Paperwork appears in order

Because I'll be going to the US soon for a short visit, I decided to see if all of my paperwork for my Italian citizenship is in order. I tried to call Wednesday as it's the only day the man with whom I spoke to the first time is there. He didn't answer the phone all day last Wednesday, so I decided to just ride my bicicletta (bicycle) to the Prefettura (Prefecture) this morning.

When I arrived at the Prefettura, the guard at the door told me that I couldn't go up to the citizenship office unless I had an appointment. He handed me a piece of paper with the citizenship office's phone numbers. I walked outside the building and called the number to call for Monday from the sidewalk. I told the woman that I talked to the man who works on Wednesday whose name I read off of the piece of paper. I had talked to the woman who works on Tuesday before and she couldn't help me, but it was the first time I talked to the Monday woman. She also told me that Sig. C. (Mr. C.) is the only one who takes care of the Concessione della cittadinanza italiana (Claiming Italian citizenship). She suggested that I called Sig. C. even though it's not his day to schedule appointments.

I called him and he answered his phone immediately. I explained that I was going to the US and just wanted to make sure I had everything so that if I needed something else, I could get it while I was out there if necessary. I told him that my two translations still needed to be stamped by the Italian consulate in the States, but that I had everything else. I also told him that I was downstairs in front of the building and he said that I could come up. He told me to tell the guard at the door that I talked to him and that he said that I could come up. I spoke to another guard and he just waved me past him.

I ran up the stairs only to find Sig. C. with another person. I knocked lightly on his door and peeped my head inside his office. I just wanted to make sure he knew I was there even though I saw that he was busy.

When the other girl left his office, he came out to get me. He said he only had a few minutes because the other girl had to go and get a marca da bollo (official stamp). He said I could sit down and show him everything quickly, so I did. I went through every document, which I had put in a separate plastic folder with a post-it on the front describing what it was.

He said that the most important documents were the ones that were translated and required a stamp from the Italian consulate. The two documents were my certificato di nascita (birth certificate) and my FBI Identification Record Request.

We scheduled an appointment to meet next month, so I'm hoping it'll all go smoothly like it did today. The only issue now is that my permesso di soggiorno (permit to stay) will have expired for a week by the time I see him. I think the Sig. C. knows this, but now I have a doubt that he doesn't so I might have to call him again tomorrow. I could call him again from outside his office on the day my permesso di soggiorno expires in the hopes that he'll see me again without waiting.

Share your comments for this blog post on the Living in Florence's Facebook page. Grazie!

Back to Top