 my grandmother obtained her American citizenship. I am second generation American technically…am I eligible for dual citizenship?
Thank you