Good service to order Italian Birth Certificates

[grandpa77]

I need to order 4 birth certificates for my 4 grandparents.

Do you know a good service I can use to do this ?

[johnnyonthespot]

It is nearly always possible to do this yourself by simply writing to the comune where they were born. Certificates are generally free and most comuni respond to personal requests nearly as quickly as they do to requests made by commercial firms (who are liable to charge you $100 or more per document.

If you tell us the name of the comune/comuni, we can give you an address and tell you how to format your request.

[grandpa77]

2 of my grandparents were born in Salerno.

2 of my other grandparents were born in (sciaca or sacca or something like that pronounced "Shoc-ka") Sicily, I'm not sure how it's spelled because different document spell it different ways. They were fisherman.

Thanks for the help

[grandpa77]

I'm willing to pay for a speedy service if that's available.

[johnnyonthespot]

Possibly Sciacca? Comune di Sciacca, Provincia di Agrigento, Regione di Sicilia.

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Sciacca
Via Roma, 13
92019 Sciacca AG
ITALY

Salerno is both a comune (city) and a province. If your ancestors were born in the city of Salerno, the following address will work. If they were from another comune within the province of Salerno, you are going to first have to figure that out.

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Salerno
Via Roma - Palazzo di Città
84100 Salerno SA
ITALY

You can use a letter like this one, or search the forum for other examples:

13 giugno 2011 [giugno is June; month names in italian are written lower case]

[your name]
[your address]
STATI UNITI D'AMERICA - USA


Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Salerno
Via Roma - Palazzo di Città
84100 Salerno SA
ITALY

Egregi Signori,

Mi chiamo [your name here], ed abito negli Stati Uniti all'indirizzo sopradetto.

Vi scrivo affinché mi aiutiate a reperire:

* Estratto Per Riassunto Per Atto Di Nascita
* Estratto Per Riassunto Per Atto Di Matrimonio [if they were also married in the same comune]

per il mio nonni [your relationship to the person - see below]:

* [ancestor's name, last name first, all caps] nato nel Comune di [name of comune], in data [date of birth or 'circa 1884' for example], paternità [father's given name if you know it else 'incerto'], maternità [mother's full maiden name if you know it "SMITH JANE" else 'incerto']

* [repeat the above for second ancestor]

Vi prego di farmi sapere quanto dovuto per il servizio e per i costi di spedizione.

Distinti saluti,

[your signature]

Birth/marriage/death photocopies of original registry pages are called: Copia integrale dell'atto di Nascita/Matrimonio/Morte. These are more difficult to read but contain lots of additional useful information compared to...

Birth/marriage/death computer-generated (sometimes hand-written) extracts are: Estratto Per Riassunto Per Atto Di Nascita/Matrimonio/Morte

Most comuni do not charge for these documents. Do send a large, self-addressed (but not stamped) envelope if possible; be sure to put "STATI UNITI D'AMERICA - USA" in the final line of your address. It is also a good idea to include a copy of your ID (driver's license, for example) as some comuni will not process a request without it.

Relationships:
Father: padre
Mother: madre
Son: figlio
Daughter: figlia
Grandson: nipote
Granddaughter: nipote
Sister: sorella
Brother: fratello
Uncle: zio
Aunt: zia
Grandfather: nonno
Grandmother: nonna
Grandparents: nonni
Great grandfather: bisnonno
Great grandmother: bisnonna
Great grandparents: bisnonni
Great great grandfather: trisavolo
Great great grandmother: trisavola
Cousin: cugino (male) cugIna (female)
Nephew: nipote
Niece: nipote
Husband: marito
Wife: moglie

[priere]

I need to order 4 birth certificates for my 4 grandparents.

Do you know a good service I can use to do this ?

Those services are notoriously slow and most the time you won't get your documents at all. Don't trust them. Do it yourself, you'll get the docs quickly.

Seriously, I learned this myself the hard way.

If you have trouble locating documents there is a member on this board who lives in Italy (I don't recall the gentleman's userid though I'm sure someone else does) you can hire and has had excellent success and reviews from users.

[NOLATom]

I ordered several documents from Sciacca. I used Mr. Nicola through Italiamerica.org. Because I wanted documents a few generations back, they had to be converted from old Italian to Italian and then translated to English. He gave a few options, which was the official doc for use in a foreign country or a signed photocopy of the original from the town book. For one person I got both and for all the others I got just the original and the translations. He first sends a PDF of everything before he mails it. His turnaround was fast. I know the Commune also responds, as I have received docs from them, but it takes a few months. I have seen numerous comments from others having used other sites and they were not happy with their service. It was not cheap, but I was happy with my service.

By the way, familysearch.org has all the Sciacca records online, so you can actually find your grandparents, then order the copy.

Good luck.

[grandpa77]

Thank so much for your help!!!!

