Italian passport application by marriage/British applicant/US background check
 

Hi All,

Brit living in Holland applying for an Italian passport through marriage here.

Am wondering if any of you have been/are in my situation - and care to share some wisdom here.

I lived in the US for 2 years (2006 - 2008) as a Grad student. So, now I need to submit (a) US criminal background check document with the apostille + translation and the rest of it.

1.) Have any of you gone through this process please?

2.) Looking into this, it seems that in the US one can get both a state and FBI background check. Am struggling to figure out which one (or both?) do I require to submit and the process of getting them?

3.) What happens to the time bound other criminal background checks (from the UK and the NL) that I have submitted to the Ministero website (with my payment) already. (In their preliminary feedback they highlighted the US criminal record as additional documents that I needed to submit - I had overlooked this initially).

Appreciate any input.

Many Thanks,
Ron

Re: Italian passport application by marriage/British applicant/US background check
 

What is the pressing reason for an Italian passport? Will your existing British one not suffice?

Re: Italian passport application by marriage/British applicant/US background check
 

You'll want a FBI check - they can take several months to come through.

https://www.fbi.gov/services/cjis/id...summary-checks

Re: Italian passport application by marriage/British applicant/US background check
 

Well, the pressing need comes from the fact that I overlooked the fact that I'd have to provide criminal background checks for my time in the US. So had collected + translated + apostilled + submitted everything else. Now it would appear that the FBI check takes 3-4 months, and I have to get a state background check to boot!...so my other docs might go out of date in the meantime - have only myself to blame!...:(...

Re: Italian passport application by marriage/British applicant/US background check
 

Your docs need to be current at the time of your application, so if your application is still 'live' and you are to add your FBI check then you should be ok. If you have to start again from scratch then you will need all the other stuff too. Thats what I reckon.

Re: Italian passport application by marriage/British applicant/US background check
 

I have gone through this process.

You need both the FBI and the state-level checks.

This is because the FBI and the various state police do not share databases, and they are different entities. So you can be convicted of a crime that shows up on one database but not the other.

The FBI check is laborious. It requires ink-and-roll fingerprints and takes about 5 months. I've had to get it done several times and it always takes about 5 months to get done. Tip: you can get a private investigator in Amsterdam to do it, if local police are ornery about doing it.

The state level checks are much easier and faster, and don't usually require fingerprints. However they will often require a USD-denominated bank cheque. The state police web site, for wherever you were a grad student, will have detailed information.

Because the FBI check takes so long, you need to develop a strategy so that the other documents you collect and pay for, don't expire outside the time window before the FBI check gets to you. I would recommend doing the FBI check first, and then not even bothering with the other ones until you have it in your hands.

It seems though that you have already started this process and I am concerned it may have been for naught and you will have to start over.

For modicasa - my experience was that after you submit the application, it goes to the consulate in your place of residence, and it is their responsibility to make sure everything is there before it goes to the Interior Ministry in Italy. They won't accept the application if a document is missing so I don't think he can submit it and "forget" the FBI check, and then add it later when asked, thus keeping all documents "live" - I think the Consulate in Amsterdam will know it's missing and just stop the application cold.

It is worth OP checking with the Consulate in Amsterdam but I would not be hopeful of a good result.

Once everything is submitted - I would be surprised if there is a hiccup, because I believe it is the consulate that makes the recommendation - it takes two years, sometimes a little more, for citizenship to come through.

Re: Italian passport application by marriage/British applicant/US background check
 

Oh goodness! I am reading your post again and just now see that you actually already submitted.

In this case - from what you wrote - it seems, as I indicated, they did stop the application. I would get whatever documents are called for in the feedback.

It will take several months for the FBI check. The state check will probably go much, much faster.

If they don't ask for you to re-do the documents they already have, then it should be OK.

Still I would have a plan in place to get everything again, but not execute it, just in case. Perhaps also ask the consulate just in case, but if they do say you need to get everything again - heed what I wrote above, wait until you receive the FBI check before starting on the others.

I remember the Consulate lauding me, with the FBI check, for actually getting all the documents together within the allotted time window.

Then it's hurry up and wait.