One and the same person Court Order
Dual Italian Citizenship Lawyer
Applicants for Italian Dual Citizenship by ancestry are required to produce many documents, such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, and such.
Often (and especially in great-grandfather cases), these vital records present names or dates discrepancies. Part of the reason is that, in the early 1900’s, immigrants used to change the spelling of their names once arriving at Ellis Island, in an attempt to quickly integrate in their new country.
Such discrepancies should be corrected before the appointment at the Italian Consulate. In presence of significant discrepancies, the citizenship application is generally rejected. In such cases, the Italian Consulate generally requires either that the documents be amended (either administratively or through a Court order), or that a “One and the Same person” Court order is produced by the citizenship applicant to resolve the discrepancies.
I am an attorney licensed in New York and in New Jersey. I have helped numerous clients amend their ancestors’ vital records, such as marriage and death certificates, by filing a petition for amendment or for a One and the same Court order. I was able to successfully resolve cases involving multiple discrepancies and major name changes.
Please note
On every “One and The Same” person court order (or amendment of vital records), I charge the following professional fees:
Not less than $15,000 to be the attorney of record (New York or New Jersey cases), or
Not less than $3,000 to co-counsel with your own general practice attorney (any U.S. state).
Corrections or Amendments of Vital records
Corrections or Amendments of birth certificates in New York require a Court order. A correction that is often required for Italian Citizenship purposes is the parents’ names, if they do not match their respective birth certificates.
Often, the first name and date of birth of an Italian ancestor’s death certificate do not match his Italian birth certificate. In New York, amendment of death certificates can be pursued administratively with the Department of Health. If the request if denied, the amendment can be sought by Court order.
The records’ amendment process by Court order is essentially a lawsuit and, as such, it can be lengthy, complex, and become very expensive. Therefore, you should contact me only if you consider Dual Italian Citizenship as a long-term investment. In fact, it can be passed to children and grandchildren; and it can open up business and employment opportunities abroad.
These discrepancies can be divided in three categories.
Low impact discrepancies
- Minor changes in your ascendant’s first name after emigrating to the United States.
Examples include: Giovanni/John, Antonio/Anthony, Francesco/Frank.
For this category of discrepancies, amendments are generally not requested by the Italian consulate.
Medium impact discrepancies
- Minor change in your ascendant’s name at the time of marriage or death.
In some cases, the first U.S. born ascendant is given an Italian name, which is later “adapted”. As in the example above, examples include Giovanni/John, Antonio/Anthony, Francesco/Frank.
- Minor changes in the parents’ names section of your ascendant’s birth certificate
- Minor misspelling in your ancestor or ascendant’s last name
For this category of discrepancy, the Italian consulate generally requests an amendment of record or a “One and the same person” court order.
The discrepancies in this category can generally be resolved without too much trouble.
High impact discrepancies
- Major changes in your ancestor’s name (for example, Vincenzo/James, Simone/Samuel);
- Discrepancy in your ancestor’s date of birth;
- Multiple “medium impact” discrepancies as defined above
For this category of discrepancy, the Italian consulate requests an amendment of record or a “One and the same person” court order.
The discrepancies in this category are generally hard to be resolved.
There are many people or companies that offer document procurement services for Italian citizenship. While their legitimacy is very questionable, as it might constitute unauthorized practice of law, nobody except a licensed attorney can petition a Court for amending vital statistic documents.
Contact us today to learn more about the “One and the same” person Court order and the Amendment of Vital Records.