Michael has always been drawn to Europe. After having worked as a photography assistant, he made his way to Paris in 1985 to begin introducing himself to magazines, get to know the industry, and establish himself as a photographer. Thanks to his friends, it wasn’t long until he found himself in Milan. “Paris was the place to go and live, but Milan was the place to get myself on my feet as a photographer,” Michael recalls. For the next few years, he jumped between the two cities, making new connections and friends and building a successful photography career.
While he did eventually return to his home, New York, Europe had captured him, and he worked between New York City and Paris. Italy, however, continued to enchant, as he returned summer after summer with a friend who had a family home in Capri.
Michael had his own personal connection to Italy as well: his grandparents were from there. His grandmother was from a little town off the coast in Puglia, while his grandfather came from a town between Naples and Rome. Finding few opportunities in Italy, his grandfather made it to the U.S. in 1908, where he moved to Syracuse, New York and worked at a shoe manufacturing company. He had five children, of which Michael’s father was in the middle.
It was actually Michael’s mother who later put it into his head to pursue Italian citizenship. From there began the long process of tracking down documents from his grandparents’ hometowns, naturalization records, and other vital documents necessary for citizenship by descent applications.
Michael got an appointment at the Italian Consulate of New York in 2007. There, he presented all his carefully selected documents at the final interview, only to be rejected due to name change issues and other discrepancies. Unfortunately, name changes can be a big issue in applications, which is a problem for many applicants due to the number of occasions the Italian ancestor anglicized his or her name upon arrival in the U.S., or that it was simply recorded incorrectly by someone who didn’t speak Italian. These issues can usually be amended rather easily, and indeed, Michael was told he could return if he could fix the paperwork.
Ultimately, he left the matter aside until 2020. With the health emergency came a wave of people suddenly seeking second citizenships. Knowing that it was best to seek legal assistance, given the issue with his paperwork, Michael diligently conducted research into various Italian lawyers. ICA’s services interested him, and his mother learned about the company as well from a feature on CNN. Michael was finally able to talk to Marco Permunian about his case in late 2020. He sent over all his documents to ICA and learned that, along with the discrepancies that needed to be fixed, he also needed a naturalization certificate from the federal government, rather than just the state.
Finally, in March 2022, Michael made the move to Rome to give his citizenship application another shot. He introduced himself to the comune there and let them see his paperwork, which led to another snag: they wouldn’t accept documents older than six months, and most of Michael’s records were from his initial citizenship application back in 2007.
This didn’t discourage him, though. While he could have attempted the consulate in New York again, at this point, appointments there were backed up for two years and applying in Italy was generally a shorter process anyway. Besides, now he was already here. Thanks to ICA’s contact in the small Venetian town of Lendinara, Michael went there to present his documents and see if the clerk would accept them. Each comune can make decisions on the qualifications they need for citizenship documents, so while Rome chose not to accept any older than six months, there was a chance Lendinara wouldn’t have an issue with them.
And they didn’t. By March 2023, Michael was happily confirmed an Italian citizen.
Now that he has Italian citizenship, Michael is planning to stay in Rome for the time being. He initially wanted to return to Paris, his beloved city from his photography career, but all those visits to Italy drew him to a great appreciation of the relaxed Italian “dolce vita” lifestyle. “Besides, I want to experience something different.” While he still loves Paris, it is the city he associates with a separate chapter of his life, and now he chooses to embark on a new adventure. He still has many friends scattered around Europe and is happy to be able to visit them easier than from a home base in the U.S. He also looks forward to the opportunity to travel and see more of the world. He’s currently planning a trip around Naples and Sicily with his brothers. And while he’s retired from commercial photography, he still pursues it on his own and hopes to start a photography project in Rome. He’s also looking to improve his Italian, having previously taken an intensive Italian course and now wanting to become more conversational in the language.
Michael thanks the ICA team for their help in his successful citizenship application. He has agreed to serve as a subject of this success story and has granted ICA the right to use his name and image.
