It's pretty easy to do it yourself, especially if you live in a consular district like Miami that isn't very picky about name and date discrepancies. There's a few jurisdictions that make it hard to order vital records but in general the process is straightforward. I wouldn't hire a service unless ...

I had my appointment in Miami this month and the consular officer had no problem accepting the Anglicization of Giuseppe->Joseph for my GGF.

You won't be able to apply for citizenship in the US because all the consulates enforce the 1912 rule. However it's possible you could apply at a comune in Italy because it's not universally enforced there.

Have you checked out your local library? Many of them provide free access to Ancestry.

Thanks. Looks like they spelled his name wrong in the Ellis Island database so his name comes up as 'Matalo' instead of Natale when searching. Any chance you can make out what's in box 16? Looks like he may have also been on his way to see a brother.

Thank you, sir.

I hope this is the correct forum for this question.

On the attached ship manifest is the entry for my GGF Giuseppe De Mare. He is on line 9. I am trying to read what is in box 16. I believe it lists an address and his brother's name but I can't make it out. Can anyone help?

It's my understanding that Cirò Marino didn't exist as a comune until 1952. Prior to that it was part of Cirò. Would that mean that the vital records of anyone born in Cirò Marina prior to 1952 would be in Cirò?

Okay, wanted to update this. Earlier I mentioned that I was waiting on the Pennsylvania death certificate of my GGF Giuseppe De Mare. Well I received it and apparently when he died nobody in the family knew anything about his parents so neither of their names were recorded on his death certificate ...

Any chance these records exist online? I found the birth records for Cirò on Family Search but they only go up to 1865 and I can't view any of them because I am not a supporter.

The birth documents I posted do have the marriage annotation on them.

I got Rosa's birth dates from my great grandparents' naturalization form and from her death certificate. I got her parents names from her death certificate.

I have no doubt the birth and marriage certificates are related to the same persons. What I am concerned about is if they are related to me!

Here is what I have. Giuseppe's birthday is only a few days off from the info I have (13 April 1881 vs 20 April 1881) but I need his death certificate to know if his parents' names match up.

The marriage certificate is typed with data taken from the original. The birth certificates are also typed and each of them has a reference to the marriage with the date that matches the marriage certificate.

I do not know the names of any of their siblings. The only thing I know about their family in Italy is that they had a daughter named Maria who was born in Italy before they emigrated to the United States.

The genealogist was also able to get the marriage certificate but it doesn't contain any ...