Saturday 24 April 2010

At last....

After a not so long journey, but full of obstacles in its way, I managed to come afloat.
As I have mentioned in my previous post, all DC, along with MC and BC where in Argentina and needed to get to me before April 14th at 9:00.  
My dear aunt ended up mailing all the documents by UPS since they had a guaranteed delivery by 8:30 in the morning that April 14th, and at this point it was a chance we needed to take.
That morning I took the children to school and came back home in a hurry awaiting these long awaited documents and finally at 8:15 my door bell rings and here they were!


I checked all the documents, made copies of some of them and off I was along with my mother, who I had previously added to my appointment.
We arrived at the consulate at 9:30, a half hour earlier, which is not a big deal since if you are more than 10 minutes late, they automatically drop your appointment!


I soon as we entered the consulate we notified a very nice gentleman at he information window, that we had an appointment at the citizenship window at 10:00 and we were told to wait. 
We waited no more then 10 minutes when Virginia, this very nice and polite short brownish/reddish short hair and petite lady called my name.  We came to the window and she asked us who our lineage was, "my great-grandfather", I answered.
She then started requesting the documents in order, she asked for:

*--My great-grandfather's BC
*--My great-grandfather's certificate of Naturalization or Not Naturalization, to which I said my aunt was picking it up in Argentina the following day, since it had gotten lost in the Argentinian mail, I showed her the order proof they Camara Electoral had given my aunt to pick up this document, where it said "Certificate of Non-Argentinian", meaning had never become an Argentinian citizen.  She read it and said to mail it to her when it became ready, and she kept this document I showed her.
*--Next she asked for my great-grandfather's marriage certificate
*--My great-grandfather's death certificate
*--And then she started asking me for my grandmother's BC
Please Note: She never asked me for my great-grandmother's information at all, since I was doing this process through my great-grandfather, she said they were not necessary.
*--Then she asked me for my grandmother's marriage certificate
Please Note: My grandmother divorced almost 50 years ago, but since my mother was born during that marriage the certificate was not necessary.
*--Then she asked for my mother's BC
*--My mother's marriage certificate
*--My mother's divorce certificate, since my mother was applying for the citizenship as well.  Virginia told my mom at this point that she needed to get the "Statement of NO appeal", or certificate of no appeal, and that she could mail it once she received it and had it appostilled.
*--Then she asked for my BC
*--My marriage certificate, I gave her my husband's birth certificate at this point, which she kept.
*--And BC for all three children
Now, my first child was born before my husband and I got married, therefore, Virginia said my husband would have to go to the consulate to have our child recognized. I told her that we were moving in 2 days and she said to come back next day and just ask for her, and so we did.
*--She then asked for all 4 forms filled out that are on their website, which we had, including form 3 filled out by my grandmother and certified in Argentina, along with a copy of her Identification.
After we gave her all the documents, she made us sign the A.I.R.E. while she was assigning us case numbers, and she had my mother fill out an additional form to have her divorce recognized in Italy. 
When she came back to the window, she gave me her business card to have the 2 missing documents mailed to her attention, along with their respective case numbers which she added in the back of her card.  She did say that there are hundreds of applications to go through and that it may take some time to hear back from them.
The next morning I went back with my husband, Virginia had written a letter of recognition, which the both of us signed and that was it!


Now, I am waiting for the certificate to arrive from Argentina and I'm in a quest trying to locate the certificate of no appeal that the court where my parents' divorced has no idea what I'm talking about  But I'll just keep trying!!


I'll post an update soon!!!!

2 comments:

  1. Greetings,

    Let me say congratulations on your journey with the Dual citizenship process. I am elated to read about another success story, especially through the Miami Consulate. My name is Antonio and I as well have embarked on the journey of applying for Dual Citizenship. I, as well, am applying through the Miami Consulate, appointment scheduled for the end of August 2010. I been spending the good part of the past year obtaining documents, doing research and making sure all documents I have are in order. As you have stated in your Blog, Virginia is a very sweet, knowledgable lady who is nothing short of pleasant and informative. I have been to the Consulate on numerous occasions, asking questions that just could not be answered by reading blogs or postings online. Virginia was very patient with me and I admired that, on top of that, she really was able to provide pertinent information that only could be answered in person. Kudos to Virginia.

    I had read some of your blog previously, as I have been searching forums and message board, hoping to find success stories out of the Miami Consulate. Your blog is very informative and provides enough pertinent information for anyone seeking to apply for Dual Citizenship. Thank you for a wonderful read, a nice way to enjoy a lazy sunday afternoon. Hoping to read more about the final step in your journey, the actual acknowledgement of your Citizenship.

    Ciao,

    Antonio A.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you Antonio!
    I wish you the best of luck this coming August..

    Buona Fortuna

    ReplyDelete

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