Paperwork and cost
The document checklist, country by country
Pick a country: the tool says whether it wants apostilles and translations on US records, who decides and what it charges.
What does each country want on US records?
Italy
Apostilles required
| Translations | Required |
| Who decides | the Italian consulate for your US address (from 1 January 2029, a central office of the Foreign Ministry in Rome) |
| Fee | €600 |
Parent or grandparent only, since March 28, 2025
Every citizenship by descent file rests on the same backbone: one birth record for each person from the foreign-born ancestor down to you, the marriage records that link them, death records for those who died, and proof of what the ancestor did about US citizenship. Consulates want long-form certified copies issued by a vital records office, not hospital certificates or family copies. What varies is the formality. Countries bound by the Hague Convention may ask for an apostille on each US record: the state that issued a birth, marriage or death certificate places it, generally through its Secretary of State, while the State Department's Office of Authentications apostilles federal documents such as USCIS letters (Hague Conference). Italy, Poland, France and Portugal want apostilles and translations; Ireland takes original records without apostilles (Department of Foreign Affairs); Canada and the United Kingdom ask for neither on the pages read.
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The backbone of every file
| Record | For whom | Where to order it |
|---|---|---|
| Birth record, long form | Each person in the line, you included | State or county vital records |
| Marriage record | The ancestor and each person below | County clerk or state vital records |
| Death record | Each deceased person in the line | State or county vital records |
| Naturalization record | The ancestor, if naturalized | Court, National Archives or USCIS |
| No-record proof | The ancestor, if never naturalized | USCIS (certificate of non-existence) |
| Foreign birth or baptism record | The ancestor | Civil registry or parish abroad |
Who apostilles what
An apostille certifies the signature of the official who issued a document. In the United States, the authority depends on the issuer. State documents, which include birth, marriage and death certificates and county court records, are apostilled by the competent authority of that state, generally the Secretary of State. Federal documents, such as a USCIS certificate or a National Archives letter, are apostilled by the State Department's Office of Authentications for $20 each. Federal court records are apostilled by the clerks of those courts.
Expected endno end date can be estimated
1. Coming · 0 day – 5 weeks
Federal apostille by mail
Nov 2, 2026 – Dec 7, 2026
USCIS or National Archives letter, form DS-4194, $20 per document.
State Department, Office of Authentications2. Coming · no published time
State apostilles on vital records
no published time
Each state sets its own time and fee.
3. Coming · no published time
Translations, if the country wants them
no published time
Done after the apostille, which is translated too.
Naturalization records, the hardest piece
The USCIS genealogy program sends photocopies of naturalization certificate files from 1906 to 1956, after an index search and a record request; it cannot certify them. The National Archives issues certified copies of the federal court records it holds. Italian consulates accept a National Archives certified copy without apostille, but want an apostille on county court copies and on no-record letters (New York list). For Germany and Poland, the date of naturalization decides whether the line holds, so the record matters as much as for Italy.
Names that change along the chain
Immigrant names were often anglicized, misspelled or shortened: Wojciech became Albert, Concetta became Connie. Consulates match people across records using dates, places and parents' names. Small variations usually pass; contradictions on key data, such as a different father's name or a birth year off by several years, may need an amendment by the issuing state before you file. Compare each record with the next before ordering apostilles.
Country requirements at a glance
Pick a country in the tool above. Where the official pages do not say whether an apostille is required, the tool says to ask the consulate rather than guess. The cost calculator then prices the whole file, and the Italian requirements page walks through the most demanding list item by item. If you are still choosing a line, start with the family tree checker.