Once you have determined your eligibility for Italian citizenship by descent, the next step will be to prepare the vital records for your application. You may wonder which documents are required for you to claim Italian citizenship, where to obtain them, and in what format they should be. Vital records are one of the most fundamental parts of building a successful citizenship application and include birth, marriage, and death certificates of the individuals in your Italian lineage. This article will act as a thorough guide of vital records in the United States, where you can locate them depending on the year the event occurred, and the process to request a certified copy of the record.
What are vital records
No matter if you are applying at an Italian consulate in the United States, a municipality in Italy, or via a court case, vital records are a key part of your citizenship application. You will need to submit the vital records pertaining to all the individuals in your Italian lineage as well as your own vital records. Additionally, some Italian consulates also require the ones for spouses of individuals in the Italian lineage, so it’s important to check your local consulate for specific requirements. Vital records include birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates (if applicable), as well as certified copies of naturalization records of the Italian-born ancestor or proof they never naturalized. These documents are fundamental in proving an unbroken chain between you and your Italian-born ancestor.
The history of vital records and statistics in the United States dates back to the 17th century when many vital events were recorded by local churches or at the town level. However, there were problems with compliance and enforcing registration. Massachusetts was the first state to mandate statewide birth and death record registration in 1841, and other states slowly began to follow. Advancements in the study of medicine and immunology in the late 20th century led to a need for comprehensive data and statistics on births and deaths nationwide. There was a growing concern about public safety due to the cholera and yellow fever epidemics, increase in immigration, and sanitation issues from industrialization. In order to begin collecting data on a nationwide scale, standardized forms and regulations were created and implemented at the state and county level.
Where to locate vital records
In order to find a birth, marriage, or death certificate for any of the individuals in your Italian line, first determine the town and county where the event occurred. If you are unsure of this information, referencing federal or state census records can show you where they were residing. The first federal census was taken in 1790 and has been taken every 10 years since, with the most recent year publicly available being 1950. Additionally, some states, like New York, conducted census reporting in 1905, 1915 and 1925, providing additional interim information helpful for your genealogical research.
In most cases, vital records are held by the Department of Health in the state where the event occurred. However, where a record is located may also depend on the type of record and when the event occurred. For example, marriage records are oftentimes not issued by the Department of Health but by the County Clerk in the county where the marriage took place. However, in other states, marriage records are issued by both the Department of Health and the town and/or county. For example, in California, marriage as well as birth and death records from after 1905 are all held by the Department of Public Health.
Additionally, divorce records are also necessary if any of the individuals in the Italian line of descent were divorced. Divorce decrees can often be retrieved from the court where the divorce was filed. In addition to the divorce decree, you will also need a “Certificate of No Appeal” stating that no appeal was filed after the final judgment. If the “Certificate of No Appeal” is not available, you may alternatively request a case summary.
Within the state’s Department of Health, there is generally a division or bureau that manages the vital records system. For example, in Massachusetts, there is the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics (RVRS) and in Illinois, the Division of Vital Records. The National Center for Health Statistics maintains a website compiling information for each state as a quick reference guide and a direct link to each state’s Department of Health website. This website is where you can learn many details regarding that state’s management of vital records, what years are held by which department, how to make a request for a certified copy, and who is authorized to make that request.
When did the event occur
When locating birth, marriage, or death records, it’s important to be aware of the state’s history of vital records registration to understand where the record may be held. Mandatory statewide registration began at different times in each state but was generally between 1880 and 1910, or in some cases even earlier. Before statewide registration, records were held only at the town or county level and usually reported to the county clerk. However, oftentimes during the earliest years, registration was not compulsory or had low compliance rates. This means that if the record you are looking for occurred before statewide registration began, you may need to contact the local county clerk in the county where the event occurred. Alternatively, in some states, the older records have been archived and are held at a State Archive. If the event occurred later, it will most likely be easier to locate and will be held at the state level with the Department of Health.
