Also, it's a legal question so I will, of course, confer with my lawyer -- but it's also a question about translation requirements and since many of the masters here actually do legal translations, I thought someone might shed some light on the subject, for my sake and the sake of everyone is a similar position.
I have an application for Italian citizenship via my mother (a 1948 case) that's now winding it's way through the courts in Catanzaro.
I have recently received a new document that may help my case, a large file from the US Immigration Service, with photocopies of the documents from my mother's Certificate of Citizenship (she was born in Italy with an American father and Italian mother). The new documents establish that she never naturalized in the US.
When I submitted all my documents for the original filing several months ago, I misunderstood the translation requirements, and the docs had to be re-certified in Italy, at significant expense.
I would like to avoid that again, and am looking for clarification on the process.
I now understand that normally, documents used in Italian courts have to be (1) apostilled (of course), then (2) translated to Italian (also, of course), then (3) the translation itself has to be certified.
For documents coming from the United States this means sending them to the Italian embassy, which offers a notary service for certifying the translations (this is the part I missed).
From the embassy website: https://conssanfrancisco.esteri.it/en/s ... documenti/
“Documents written in English or other languages must be translated in Italian in order to be valid in Italy. Sometime an apostille is required as well.
The Italian Consulate does NOT offer a translation service; it only certifies the translation of a document from English to Italian (or vice versa) is complete and correct.”
(goes to list requirements)
OK, I've got that, but there seems to be an additional requirement at the bottom of the page specifically for documents used in citizenship cases in Italian courts:
TRANSLATIONS OF DOCUMENTS FOR THE PURPOSES OF REQUESTING ITALIAN CITIZENSHIP
PLEASE NOTE: The Citizenship Office of the Italian Consulate takes care of the translation certifications for all applicants who have applied for citizenship at our Consulate in San Francisco, and in this case the cost of the certification is free because it is already included in the payment of the fee required for this procedure.
If the request for Italian citizenship is filed in Italy, the competent Italian Consulate based on the origin of the documents will simply confirm the correctness of the documents by email, but the certification of the translations must be made in Italy by a sworn translator in a Court of Law.
I take this to mean that documents used in citizenship filings in Italy are a special case and are handled differently?
If so, does anyone know what part the embassy plays? What does “Consulate... will simply confirm the correctness of the documents by email” actually mean?
Is there a procedure for “ the certification of the translations must be made in Italy by a sworn translator in a Court of Law”.
Is this a 'per page' or 'per document' thing?
It is a lengthy file, 30 pages, but all fastened together under one apostille. There are only about 8 pages of actual informative stuff, then another 22 pages of one-sentence letters going back and forth between US Immigration and mom's lawyers: “any news yet?” “nope, not yet” “your appointment is on the 22nd”, etc.
The translation runs about 45 pages.
I will, of course, consult with my lawyer, but I'd like to understand the process as well as I can, since It will be expensive so I don't want to have to do it twice.
