George Ann, perhaps you have siblings or cousins living in the same consulate's area who would share the cost of the grandfather's documents? Also, you have the advantage of relatives in Italy who could help get the documents. As for the renouncing of Italian citizenship, I don't think that would matter - Italy based citizenship on blood. You can't change your genetics! So my message is don't give up!
Also, if you talk with the citizenship official at the Italian consulate responsible for your area (which I'm thinking is the one in New York), they should be able to suggest an agency to help with translation. By the way, you should make an appointment with the consulate, since sometimes you can only get an appointment a year in advance. So make the appointment now. You can always postpone or cancel the appointment later if you don't have everything together by the time the year goes by.
Since you have a family in Italy, perhaps they can help you get the birth certificate. You would want the birth certificate to have an apostille added, to verify it. Also for documents in America you need to get an apostille for every document. In America an apostille comes from the secretary of state for the state where the document is from, and certifies that the original document was signed by someone the secretary of state knows is legitimate. In Italy I'm not sure where the apostille would come from.
The key thing to find out: was your grandfather still an Italian citizen when your father was born? If he was naturalized as an American citizen before your father was born, you won't be able to proceed. But if he was naturalized after your father was born, you are entitled to dual citizenship. So seek out the naturalization papers, which you will need anyway. That is really your first step.
I have not done this process myself, but my sister and brother both did it (one at the Miama consulate, one at the Philadelphia consulate). By the way, the consulates don't provide documentation to each other. So if you have a sibling living in a different consulate area, they have to start from the beginning all over again! It is really upsetting to me because I live in the Boston consulate's region. If I were in Florida or Pennsylvania it would be easy for me to do this. But since I'm in a different consulate's territory it becomes difficult for me to accomplish it.
Comments posted
George Ann, perhaps you have siblings or cousins living in the same consulate's area who would share the cost of the grandfather's documents? Also, you have the advantage of relatives in Italy who could help get the documents. As for the renouncing of Italian citizenship, I don't think that would matter - Italy based citizenship on blood. You can't change your genetics! So my message is don't give up!
p.s. GeoAnn, I found one more link that might help you:
https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States_Naturalization_and_Citizenship
Ciao GeoAnn,
You should be able to research the naturalization of your grandfather at the National Archives. Take a look at this link:
https://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/naturalization
Also, if you talk with the citizenship official at the Italian consulate responsible for your area (which I'm thinking is the one in New York), they should be able to suggest an agency to help with translation. By the way, you should make an appointment with the consulate, since sometimes you can only get an appointment a year in advance. So make the appointment now. You can always postpone or cancel the appointment later if you don't have everything together by the time the year goes by.
Since you have a family in Italy, perhaps they can help you get the birth certificate. You would want the birth certificate to have an apostille added, to verify it. Also for documents in America you need to get an apostille for every document. In America an apostille comes from the secretary of state for the state where the document is from, and certifies that the original document was signed by someone the secretary of state knows is legitimate. In Italy I'm not sure where the apostille would come from.
The key thing to find out: was your grandfather still an Italian citizen when your father was born? If he was naturalized as an American citizen before your father was born, you won't be able to proceed. But if he was naturalized after your father was born, you are entitled to dual citizenship. So seek out the naturalization papers, which you will need anyway. That is really your first step.
I have not done this process myself, but my sister and brother both did it (one at the Miama consulate, one at the Philadelphia consulate). By the way, the consulates don't provide documentation to each other. So if you have a sibling living in a different consulate area, they have to start from the beginning all over again! It is really upsetting to me because I live in the Boston consulate's region. If I were in Florida or Pennsylvania it would be easy for me to do this. But since I'm in a different consulate's territory it becomes difficult for me to accomplish it.
Good luck! It's definitely worth the trouble.