Well, it won't be the cheapest thing you'll ever do. That's for sure. When I started my journey I was a bit worried about the costs. Especially how much of the costs I'd need right away. Turns out it was more money than I had expected, but I had a lot more time to spread out the costs. As you're probably read in other places, hiring someone to do it could be $2,000, $3,000, $12,000 - I've heard crazy ranges. If I had $12,000, personally? I'd just go to Italy and have it done there. I just learned you can choose where you want to be a resident of if you apply in Italy. I would probably still choose good old Sant'Arsenio for my GGF sake.
At this point, I'm mostly finished. I have not paid for my Italian passport yet and I still plan to. Currently via the Phoenix honorary consulate, it's $130.40 subject to change. And probably gas money and parking, but it beats needing to go to Los Angeles. I have spent about $1,500 in 4 years on this project. There were some places I could still cut corners, but I think I did okay for not having any documents at all. I spent extra money doing extra research that was not "required" from the consulate, but I wanted to add more validity to my application, and it was really neat to find more info about my ancestors.
Oh! I also plan on joining the Order of the Sons and Daughters of Italy, so that's another $35 bucks a year. They have some really good discounts! I'm hoping to take some of the Italian language classes on their site too!
Below should be an interactive table of costs where you can select/deselect items to see how it affects costs. You'll see some boxes like in different colors. Those boxes indicate how some of the documents were shipped together, which saved a lot of shipping costs.
| Document | Req'd | Action | Agency | Wait | Cost | Shipping | Translate | Wait | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Great Grandfather | ||||||||||
| Estratto dell'atto di Nascita | Commune | Comune di Sant'Arsenio, Italy | 58 days | $10.00 | $1.00 | $0.00 | $11.00 | |||
| Naturalization Search | Search | USCIS | 60 days | $65.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $65.00 | |||
| Naturalization Paperwork | Certified Copy | USCIS Online Search | 90 days | $65.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $65.00 | |||
| Death Certificate | Certified Copy | Pennsylvania Dept of Health | 42 days | $20.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $20.00 | |||
| County Court Search | Search | Lawrence County Orphan's Court | $9.50 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $9.50 | ||||
| Catholic Church Marriage/Death | Search | Diocese of Pittsburgh | $15.00 | $15.00 | $0.00 | $30.00 | ||||
| Great Grandfather/Great Grandmother | ||||||||||
| Marriage Certificate | Certified Copy | Lawrence County Orphan's Court | 9 days | $0.00 | $0.00 | $7.60 | 3 days | $7.60 | ||
| Marriage Certificate | Apostile | Pennsylvania Dept of State | 42 days | $15.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $15.00 | |||
| Great Grandmother | ||||||||||
| Birth Certificate | Certified Copy | VitalChek Online Service | 5 days | $23.00 | $16.50 | $12.50 | $52.00 | |||
| Birth Certificate | Apostile | IL Secretary of State | $2.00 | $15.00 | $0.00 | $17.00 | ||||
| Grandfather | ||||||||||
| Birth Certificate | Certified Copy | Pennsylvania Dept of Health | 42 days | $20.00 | $15.00 | $7.60 | $42.60 | |||
| Death Certificate | Certified Copy | Division of Public and Behavioral Health (NV) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| Birth Certificate | Apostile | Pennsylvania Dept of Health | $15.00 | $15.00 | $0.00 | $30.00 | ||||
| Consulate Form #4 | Notary | Bank of America | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| County Court Search | Search | Lawrence County Orphan's Court | $12.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $12.00 | ||||
| Catholic Church Baptism | Search | Diocese of Pittsburgh | $15.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $15.00 | ||||
| Grandfather/Grandmother | ||||||||||
| Marriage License | Certified Copy | clerk.clarkcountynv.gov | $16.55 | $0.00 | $12.50 | $29.05 | ||||
| Marriage Certificate | Certified Copy | clerk.clarkcountynv.gov | $7.88 | $0.00 | $12.50 | $20.38 | ||||
| Marriage License | Apostile | NV Secretary of State | 26 days | $20.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $20.00 | |||
| Marriage Certificate | Apostile | NV Secretary of State | 26 days | $20.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $20.00 | |||
| Grandmother | ||||||||||
| Birth Certificate | Certified Copy | Pennsylvania Dept of Health | 42 days | $20.00 | $0.00 | $7.60 | $27.60 | |||
| Birth Certificate | Apostile | Office of the Illinois Secretary of State | 4 days | $15.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $15.00 | |||
| Death Certificate | Certified Copy | Division of Public and Behavioral Health (NV) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| Father | ||||||||||
| Birth Certificate | certified copy | Division of Public and Behavioral Health (NV) | $20.00 | $15.00 | $12.50 | $47.50 | ||||
| Birth Certificate | Apostile | NV Secretary of State | $20.00 | $15.00 | $0.00 | $35.00 | ||||
| Consulate Form #3 | Notary | Bank of America | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| Father/Mother | ||||||||||
| Marriage License | Certified Copy | clerk.clarkcountynv.gov | $0.00 | $0.00 | $12.50 | $12.50 | ||||
| Marriage Certificate | Certified Copy | clerk.clarkcountynv.gov | 4 days | $23.18 | $0.00 | $12.50 | $35.68 | |||
| Marriage License | Apostile | NV Secretary of State | 26 days | $20.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $20.00 | |||
| Marriage Certificate | Apostile | NV Secretary of State | 26 days | $20.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $20.00 | |||
| Mother | ||||||||||
| Birth Certificate | Certified Copy | Division of Public and Behavioral Health (NV) | $20.00 | $0.00 | $12.50 | $32.50 | ||||
| Birth Certificate | Apostile | NV Secretary of State | $20.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $20.00 | ||||
| Self | ||||||||||
| Birth Certificate | certified copy | Maricopa county department of public health | 19 days | $20.00 | $15.00 | $12.00 | 6 days | $47.00 | ||
| Birth Certificate | apostile | AZ Secretary of State | 37 days | $20.00 | $15.00 | $0.00 | $35.00 | |||
| Driver's License | update address | AZDMV | 7 days | $12.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $12.00 | |||
| US Passport | renewal | US Dept of State | 90 days | $130.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $130.00 | |||
| Consulate Form #1 | Notary | Bank of America | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| Consulate Form #2 | Notary | Bank of America | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| Self/Spouse | ||||||||||
| Marriage Certificate | Certified Copy | Clerk of the Superior Court Maricopa County, AZ | 8 days | $0.00 | $15.00 | $14.56 | $29.56 | |||
| Duplicate copies | Copies | Kinkos | $30.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $30.00 | ||||
| Application | Pay Consulate | Italian Consulate | 365 days | $360.00 | $15.00 | $0.00 | $375.00 | |||
| Self | ||||||||||
| Passport Fee | Passport | Phoenix Honorary Consulate | $119.40 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $119.40 | ||||
| Passport Picture | Passport | Phoenix Honorary Consulate | $16.28 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $16.28 | ||||
| Passport Shipping | Passport | USPS | $57.50 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $57.50 | ||||
| Total | ||||||||||