1. Birth Certificates from the “Commune’ in Italy
You will need the birth certificate for your Italian born ancestors in the Italian commune in which they were born. In the event that you are claiming Italian heritage based on a paternal grandparent, you will need a certificate for both grandparents from their respective communes and for your parents. In short, you will need birth certificates for each generation in direct lineage to you.

2. Death Certificates
If your Italian ancestors are deceased, you will need a certified copy of the appropriate death certificate. Also, this document must be supported by an apostille and translated into Italian. In certain cases death records may be required.

3. Marriage Certificates from Italy
As with the birth certificates, you must obtain a marriage certificate which outlines that either your parents, grandparents, great grandparents, or great great grandparents were married in Italy. If this marriage took place in the United States, you will need a certified copy of the marriage certificate along with an apostille from the relevant Secretary of State.

4. Naturalization Certificates
If you do not have an Italian passport and official resident card for your parents or paternal grandparents, you will need a copy of the naturalization record for your mother, father, grandmother or grandfather if you are applying through them.

5. Your Personal Civil Records
You will need to provide an official birth certificate with your application along with a marriage cert or birth certificates of your children if applicable. In the case that you might be divorced, you will also need a certified copy of the divorce records and an apostille for these documents from the Secretary of State.