Author Archive

Summer Updates

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

The citizenship process is just slow right now. All documents have been submitted and sent to Italy. We were hoping things would go without a hitch, but… at this point, it doesn’t look like that’s going to be the case. The application was sent back in April 2010, but is pending in Rome right now. The consulate believes Rome will want more info, so a lawyer has been sent to see if he can expedite the case. Hopefully things can still be resolved with a few more documents, but I may still need to go through a legal process in Italy to have the citizenship recognized.

Update for may-june

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

Finally ran out of the money from the original retainer, so had to send another 2500. Thankfully the Lord provided that sometime back and we’ve just had it sitting in savings. Also got all the paperwork submitted again for sending to Italy. Hopefully it’s all on track again.

update on citizenship wait

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

well, had to laugh a little at the situation… I handed the documents to the lawyer and he sent them in on Dec. 8th. When my mom when through this process, it took 3 months to the day to get word back from Italy that she had been confirmed. So I was expecting something around mid march, more or less, giving some time added for Christmas break. When I didn’t hear anything through march or the first week of April, I decided to email the lawyer and find out how things were going. Turns out he had just gone to the Consulate and asked about the status, only to find out that they had been missing some piece of paperwork and never sent the docs to Italy. So all this time I’ve been waiting, and by now starting to think maybe I had been rejected, turns out to be nothing. I’ll let this be a lesson on how things work.

citizenship docs are in!

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

well, I talked to the lady in probate yesterday and they still had not received any word. I asked about my adoptive father being able to get the docs and she said he would. So Shelly took the day off of work, we went and picked up my dad and hauled him down to probate court this morning. They gave him the documents with no hassles whatsoever. So I dropped Dad back off and then drove to the State Department building in downtown LA to get apostilles on 16 documents. 2 hours and $400 dollars later, everything was in hand. So I attached the translations to the docs while shelly drove and we made our way over to the westside: Wilshire just west of the 405 and submitted the docs to the lawyer. He meets with the Consulate on Friday and we hope all goes well. As of now though, my part is done. If all goes well, hopefully I will be an Italian citizen within a few months.

adoption docs update

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Still waiting on these to come in, so I called this morning to check on the status and was told they still haven’t come back from the judge despite being on his desk since 2 November…. This has taken far longer than last time…..

I checked on the same request I had to do three years ago and the stamps say it was received September 12 06 and was signed and processed by Oct 3 06: basically three weeks. It took them three weeks this time just to get the request on to the judges desk and the judge has been sitting on it for 5 weeks today.

I am supposed to call back later today and the lady is going to find out what is happening, but I hold very little hope they will actually get me the documents in time.

new copy of birth cert

Friday, November 20th, 2009

I also decided a few weeks back that since my copy of my amended birth cert is now 20 years old, it MAY be time to get a newer one. I called the secretary of state’s office to see if they would put an apostille on it, and they said they would, but still….. seemed like a good idea to get a newer one. So I went to Norwalk to get a copy.

I was really impressed with the new computerized system… you swipe your drivers license and it picks up who you are, where you live, and sets you up to get your printed copy just like that. then…… it asks if you happen to be adopted……

why yes! I DO happen to have been adopted. no good it says, go to the information desk.

so I go to the information desk where I am told I’ll need to order one from Sacramento. Disappointed but undeterred, I go back home, go online and print out the form. I need to have it notarized so they know it is ME requesting the doc, so I go to the UPS store, present the ID and have the form notarized. put all the money in and send it off. Decided to check online how long the average wait is: 18 WEEKs!!!!

Guess I won’t be getting this anytime soon……

adoption docs still not back

Friday, November 20th, 2009

I spoke with the lady at probate who over two weeks ago told me that she was behind, but would have them out in two weeks…… she still hasn’t gotten anything back from the judge, so it’s really running late right now. keep praying. Since I don’t imagine these will come until next week, it’s unlikely I can get apostilles, get them to the lawyers, and then to the consulate before december. but it’s all in the Lord’s hands.

Funny how I was praying for these to come a lot quicker than they usually would, and instead they are coming a lot slower than they usually would. not sure if that is due to the Lord’s timing, spiritual warfare or what. but ultimately, there is nothing to do except pray and trust God.

Adoption Docs update

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Still waiting for the certified adoption docs to come. I spoke with the lady in charge of it at the OC probate court and was told they are backlogged right now and it would take an extra few weeks. But she said they would be out within two weeks… so hopefully mid next week they arrive. Then I will need apostilles and then…. everything delivered for approval.

Translations

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Well, the hard copies of the translations seem to have gotten hung up, or worse- lost, in the mail. But I was able to get digital copies and print them out. I think it should be OK with the digital prints but if needed I can always drive down to Capistrano and get them from the translator… that is if they don’t show up in the next few days.

Now just praying for the certified docs to come in early. I was praying for them this week, but nothing yet…

dave

Citizenship Update: Adoption Docs… again….

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

I needed to get all the adoption docs certified and an apostille on each one and then get them translated and sent back to the lawyer. Since I had to petition an Orange County Superior court judge to have access to the adoption docs a few years ago, but didn’t get all the docs certified, I was hoping to have the remaining docs certified over the counter by simply bringing them back in.

Doesn’t work that way apparently, so I will need to again request access to the folder and have them certified and then sent to the house. I’m asking for EVERYthing in the folder to be certified this time…. at least it doesn’t cost anything…. so that whatever they might need in relation to that folder will covered.

I sent them in 2009 Oct 08, and will be expecting them back somewhere around the end of this month or the first week of November.

In the meantime, I’ll have to get the copies I have right now translated into Italian, and THEN haul them all to the State Dept and have them apostilled for 26 USD per doc. Just waiting on the lawyer for confirmation of which docs he will need because I’d rather not pay the translation and apostille fees for the docs he doesn’t. That could run the cost up pretty high.