I'm a first time poster so I am going to quickly introduce myself.
My name is Antonia and I have been in a long distance relationship for 3 years with an Italian. I am of Italian descent (my father and all my grandparents except for one were born there). I speak Italian and I have studied and worked in Florence (study) and Milan (internship).
Naturally after 3 years we have discussed marriage which has begun to make me nervous because I have a job here in New York City and I know how hard it is to find one in Italy. I'm nervous because my Italian is much better than his English so I'm scared that we will be going there. I love Italy but I am aware how hard it is to make a living there. However we are going to wait until the beginning of 2013 when he has finished school to decide if we will live in America or Italy. He will try to find work in America first since I am employed here.
Because I am now looking into this marriage thing and exploring all options I was wondering if you all know how long it takes after you get married to an Italian citizen to be able to work in the EU. I already looked into jure sanguis and I'm not eligible because my father was naturalized before my birth. He was born in Italy to Italian parents so I can't get it through my grandparents. My other grandfather was naturalized by the time my mother was born so I can't get it through him either.
Therefore, after you get married to an Italian citizen you would apply for a family visa correct? How long does that take to get? Does it take longer if you were married in America as opposed to Italy? Also..are you eligible for benefits under this visa until you get citizenship...like health insurance?
What I am hoping to do is get married in a civil ceremony and then get married in an Italian church for his family. I am hoping that we will both one day have duel citizenship in America and Italy. If this is possible.
Sorting through this is a bit overwhelming...any advice would be much appreciated.
I don't know about marrying EU citizens but I just wanted to give a shoutout... I'm Italian American and from Queens, too!
Need Italian <> English translations? http://www.translationgirl.com
Read all about my adventures
http://www.iheartreggio.blogspot.com
Welcome!
As the spouse of an Italian citizen, you are eligible to work as soon as you have your stay permit (Permesso di Soggiorno - "PdS"). You apply for this once you are here in Italy, and it usually takes at least a couple of months before it is ready to be picked up. Depending on where you apply the wait may be longer. I'd budget 2 months at a minimum to be safe for your estimates. You can apply for the PdS at the local police department (Questura) in the city where you will reside.
You will need a PdS regardless of if you marry in the U.S. or here in Italy. Once you have the PdS in hand, you can begin working with no restrictions. With the PdS, you then go to the Commune (town hall) of the city where you reside and apply for residence in your city. This process will also likely take a couple of months. When your residence is recognized, you can then go to the local health office (ASL) and sign up for the national healthcare program. As you can see, there is a fair amount of waiting in this process - so make certain you plan for this.
I can't tell you about waiting time or process to obtain a family reunion visa, but I can say that I entered Italy on the U.S. tourist visa waiver program (allowing you 90 days without needing a visa) and was married and had my PdS in hand before the 90 days were up. You could do the same thing, or apply for the family reunion visa there if you have time. Having the visa may help things be less stressful here, but there's added stress on your end for obtaining it as well.
Note that I've not mentioned being granted citizenship. That comes after you've been married for at least a couple of years. These steps need to be done before you can even begin thinking about doing the process to be granted citizenship through marriage.
Do some searching of the forums for more info -- there is a lot of it here. You're lucky you are planning in advance. Good luck!
Salve queensgirl454;
And welcome to expats.
Before you discount discount Jure Sanguinis you might want to follow this posting where a similar situation occurred and some progress appears to be being made.
http://italiancitizenship.freeforums.org/need-someone-s-success-story-t2158.html
Ogni Viaggio Inizia Dal Primo Passo
Italy-bound....Thank you so much for your response. I had no idea that there might still be a chance that I could get citizenship through family since they were naturalized. I didn't finish reading all those posts (there are many and I am at work) but from what I quickly read is that if your relative was under the age of 21 at the time of naturalization (which my father was) you might be able to still get it through them.
This is something that might be good news for me..I will read into it further..
thank you very much
Ricciolina....I live in flushing, queens so if you ever want to get together let me know..are you looking into relocating there as well?
blusky....your response was EXTREMELY helpful..THANK YOU SO MUCH.....Its good to know that it is possible to just enter on a tourist visa and get married that way although I will look into getting the family visa beforehand so we will probably be legally married in New York
one more question however..while you were waiting to get all your documents in order in Italy did you buy a health care plan in America to cover you while you were in Italy at this time? Thanks
Nope, I didn't buy any coverage and was never asked for proof of it-- although I was prepared to purchase a cheap temporary plan through the Italian post office (yes, they sell insurance too) if I was required to. If you need help here, go to an ER-- everybody is covered for emergency visits whether you have a plan or not. I stocked up on prescriptions before I came and hoped for the best.... As it turned out, luck was on my side and I had coverage within 3 months of arriving.
SHUT UP! I live in Flushing too! Maybe we know each other or know each others' families.
I actually moved to Italy when I was 20 and lived there for almost two years. I came back to the U.S. to finish up my degree, save some more money and clear my head. My grandmother died during that time span, so it was really rough for me.
Hopefully in the future I will go back to Italy though.
Need Italian <> English translations? http://www.translationgirl.com
Read all about my adventures
http://www.iheartreggio.blogspot.com