Technically "Venetian"

For those of you who have read my blog from the beginning, you may recall the momentous occassion towards the end of 2008 when I received my dual Italian citizenship.  Of the many official documents I received that day, the one that has been most important, besides my Italian passaporto, is my Carta d'Identita.  This special document is probably comparable to a Social Security card in the USA. Here it's used for identification purposes, all over the place, even for boarding planes between EU countries.

Each Carta d'Identita has a unique number, and inside contains information such as your date of birth, place of birth, country of citizenship, address, height, weight, and eye color.On mine, the address is the address of the apartment I had to rent out in Castel San Pietro Terme while I was going through my citizenship process. Since the card is good for 10 years, I have just used it whenever needed and don't give it much thought. Until recently.

Living in Venice is everything I ever imagined it would be- and much more. However, as grand and glorious as it is to be walking these calle day in and day out, that pleasure comes with a downside- a high price tag.  This is no surprise to us, we planned for it. We are fully aware our rent here is much higher than it would be if we lived outside the city anywhere else.  We know that when we buy groceries or clothes or a bottle of wine here in the city, it costs more than it would out on the mainland. There are very few discounts available for residents of Venice.  And herein lies the subject of my blog today. .

Besides our resident discount for the vaporetto, residents of Venice can get into certain museums free on certain days of the week. We can also get into certain churches free by producing documentation verifying they are, in fact, a resident of Venice.  Here's the catch: the documentation necessary changes, depending on who is working the booth at a church on any particular day.  Certain churches will accept my health card, which contains my current address in Venice. Others will accept my Residence permit. A Carta d'Identita would always be good, but it must have a Venice address on it. Mine does not.  Over at the Miracoli church, they used to let me in with my health card. There is a new guard in the booth now, so that isn't good either. They will only accept my Carta d'Identita. Or I have to pay the entrance fee, same as a tourist. Not what I want to be doing on a regular basis. Mind you, there are over 100 churches in Venice and I have a tendency to pop in  any number of them with regularity.

I needed a solution to my little problem. The answer was quite simple- go get a new Carta d'Identita at the Anagrafe office here in Venice. Sounds simple. In reality, it never is.  Dealing with the Italian bureaucracy is such a pain in the behind I can come up with every excuse in the book to avoid it like the plague.  And so, even though it sounds like going to get a new card is simple, I have avoided it. Until now.

I steeled up my nerves, collected all the documentation I could possibly need and more, studied my Italian books  and made notes on the conversation I would need to have with some agent at Anagrafe.  Ok, I was ready. I thought.  I even knew what hours on which days of the week the Anagrafe is open. I marched myself down there, prepared to take a number and queue up in a line for however long it took. I just needed to get this done.

To my great surprise, when I arrived I was the only one in the whole of the Anagragfe office.  I took my number, and still had to wait.  Another lesson in Italian government for you-- there is always, ALWAYS a line, and you will wait. Even if you are the only one there. So I waited patiently.   It was only about 5 minutes waiting, but it seemed like an eternity. It was just enough time for my stomach to begin to tie in nots and the nerves to set in. My number comes up on the big electronic board in front of me announcing which sportello (counter) I am to report to. I walked over and took up my place. Let the nastiness begin, I thought to myself.

I made pleasantries with the gentleman behind the big plexiglass divider, and announced I needed a new Carta d'Identita.  He looked at my document and said "No, it's not expired, you have years left".  I proceeded to exlain I needed it to have my Venetian address on it. He appeared to understand.  He did not ask for any of my documentation. He took my current carta, did some typing on his computer,  and requested I verify my current address. Then, he asked for the three photos which I was prepared for.  I handed over my photos.  He printed a bunch of papers, stapled a bunch of stuff together, then did the ritual stamping of the official stamps with great vigor (that's another thing Italians love to do- stamp the crap out of everything).

I handed over the fee- 59 cents- and he handed me my new Carta.  Well, what do you know! All the Italian lessons and hours of studying are paying off, these visits are becoming less painful.  I stowed my new Carta in my wallet and was about to leave when I realized I hadn't taken  back my old Carta.  I stepped  to the plexiglass divider once more, and asked the clerk for my old Carta d'Identita.

"No", he said.  What???  I wanted that Carta. I am not sure I can even describe to you how important that card is to me. It's symbolic of one of the most important events of my lifetime. It means I am finally Italian. I did not want to part with it, no matter what.  And how was I going to explain that to this man???

Somehow, I did manage to get my meaning across to him, because he cracked a smile, and proceeded to do something I am sure he doesn't do very often.  He pulled my file back out of his stack, unstapled my old carta from the form, and walked over to his copy machine.  He made a copy of my old Carta, then returned to his desk and re-stapled everything back toether.  He handed me the copy, smiled, and announced that with my new Carta, I am Venetian.  Oh, how I wish.   But, on a brighter note, I will be getting those discounts in the churches from now on.

Dual Italian Citizenship - It's Official, I did it!!!!

Here it is--- I received my dual Italian citizenship official documents.!! Now it's time for that happy dance!!

