Nina and Andrea, who originally come from New Hampshire and Illinois respectively, began their friendship in Rovigo, where they chose to file their application for Italian citizenship by descent. Nina had long dreamt of travelling to Europe and reconnecting with her Italian heritage but it was only after her husband came across one of ICA’s YouTube videos that she realized that travelling to Italy and applying for citizenship was a dream that could actually come true.
One night my husband was watching YouTube and the next morning he said to me: “did you know that you can claim your Italian citizenship by descent?”, and from that moment on I did not stop, I did some research, I was totally invested in it and it was really fascinating to find that on YouTube. [Nina Giannotti]
On the other hand, Andrea was drawn to apply due to the number of benefits that come with Italian citizenship.
I have always wanted to live in Europe so being an Italian citizen allows you the benefit not only to live in Italy but also anywhere in the European Union. My children also have the benefit of lower college fees. [Andrea Micus]
Thanks to their case worker at ICA, Nina and Andrea met up, and they were able to go through the experience of applying for citizenship in Italy together. Andrea in particular decided to rely on ICA’s services after watching Kristen Helmstetter’s video where she described her experience of applying for citizenship in Rovigo through ICA. Andrea then decided to schedule a consultation with ICA’s client intake team, who assessed her case and provided her with all the information needed to apply.
Both Nina and Andrea chose ICA’s “Apply in Italy” full assistance package, which meant that ICA took care of preparing all the documents needed to apply. ICA also took care of finding an apartment for them, and they provided full assistance throughout the entire application process by scheduling appointments, preparing the paperwork and monitoring progress.
Having ICA by my side and my specific contact Eleonora, who is an angel, was so wonderful because government paperwork is so confusing even in your native language, so to have someone who speaks Italian and who can go to the offices with you and tells you where and when to show up, what to bring, what to expect, and just to be guided through every step has just been so wonderful. I would highly recommend it to anybody considering this. [Nina Giannotti]
Once ICA’s citizenship specialist Eleonora prepared all the necessary documents needed for Nina to apply, ICA’s team of translators translated all the documents into Italian. Finally, ICA’s staff in Italy helped Nina to establish her residency in Rovigo and ultimately, she was able to file her application at the town hall. ICA also collected all of Andrea’s vital records and when her grandfather’s birth certificate could not be found, Eleonora helped Andrea to track down where her grandfather was baptized and she retrieved a baptismal record. Andrea’s documents had a few discrepancies which mainly concerned the spelling of her grandfather’s name thus the records were amended in order for his name to match on all of the records. As soon as all the documents were in order, Andrea travelled to Italy, she established her residency in Rovigo and ICA helped her to schedule an appointment to submit her citizenship application at the town hall in Rovigo.
Applying for Italian citizenship is a journey in its own right and despite the bureaucracy and the paperwork involved in the process, there is a remarkable aspect to reconnecting with one’s roots and discovering one’s family history. As Nina states:
Going through the documents and through this whole process I was able to discover that my great-great-grandfather had taken a boat from Naples to New York, Ellis Island; he arrived with twelve dollars in his pocket and then my great-grandmother came later on, returned to Naples where she had another one of my great-uncles and then she returned to the States with a two-year-old and a six-year-old on one of those ships across the ocean, which just makes them seem so amazing. I definitely channeled their spirits a lot when I was here, and I remembered how determined they must have been.
Many often see applying for citizenship in Italy as a daunting process, however, since ICA’s offices are located in Rovigo, applicants can choose to rely on ICA’s services in order to have all the attention and care they need throughout the process.
I feel that being in Rovigo has been a wonderful experience. The people who live here patiently communicate with me; I have also made friendships with other people. When I signed up with ICA, I also had the option to go to another city but I did not want any surprises and I knew that Eleonora knew exactly what needed to be done and then I would also be in contact with the company, which was great because they would be physically here to help me. Eleonora has been a wonderful resource for everything else that I have needed here. I would recommend ICA 1000%. It has been a remarkable process and they have been here every step of the way, every time that we have needed help. Going through the process has been great with them. [Andrea Micus]
Andrea and Nina were granted Italian citizenship by the municipality of Rovigo in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Nina and Andrea have agreed to serve as subjects of this success story and have granted ICA the right to use their name and image.