Additionally, some states have restrictions on what records can be accessed and some are confidential. According to law in many states, records become public after a certain number of years, for example, 50 or 100 years. In some cases, certified copies of these records can still be requested by authorized individuals related to the registrant, but in other cases, a court order is required to release a copy. In Florida, statewide registration of birth and death records began in 1899 and births less than 125 years old are confidential. However, if the individual on the record is deceased, a copy can be requested by the spouse, child, grandchild, or sibling. Marriage records from 1927 to the present have been registered by the county clerk and with the state, so requests can be made to the clerk of the Circuit Court where the marriage occurred or to the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Earlier marriages are only available at the county level.
Some states offer public indexes or scanned copies of records that are available online for review. Being able to locate a digital copy of the record you need is crucial in verifying that the record does in fact exist and confirms where you will need to request the copy from. This may also provide you with a certificate number to reference when making the request and will aid in the process of retrieving the certified copy of the record. Without this confirmation, there is the risk that you could send a request for the certified copy and they return a “certificate of no record”, which could mean that the record is held by a different department or location in that state, or in rare cases, is missing or was destroyed. Oftentimes, genealogy websites like Ancestry.com and Familysearch.org have databases of these indexed records. It’s also advisable to look on the state’s Department of Health website, as they may have their own searchable database of records or links to other helpful resources. For example, the Pennsylvania State Archives has scanned birth indices for the years 1906-1918. However, requests for certified copies of birth or death records that occurred after 1906 are to be submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Health either online or by mail. Earlier records can be found at the county level and marriage records are also only to be requested from the marriage license clerk in the county where the license was issued.
How to request a vital record
Once you have located the office that holds the record you are looking for, the next step is requesting the certified copy. This process can vary depending on the state, but there are generally a few options available, including by mail or email. In some cases, you can make a request by phone and some states have offices that are open for walk-in services. In most cases, there is an application form to be completed, which is available on the department, county or court’s website. You will also need to provide acceptable copies of identification and supporting documentation to demonstrate your relation to the individual on the record, according to the state’s requirements. When requesting a birth record of a deceased individual, many states also require a copy of the death certificate to be submitted as well.
In Illinois, some of the earliest vital records can be found going back to 1877, but statewide registration didn’t begin until 1916. While most vital records are held by the state’s Department of Health, records from before 1916 should be held at the county level. For example, births that took place in Cook County, i.e. Chicago, are held by the Cook County Clerk’s office, where certified copies of records can be requested from. The appropriate forms and instructions can be found on their website and requests can be sent via mail or online. To retrieve a birth certificate of a deceased individual, a death certificate will also need to be provided. Certified copies of marriage records can also only be requested from the county clerk in the county where the marriage took place.
In Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics maintains all vital records (birth, marriage, and death) that occurred after 1931. Requests for certified copies can be made by mail, online, and in some cases, copies can be ordered in person. Copies of divorce records can be ordered from the probate court where the divorce was granted. Birth, marriage, and death records from 1841 to 1930 are housed at the Massachusetts State Archives.
When requesting a vital record by mail, simply send the form, any required documents, and copies of identification to the address listed on the department’s website. Some states also require you to submit a postage-paid self-addressed envelope. The processing time to issue a record depends on the state or county but can vary from a few days to several weeks, plus additional shipping times. In most cases, the record will only be mailed to the applicant’s residency listed on their identification.
There is also the option to utilize the authorized 3rd party vendor VitalChek, which is an online service that works with over 450 government agencies responsible for issuing vital records. You simply submit the order through their website and they will communicate with the relevant office in that state to locate the record. They will charge an agency fee and processing fee which covers the costs of searching for and preparing the record as well as validation services.
The fee to request copies of vital records ranges between $10 to $25 per certified copy, usually payable with a check or money order for mail-in orders and a credit card for online orders. For example, mail-in submissions for a birth record from New York State cost $30 per copy while in Florida cost $9 per copy.
