Update On Mei-Lin’s Italian Nationality Application

There is some updates on Mei-Lin’s quest for the acquisition of Italian nationality. We went to the Household Registration Office in Taipei and requested Mei-Lin’s original birth certificate, then we went to the police and obtained Mei-Lin’s criminal records certificate, and then we went to the notary to legalize them. But then the notary spotted something.

Mei-Lin had changed her name back when she was a child.

This is something we had completely forgotten. Due to certain life events in Mei-Lin’s family, her parents decided to officially change her first name. This is not something uncommon in Taiwan and other asian countries, where first names bear… complicated meanings. But this is a problem for us, because the name on the birth certificate is not “Mei-Lin”. Luckily the notary spotted it. After checking with the Italian Consulate Trade Office in Taipei, it seems that the solution is to include to the legalization chain ALSO Mei-Lin’s Household Registration Transcript (in English) where it is reported the date and nature of name change. FUCKING THANK YOU, NOTARY, WE OWE YOU THIS ONE.

Anyway, after legalizing all this documents, I went to the Italian Consulate Trade Office in Taipei, just in time for the scheduled appointment. From now on, I will call this place “the Pesto Tower”.

I had to go to Taipei for other reasons on the same date, so I will not count in the expense tracking the costs for transportations and hotel. After handing over the Power Of Attorney Form and the Document Legalization Request Form, plus related passports, I was able to request the double-legalization of the three documents: birth certificate, police records, and household registration transcript. But they didn’t do it immediately.

Usually it takes two weeks. You can come back with these receipts to collect the documents when they are ready.

AYFKM? We leave back to Switzerland before that!

Uhm, then I will check if it’s possible to speed it up, we’ll let you know.

OMFG, this is not serious.

Luckily they were nice, and today we got confirmation that the documents will be ready in a couple of days. I will go again to Taipei to pick them up. I will not count the transportation costs because I will have to go to Taipei again for other reasons, but I will DEFINITELY count the hotel accommodation because I will have to stay for one night just for this. Stay tuned!