L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano O btaining Ital- ian citizen- ship is not an i m p o s s i b l e dream, but it may be a daunting task for many. Between bureaucracy, genealogical research, the possible language barrier and the trips overseas you'd need to take if you tried to handle it all on your own, it could all easily become over- whelming. L ' I t a l o - A m e r i c a n o spoke to Italian attorney Marco Permunian, who is the founder of Italian Citi- z e n s h i p A s s i s t a n c e , a company offering expertise a n d s u p p o r t t o a l l t h o s e seeking to obtain Italian citi- zenship; with him, we didn't only discuss his company and how it can help you, but also heritage, and true mean- ing for his clients of finally holding an Italian passport in their hands. Marco, tell us about how Italian Citizenship Assistance came to be: there is a bit of family history behind it, isn't it? Y e s , I b e c a m e f a m i l i a r with Italian immigration law v e r y e a r l y o n i n m y l i f e . When I was 18, I became the big brother to a 7-year-old foster sister who had immi- grated from Lithuania. When she petitioned to become an Italian citizen I realized the p r a c t i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s o f immigration law and how it affects the lives of individu- a l s a n d t h e i r f a m i l i e s . I became interested in inter- national law, family law, Ital- i a n c i t i z e n s h i p l a w a n d cross-border relations. I then decided to pursue a degree in Law in Ferrara, Italy. After graduating, I moved to the US to work for an Italian-American law firm in New York City, which spe- c i a l i z e d i n c r o s s - b o r d e r negotiations and real estate acquisition with a focus on assisting Italians and other European citizens in the US. During my time in New York, I was introduced to the Italian-American community and saw first-hand how Ital- ian culture had survived so many generations. As I got to meet more and more people of Italian descent, I saw the passion and love that many had for a motherland they had only heard about through the stories and accounts of their f a m i l y m e m b e r s w h o l e f t years or generations before they were born. This is the reason why I decided to focus o n I t a l i a n c i t i z e n s h i p . I believed that being a native- born Italian and an attorney could help me make a signifi- cant impact on people's lives and help them to connect with I t a l y , m y h o m e l a n d , s o I founded Italian Citizenship Assistance, a firm with offices in Los Angeles, New York and Italy, which comprises a team of attorneys, legal experts, genealogists, translators and other dual citizenship experts. I a m s u r e y o u h a v e w o r k e d w i t h I t a l i a n - Americans: what's their attitude towards becom- ing Italian citizens, what brings them to take such a decision? I believe that humans have an innate desire to reconnect w i t h t h e i r r o o t s , a n d t h i s seems to be the case for many Americans of Italian descent who have decided to pursue Italian citizenship in recent years. Many people wish to reconnect with their roots, visit the places where their ancestors were born and they are very excited about the possibility to experience life in Italy as true Italian citizens. Many people are also excited to pass citizenship on to their children. One of the benefits of acquiring Italian citizen- ship is that if you have minor children you only need to reg- ister their births for them to be officially recognized as Italian citizens. Your grand- children will also be Italian citizens provided that your children register their births. The same will apply without any limits to future genera- tions provided that the Italian parent registers the child's birth. Tell us more about how y o u c a n h e l p p e o p l e become Italian citizens Since founding Italian Citi- zenship Assistance, my team and I have helped hundreds of people with Italian ancestry apply for the recognition of Italian citizenship. However, we also help people apply for Italian citizenship by marriage and by residency. You can contact us at ICA via email or by requesting a free phone consultation via our website. If you prefer a live meeting via Zoom it can be arranged with one of our citizenship special- ists. During the initial consulta- tion/s you will be provided with information regarding the process of applying for dual citizenship, and ICA's services and fees. At this stage, ICA will perform a free pre- liminary analysis of your case based on a family tree which you will be asked to submit. W e w i l l c o n d u c t i n - d e p t h genealogical research and pro- vide you with information and scans of the records we found. If you are eligible to apply, we can provide you with an A-to- Z service. Our specialists will retrieve the applicant's fami- ly's vital records and all the documents which are neces- sary to file a citizenship appli- cation. When all the docu- ments have been retrieved, they will be reviewed to deter- mine whether there are any discrepancies or inconsisten- c i e s t h a t m i g h t n e g a t i v e l y affect the individual's applica- tion. If no amendments need to be made the documents can be authenticated with Apos- tilles and translated into Ital- ian by our team of profession- al legal translators. Finally, when a citizenship application i s a p p r o v e d w e h e l p o u r clients to apply for an Italian passport and register with A.I.R.E. I am very much involved with the Italian community in the US and I launched a video podcast titled "The Italian Cit- izenship Podcast" a few years ago. The podcast is an excel- lent way of reaching out to people and providing useful information about applying for Italian citizenship. M a n y p e o p l e f r o m abroad also decide Italy is the perfect place to retire: can you help them achieve this dream, too? Absolutely. Not only do we help individuals who do not qualify for Italian citizenship obtain the required visa to stay in the country, but we also help them find the perfect h o m e b e c a u s e t h e r e i s a branch within our company that helps people purchase properties in Italy. As for moving to Italy, there are several visas one can apply for, such as the work visa, the study visa, the family visa and t h e s e l f - e m p l o y m e n t v i s a . However, there is also a very specific visa called the Elective Residence Visa (or retirement visa), which is issued to appli- cants with high self-sustaining incomes who are planning to move to Italy permanently. Aside from the Elective Resi- dence Visa, the Investor Visa (also known as Golden Visa), which was introduced in 2016, allows non-EU citizens, and investors more specifically, to stay in Italy for 2 years provid- ed that they invest in strategic and specific areas of the Ital- ian economy intending to con- tribute significantly to the country's economic growth. For further information about the services of Italian Citizenship Assistance, you can check their website h t t p s : / / i t a l i a n c i t i z e n - shipassistance.com/ or c o n t a c t t h e m a t i n f o @ i t a l i a n c i t i z e n - shipassistance.com. Marco Permunian, the founder of Italian Citizenship Assistance, at work (Photo: Marco Permunian/ICA) STAFF Becoming Italian is not a dream, thanks to Italian Citizenship Assistance LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE

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