Finally, after many many long months and a very arduous journey, I have my brand new Italian Carta d'Identita in my hot little hands! It's the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.. the Holy Grail!!! To all of you who have been reading my blog and sending emails , many thanks for all the support. And to Mary, my dear dear friend in San Francisco, you have been a beacon of light along the way. We've been able to laugh together through the darkest moments. I cannot wait until your journey is also completed- we'll be lighting up the skies with fireworks for both of us!

It took about 5 months to receive the fax back from the Italian consulate in the U.S. indicating that they had no record of my ever having renounced Italian citizenship. I have no idea why it took so long for this little one line of faxed information, but , it was a major hold up. Being past that hurdle, I thought it would only be a matter of a week or two to complete the rest of the process. Ha, ha! The fax from the U.S. was received in the Comune on September 1. It's taken 2 more months to register my documents in Italy. Luigi, my immigration lawyer here in Italy would email me every few days saying "Any day now!".

And- finally, "Any day" arrived. I received a letter from the Comune indicating they had completed everything and it was time for me to come in person to sign papers and pick up my Carta d'Identita. Luigi confirmed everything was in order, and we made plans for me to take the train to Castel San Pietro Terme on Thurday, October 29. The big day!

I should have known from the way the day started out that it was going to be one of those days. At 3am that morning, we were woken up by incredible rain storms. We ran around to batten down the hatches and put down old towels, as rain was spilling in under the two back doors of the apartment. All I could think of was how miserable the walk to the train station was going to be at 6am in this kind of rainstorm. Fortunately for me, by 5:30 am the rain stopped.

The train from Venice to Bologna went off with out a hitch, but the connection to Castel San Pietro was delayed 20 minutes. That wasn't too bad. I was able to call Luigi's assistant Daniella, who was waiting for me there and let her know. When the train arrived in Castel San Pietro though, I discovered there was no way to get into town. There was no bus running at least for another hour, and no taxi cabs in sight. Fortunately, Daniella offered to come pick me up. She found me easily--- it's a very small waiting room at the train station and I must have looked like the only American! Danielle has been tasked with helping me obtain all the documents I need today, and submit my passport application.

Things are looking up- but only momentarily. First stop is the Anagrafe office, where we discover the city is without electricity, they will not be able to print out any documents. We must wait. Daniella and I go to the Tabacchi shop to buy the marco bollo I will need later for my passport application, however they too are with out power and cannot sell anything. They tell us to try the Post Office. We go to the post office-- same thing. No power, they cannot work. Just as we are leaving the Post Office, the power returns, so we can do part of the necessary paper work we need to do there. This step of the Passport process costs 47 Euros. We return to the Tabacchi, they have power also, we hand over 46 Euros and change for the marcobollo. Ok.. so we're making progress.

Back at the Anagrafe office, power has also been restored. The girl there is beginning to print out the papers that I need to sign for the Carta d'Identita and Certificate of Citizenship. It is then that I discover all my documents have been done in my maiden name! Ey Caramba!!!!! I was completely taken by surprise, I expected my married name would be used. The women in the Anagrafe office tell me this is the Italian law, and if I want to be Italian, it has to be this way. By the looks on their faces, I could tell that they meant business. Daniella makes a quick call to Luigi, who apologizes for not telling me this would be the case, and says I have to have it this way. I wanted to put my foot down and insist on my married name, but it was quickly becoming obvious that would never happen. I needed this done now, I decided to go with whatever the Italians wanted to do.

I signed a few copies of the Certificate of Citizenship, and in a minutes time my brand new Carta d'Identita was in my hand. I wanted to jump up and down and shout with joy right there in that office. The girl in charge there gave me another document which includes my Certificate of Residency and we are off to the next office- Status Civilie, to collect an official copy of my new Italian birth and marriage certificates. Just as we open the door to leave the Anagrafe office, the power goes out again!!!! This just cannot be happening today of all days!

The Status Civile office is just around the corner, and fortunately the power was only down a second. Getting the birth certificate was easy, but the marriage certificate threw a monkey wrench into everything. The girl in this office could find my marriage certificate data in her computer system, but was getting an error message every time she attempted to print it. She called out the Direttore, the woman I had met 8 months earlier, on my first trip to the Comune. She looked in this huge book, found something, and had a look over the shoulder of the girl at the screen on her computer workstation. Ah... that must be it.. we want the certificate of the second marriage., and voila, the certificate is printed out! Mission accomplished. As we are gathering up our belongings, this girl looks at me and asks " Why do you want to be Italian??? We all want to be American!". Oh, the answer is easy-- I'm living my dream !!!

By now, the Questura is closed, so Daniella and I take a cab into Bologna to the Questura there to submit my passport application. The traffic jam in Bologna is unbelievable, but aside from that, the passport submission went very smoothly. I should have my passport in about 10 days. I was able to catch a train back to Venice and be home by dinner time.

Finally, finally, finally, I have been recognized as an Italian citizen. Every bit of this has been absolutely worth it. Yes, we are doing the happy dance!