Preparing for Milano

Posted by Dave 

Mom called yesterday and said that my Grandfathers death certificate arrived. It took roughly 2 and a half months for it to get here. I haven’t seen it yet, so who knows what surprises await me. 

The mystery of my grandfathers actual birthdate is deepening. The Birth cert from Italy said 4 November, but everything here says 13 November. My mom found a couple of old papers, including his original passport when he came over from Italy, that said his birthday was 4 November. She remembers him being unsure as to whether it was the 4^th or the 13^th. He apparently chose the 13^th to remember it, because once here, that is what he gave as his birthday. 

My next move is to go back to the consulate with a complete list of discrepancies and get the consulate officers opinion as to what needs to be amended. If they want it changed, then I’ll go through the trouble, but if they are OK with it, then all the better. 

Posted by Dave 

I’m not going to try and get the birth cert amended, I’m just going to get the typo corrected. The discrepancy is very minor and not worth the effort. I sent it off today and it will probably take a month or so to get it back with the apostille. 

Still haven’t decided what to do about the death cert. I may try and get it fixed because I will have the certified copy of the original just in case they don’t get it to me in time. 

Ho deciso di non provare di emendare il certificato di nascita. Vorrei averlo cambiato solo il refuso. E mica grande l’errore e credo che non valga la pena. L’ho rimandato oggi ed immagino che volerà forse un mese a tornare con l’apostille. 

Non ho ancora deciso cosa da fare nel caso del certificato della morte. Può darsi che proverò di emendarlo perché avrò l’originale di usare se l’emendazione non tornerà fra ora e l’appuntamento. 

Posted by Dave 

Got the docs yesterday and found that Michigan forgot to put the apostille on mom’s amended birth cert. I called them and they said no problem, just send it back and they would take care of it. 

Then I noticed that the info on the amended cert had been copied wrong and my grandfather’s age was listed as 23 rather than the 33 on the original. Again no problem, just note what is wrong and they’ll fix it. 

Then I realized that the 33 on the original was wrong! He was only 32 at the time. Probably, the European date format is the culprit. They note the dates in the date/month/year format. So when nonno gave his birth date, he probably wrote it as 4/11/1898 which would have been understood as April 11 here, rather than November 4. The clerk writing the Birth cert thought his birthday was past and listed his age as 33. 

To get that changed, I’ll have to send another 2 pieces of evidence. I have his birth cert for the first, but when I checked the death cert there is ANOTHER date November 13, listed as his birth date. So now I will need to get that changed by the state of California. I need to request a special form from the state, pay money and provide them with a couple of docs for evidence and then 8-9 months later, I’ll get a new cert. 

I have roughly one year before my appointment with the consulate, so I’d better get moving on this stuff. Michigan takes about 6-8 weeks to change things. California takes 8 months. Sheesh. 

The other option is to just note all the discrepancies for the consulate and maybe they will let them go. I don’t know if I want to try that or not. I think that if I have the time, I’ll go ahead and just pay the moolah and hope the amended docs show up on time. If they don’t, then it’s on to plan B: note the discrepancies and pray for the best. 

Posted by Dave
Just got word that my mom’s birth cert with apostille arrived at her place in San Diego. She will be sending them up here to me tomorrow, so I should be getting them by Friday/Saturday. I am still waiting for my original birth cert and my grandfathers death cert. But with these 4 documents in hand I am fairly close to having all the documents I need. In fact, though I am waiting for another copy of my grandfathers death cert, my mom actually has one at her place already. So if need be, I could use that one. And I may not need the original birth cert since the adoption cert and decrees already have all the info I need. Then just need to pick up copies of my sons birth certs and I have all of them.

Ho appena ricevuto notizie che il certificato di nascita di mamma col apostille è arrivato a casa sua oggi. Lei meli manderà domani, poi li devo avere in mano venerdì/sabato. Sempre aspetto il mio certificato originale di nascita, il quale non è ancora arrivato ancora dallo stato, e il certificato di morte del nonno. Ma con questi quattro documenti arrivati, sono quasi quasi arrivato al posto di averne tutti. Infatti, anche se aspetto una altra copia del atto di morte, mamma ne ha uno e se ho bisogno, posso usare quello. Inoltre, sarebbe possibile che posso andare avanti senza il mio certificato originale dato che l’informazione necessaria è già inclusa nel certificato del adozione. Allora forse non ne avrei bisogno. Poi ottenere copie dei certificati dei miei figli e…… tutto a posto.