I know haven’t updated on this in a while, mostly because it turned into a bit of a nightmare, and I couldn’t really handle posting about it until I had something positive to update on. AND NOW I DO!

I think the last thing I posted was that my lawyer was going to get the court order in the beginning of September. Then nothing.

That’s because the order was denied. My lawyer was based in NY and the NY courts didn’t think they had jurisdiction over my entirely MA documents. Not knowing how to proceed, we decided to basically throw a Hail Mary, and try one more time under my dad’s name and hope for a different judge. If this failed I could have found (and paid for) a lawyer in MA (I looked for months during all of this and didn’t find ANYONE familiar with these types of cases), or applied directly in Italy (something that would have cost thousands more), obviously two options that were less than ideal. After a few months of back and forth about when the second court date would happen, my lawyer decided it would be best to apply under my grandmother, as we could use her maiden name and avoid the courts recognizing my last name and automatically assigning the same judge.

I waited about another month, and was promised the first week in December. Then the second week. And then I didn’t hear anything for a little while. It was two weeks of torture! I am not patient! Finally I got an email saying the case had been filed, which meant it would be heard in the next few days. This was the week before Christmas, so we were cutting it REALLY close to everything closing down. On Thursday I got an email saying to have hope – that the judge I had been assigned wasn’t familiar with these types of cases, but he wasn’t against them. He didn’t want to sign off until he talked to one other judge – one my lawyer had worked with a lot and felt very confident would be supportive. On Sunday, Christmas morning, I got an email saying it had worked! The order had been granted!

YOU GUYS. I was shocked. My case was REALLY difficult. Like Secondino changed his name to ANDREW and I was trying to prove they were the same person, even though his birthdates didn’t match and his wife was sometimes on documents as Stephanie and sometimes as Bella. None of these names match even a little! I thought after not hearing anything on Friday that I would have to wait until after the holidays, and even if this judge granted everyone else their orders, mine still might be rejected because of the NY/MA jurisdiction thing. So imagine my TOTAL joy of waking up on Christmas morning to an email saying it had worked! I cried. My mom cried. Everyone was insanely happy.

I sent it translated to the consulate, and the apostilled version should arrive there this week! Right now, the turn around has been about a month. Compared to the EIGHTEEN months I waited the first time around, that is amazing!

However. I’ve noticed a problem.

The LA consulate sent me a list of about 10 things that needed to be addressed in the court order. Only nine were. My dad’s middle name isn’t on his own birth certificate, but it is on mine. This is an issue for LA. It shouldn’t be, because it’s OBVIOUSLY THE SAME PERSON, but it is. I talked to my lawyer and apparently by filing through my grandmother, she didn’t think we could include my dad, because he is a generation below. I’ve talked to a few people and they think this is going to be a problem.

I’m really not sure what to do. I thought it was finally over, and now it feels far from it. After the email on Christmas, we decided I’d move in with Gareth this summer. Long distance could finally be over. Now, while I have hope maybe it’ll be okay, there’s a huge chance it won’t be, and that is not ideal.

That said. The court order I do have addressed the MAJOR issues with my case. I’m no longer worried I’ll never get Italian citizenship, just that it’ll take longer than I want (though it already has considering I applied back in 2014 and it’s now 2017).

The last thing I might need changed is so small, and so manageable, I know I’ll get it done. I have a plan:

1. Hope LA accepts it as is, but assume the won’t so I’ll simultaneously be doing step 2
2. Obtain my dad’s baptism and confirmation records that (hopefully) show how/when he took his middle name and this will (hopefully) be sufficient.
3. If both of those fail, I now feel educated enough to represent myself in a court local to where my dad lives, and I’ll fly home and try to do it myself.

That’s the update for the moment. I’ll keep you posted and you guys keep your fingers (and toes!) crossed for me.