Joe is a broadcast technical operator from Orange County, California. He first connected to his Italian heritage and considered acquiring Italian citizenship to honor his dad’s legacy. “My wife and I made a pilgrimage trip to Italy, and the first thing I wanted to do when I got off the plane was to touch the ground,” he recalls. When he reached his grandfather’s home, he felt like he was in a movie; it was a profound moment for Joe.
Joe had been loyally watching ICA’s youtube videos. Every time a new video came out, he would watch it, and eventually it led him to book a consultation with Marco Permunian, ICA’s principal attorney and creator of the channel. Joe was pleasantly surprised when Marco personally called him. He had brought his relatives’ paperwork he had access to but he did not know that his grandfather had naturalized before his father’s birth so unfortunately, he could not pursue citizenship through his grandfather’s line. Marco encouraged Joe to dig deeper into his family history during this first consultation to find another line and they ultimately found out that Joe was eligible through his mother’s side of the family. In fact, his mother’s grandfather had not naturalized up until his son was born. Finding out about this revelation was an unexpected turn. He was delighted by his first pro-bono consultation with Marco and he had faith in ICA since the beginning: “The main reason I chose ICA was because of their youtube channel. I thought this guy had something.” After deciding to trust ICA with his process, Joe met Emilia, his case worker. “The experience was straightforward and perfectly smooth. I was impressed with Emilia’s abilities: She was so responsive and right on the spot. She nailed it!” he adds.
The process took some time, but ICA handled everything from A to Z. Joe is now a proud Italian citizen. He remembers the moment he received the news vividly: “Once I got the email confirming my citizenship, it felt like I had a superpower. It’s the gift that keeps on giving”. One of the main reasons Joe wanted to pursue Italian citizenship was the opportunity to work in the European Union: “I work in television and I would find these jobs that would come up, and I would apply for them and I got a lot of “no grazie”, because they don’t want to sponsor someone, it’s a lot more difficult” he specifies. Now that he is an Italian citizen, he is contemplating retiring early instead in Italy or the EU. “It’s the passport to relaxation and to take in the Italian lifestyle sooner,” he shares. He does have one regret: not starting the process sooner as that would have allowed him to pursue a career in Italy. When Joe talks about passing down his citizenship to his children, he gets very emotional: “I am very proud and very warm inside because I am giving this to them, and this will be a legacy that will continue.”
Joe recommends working with ICA wholeheartedly. Acquiring his citizenship has opened many doors for him, and he is looking forward to the future.
Joe has agreed to serve as a subject of this success story and has granted ICA the right to use his name and image.