FamilySearch seems to be better than all the pay sites I've visited.

I would like to hire the person on this board that lives in Italy. If you find his contact information please let me know.

=========================================================

If you have trouble locating documents there is a member on this board who lives in Italy (I don't recall the gentleman's userid though I'm sure someone else does) you can hire and has had excellent success and reviews from users.

[fargone]

Hello my dear.
if you want, I can help you to find your grandparents came from Salerno, also in 2 days. But I need a refund because I have to go to Salerno and i'll have some expenses, given the fact that I'm not beyond. Appearance your reply. Greetings
))

[PippoM]

My experience with Salerno is that I e-mailed them (I still have the address, if you want), and they sent me a digital copy of the act.

[fargone]

Very good! They have done their duty. Have a nice time for your research

[grandpa77]

So I paid someone to search Salerno for a birth certificate for the year my grandfather was born and I was told there is no record in the city and that I will have to search all of Salerno. I'm frustrated. Does anyone know a service that can search all of Salerno ?

[Italysearcher]

You have to do your US research first and determine the EXACT place of birth. Salerno is a Province as well as a city. Many immigrants used the Province's name in coversation but you will need to find a boat record or naturalization record to find the place of birth. There are lots of services who will take your money and your word that Salerno is the place of birth even if the record is not found there. Do you really want to pay someone to contact every town in the province?
If you are having trouble finding a US record try lostquays @ ymail.com. They can find anything!

[fargone]

Hello grandpa77
I'm Gabriele D'Apolito, an historical researcher from near Salerno. I can help you in your research. If you need some informations, you can write me on my mail address (grldapolito@gmail.com)
Best regards, Gabriele.

[grandpa77]

I'm going to request a birth certificate from Sciacca.

So I don't need to sent them money or a stamped envelope? If I send a return envelope they pay for the postage back to me ?

I'm going to mail it to:

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Sciacca
Via Roma, 13
92019 Sciacca AG
ITALY

I guess there is only 1 commune for Sciacca

Thanks




Possibly Sciacca? Comune di Sciacca, Provincia di Agrigento, Regione di Sicilia.

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Sciacca
Via Roma, 13
92019 Sciacca AG
ITALY

Salerno is both a comune (city) and a province. If your ancestors were born in the city of Salerno, the following address will work. If they were from another comune within the province of Salerno, you are going to first have to figure that out.

Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Salerno
Via Roma - Palazzo di Città
84100 Salerno SA
ITALY

You can use a letter like this one, or search the forum for other examples:

13 giugno 2011 [giugno is June; month names in italian are written lower case]

[your name]
[your address]
STATI UNITI D'AMERICA - USA


Ufficio dello Stato Civile
Comune di Salerno
Via Roma - Palazzo di Città
84100 Salerno SA
ITALY

Egregi Signori,

Mi chiamo [your name here], ed abito negli Stati Uniti all'indirizzo sopradetto.

Vi scrivo affinché mi aiutiate a reperire:

* Estratto Per Riassunto Per Atto Di Nascita
* Estratto Per Riassunto Per Atto Di Matrimonio [if they were also married in the same comune]

per il mio nonni [your relationship to the person - see below]:

* [ancestor's name, last name first, all caps] nato nel Comune di [name of comune], in data [date of birth or 'circa 1884' for example], paternità [father's given name if you know it else 'incerto'], maternità [mother's full maiden name if you know it "SMITH JANE" else 'incerto']

* [repeat the above for second ancestor]

Vi prego di farmi sapere quanto dovuto per il servizio e per i costi di spedizione.

Distinti saluti,

[your signature]




Birth/marriage/death photocopies of original registry pages are called: Copia integrale dell'atto di Nascita/Matrimonio/Morte. These are more difficult to read but contain lots of additional useful information compared to...

Birth/marriage/death computer-generated (sometimes hand-written) extracts are: Estratto Per Riassunto Per Atto Di Nascita/Matrimonio/Morte

Most comuni do not charge for these documents. Do send a large, self-addressed (but not stamped) envelope if possible; be sure to put "STATI UNITI D'AMERICA - USA" in the final line of your address. It is also a good idea to include a copy of your ID (driver's license, for example) as some comuni will not process a request without it.

Relationships:
Father: padre
Mother: madre
Son: figlio
Daughter: figlia
Grandson: nipote
Granddaughter: nipote
Sister: sorella
Brother: fratello
Uncle: zio
Aunt: zia
Grandfather: nonno
Grandmother: nonna
Grandparents: nonni
Great grandfather: bisnonno
Great grandmother: bisnonna
Great grandparents: bisnonni
Great great grandfather: trisavolo
Great great grandmother: trisavola
Cousin: cugino (male) cugIna (female)
Nephew: nipote
Niece: nipote
Husband: marito
Wife: moglie