I was a little nervous when a woman called me saying that she was from the prefettura (prefecture) earlier this week. There’s only one reason someone would call me from the prefettura: my Italian cittadinanza (citizenship). I hoped that she had good news for me, but I knew that good news would only come in a letter.
I had considered calling the agency in Rome that has my pratica (file) last week, but I didn’t get around to it. I was told me that by mid-November this year, I should have a response to my application. And the man I spoke with last year was polite and said, “Ci chiami quando vuole, signora. Siamo sempre qui. (You can call when you want, ma’am. We are always here.)”
The woman from the prefettura asked me to bring my dichiarazioni dei redditi (tax returns) for the last three years, the time my application for cittadinanza has been in their hands.
On Wednesday, I went to her stanza (room) and brought her my dichiarazioni dei redditi. After looking them over, she said that we should probably get my husband’s as well. I was a little disappointed since my application for cittadinanza is based on my paternal nonni (grandparents) who were both born in Italy. The woman agreed, but wanted to make sure we gave them everything so we don’t have to keep going back and forth.
Today, I returned to hand over my husband’s dichiarazioni dei redditi. As she looked at them, she said, “Non sono copie conforme They aren’t certified copies.” I told her that she never mentioned that and went to talk to two of her colleagues to find out.
A part of the prefettura was on strike this morning, so not many people were even around.
She decided to send to Rome what I gave her, and that I can check on the website by the end of next week. She said that the response should come soon unless they want something else from me. I’ll try to be patient, but for now my fingers are crossed that I get a positive response soon.
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