When retrieving birth and death certificates, you will need to request a certified, long-form/book copy of the record. However, in some states, the formats they issue may vary or be called by different names. For example, Texas offers a short or long-form certified copy of a birth record, and Indiana offers what is called a standard size or long form. While other states, like Ohio, only offer one form of a certified copy of vital records. The short-form copy is only suitable for non-legal purposes and is not accepted by the Italian authorities as it does not list information like the parents’ names of the registrant. It’s important to request the form offered by the state that is most comprehensive and provides the most details about the registrant. Additionally, certified copies of records for citizenship applications must be recently issued and originals of records are not suitable.
For marriage certificates, the long-form format of a marriage certificate will include the parents’ names of the bride and groom, which is crucial in your citizenship application to show the Italian lineage has been passed down correctly from one generation to the next. However, the format of a marriage certificate can vary from state to state, so it’s important to have a record that will provide as many relevant details as possible. For example, the marriage record in some states only lists the spouses’ names and the marriage date. If possible, you can also request a certified copy of the marriage application which will include more details including the parents’ information of the bride and groom.
Who can request a vital record
There are often restrictions on who can be issued a certified copy of a vital record. These criteria may change depending on the type of record that is being requested (birth, marriage, death) and the date the event occurred. For example, in Texas, certified long-form copies of birth and death records can only be requested from the child, parent, sibling, grandparent, spouse, or legal representative of the individual named on the record.
Each state will generally list on their website the eligible individuals who can request vital records, some more restrictive than others, and will also require them to show proof of their connection to the registrant. For instance, a certified copy of a birth certificate from New York State will only be issued to the person on the record or the parent. If the person on the record is deceased, as well as his or her parent, a court order from a New York State Court is required. On the other hand, New York City is considered a separate jurisdiction and its vital records are housed by the NYC Health Department’s Office of Vital Records, including those from the boroughs of Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx. In this case, a wider range of relatives can request a certified copy of the vital record, while also needing to prove their connection to the individual on the record.
Another example is Maryland, which only issues birth certificates to the individual named on the record or the parent or spouse of the individual. Similarly to New York State, if the person named on the record is deceased, as well as the parent or spouse, a court order would be required to obtain the birth certificate. In Alabama, birth records less than 125 years old are confidential with restricted access. However, they can still be requested without a court order by authorized individuals including the registrant, a parent, spouse, child, or sibling.
Church Records
In regards to church records, such as baptism certificates, it’s often wondered if they can be used in place of civil vital records like a birth certificate. In most cases, church records can only be used if a civil record cannot be located. Additionally, a statement will need to be provided by the county or state that evidences this lack of a civil record, for example, stating that there was no birth record registered for that individual. It’s also advisable to check with the Italian consulate through which you are applying to confirm that they will accept a church record in these instances, as each consulate may have a different policy.
Amendments
A successful application for Italian citizenship is comprised of vital records that are consistent and demonstrate a clear lineage from the applicant to their most recent Italian-born ancestor. The citizenship clerk examining the application will scrutinize the details in the records, ensuring names and dates match across all the documents. Discrepancies and inconsistencies in names and dates can make it difficult for the clerk to verify the applicant’s Italian lineage and confirm their claim to citizenship. It is advisable to make amendments to records, when possible, to correct errors and provide consistency. However, not all records are amendable and each state has different criteria and procedures for correcting records. Be sure to check with the state or county where the record is issued to verify their policy and process for submitting requests for amendments.
Conclusion
This article has served as a guide to retrieving the US vital records necessary for your Italian citizenship application. Where to obtain vital records often depends on the year the event occurred and the type of record, whether it is a birth, marriage, or death certificate. Additionally, each state has different laws regarding vital records and procedures for how to order a certified copy, including who is allowed to make the request. It’s always advisable to check with the Department of Health in the state where you are requesting records from to learn their current policies. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].
