How is the L.A. consulate?

[thechef65]

I am scheduled to have an appointment with the Los Angeles consulate in the next few months. I was just wondering if anyone here had an appointment with them recently and could tell me how the L.A. consulate is. I do not see many posts about them. Thanks and good luck all!

[Pagliari]

I am curious about this too. Especially for ppl who are doing it the way I am. My dad will apply first and then once he is accepted Rafaela told me that it will make it much easier for me to apply too.

[dazzler]

Just letting you know that the folks at LA consulate (Rafaela in particular) has been very gracious and helpful during my application process.

I was told that it would be 2 years from my application date (June 07) before I would receive my citizenship (through marriage) and at that time I could also apply for my Italian passport.

[thechef65]

Awesome! Thanks for the follow up.

[uwlaw]

Just a heads-up that the procedure for citizenship through marriage is totally different than that for jus sanguinis, and that the timelines for each accordingly vary. Requests for citizenship through marriage are granted by the Government back in Rome; requests for jus sanguinis are approved at the consulate level. This doesn't mean that one will necessarily take less than the other (it depends on the backup at each location); it just means that the timeframe for one doesn't necessarily corrolate to the other.

[thechef65]

That makes sense. I have my appointment in 3 weeks so hopefully everything will work out.

[Pagliari]

I hope so. Please let us know how long they tell you it will take. Thanks

[teggiano77]

I had a interview for citizenship through family (great-grandfather) in June, 2007. I was told it would take about 2 years as they were working on 2005 applications at that time.

[brockandlaura]

Does anyone know if your Documents need to be translated for the L.A. Consulate? I know the New York consulate does not need translation, so I was hoping that the L.A. consulate would not need it either.

[teggiano77]

Yes, they do. Go to their webpage and they have a list of recommended translators. I used Alberto Cioni.

[EUjoy]

Does anyone know if your Documents need to be translated for the L.A. Consulate? I know the New York consulate does not need translation, so I was hoping that the L.A. consulate would not need it either.

also if anyone is reading this form the NYC jurisdiction, the NY consulate now DOES require translations.

[Domenico]

I had an appointment on Monday (May 12) with Monica Pescatori at the LA Consulate. Let me tell you that she is awesome! She is extremely helpful, and my mother, sister, and I submitted our applications without any problems. She told us that we are already considered citizens, but in about two months, we will have a letter from the consulate so that we can apply for our passports. That seems like a much shorter time than what we have been hearing.

[Larry]

Hi Teggiano/BrockandLaura,

ICGS had Albert Cioni translate most of my documents and I was not incredibly impressed with his work. He made some mistakes that needed correcting--fortunately, I was able to notice those mistakes.

It looked as though he went too fast through the documents (which seems a bit ironic as it took a very long time for me to actually receive them).

You can probably find someone cheaper and more thorough.

If you were in Mass, I would recommend Sal Mustica. Or you could mail the documents to him... If memory serves me well, his information is listed on the post entitled "Boston Translators". He is pricey like Albert/ICGS, but much more professional quality and lightning quick.

[jd]

Domenico,
Wow. Two months sounds pretty good to me. I also was hearing that it would take much longer. I was beginning to think that the LA and SF consulates were pretty much identical when it came to processing applications. Just a quick question. Were all of your documents originating from California? My documents aren't too scattered. The majority are from CA and a few others are in the NY jurisdiction. The comune receiving the application is in Naples, so I don't know if that will have an impact on when everything is processed. Best of luck to you!

[Domenico]

JD,
Actually, most of my documents were not from California. I have stuff from NY, Ohio, and Pennsylvania as well. However, Monica Pescatori was the one who told us that she would register us with the Comune (we are from a small town in Caserta province), and then send us the letter in about two months for us to use when applying for a passport.

From what I understand, the Comune is not who approves the application, nor the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Everything is done at the consulate now, and all copies are retained there. According to what we were told, this is a recent development as the Ministry of Internal Affairs has told the consulates that they don't want the paperwork sent to them or the Comune, but kept at the consulate.

This might explain why most recent applicants are receiving their letters in 2 months whereas most who applied in 2005 are just getting their letters now. Hope your application goes well too!