Calabrisella Mia

Chi ben comincia è a metà dell’opera.
Translation: A good start is half the battle.

Why does anything involving the government take so long?

I started the long process of obtaining my Italian citizenship a couple months ago. I am applying for dual citizenship (Canadian/Italian). Although I have wanted to get it for a while, I never actually took the steps necessary to actually get it.

Some Backstory…

My father was an Italian citizen when I was born. However, because he became a Canadian citizen after I was born, there is a lot of documentation that I have to get my hands on in order to prove that I qualify to get citizenship. I must obtain a search letter from Canadian Immigration stating when, where, and how my father became a Canadian citizen (thereby showing he was an Italian citizen at the time of my birth). In order to get the search letter from Canadian Immigration, I have to send them “long-form” pieces of documentation to prove that I am his daughter. Easy right? Not that easy! In Canada, when you marry, have a child, etc you never seem to get the “long-form” of your documentation. Ironically it’s the “long-form” of the documentation I seem to need for everything. So I’ve spent a lot of time filling out forms, and even more time waiting.

Now, I’m just waiting for the search letter to come back, which normally takes 3-4 months. Once I have that I can finally bring my application to the Italian Consulate and hopefully not have to wait too long (wishful thinking) for my citizenship to be approved.

It’s so exciting!  ! I want to embrace my Italian heritage and having the opportunity to be an Italian citizen is an honour. I guess this is how many immigrants felt when they moved to Canada and eventually became citizens here.

Stay tuned…

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