Step 3 - Find the names of parents

You have place and date of birth, that is to say, a definite starting point. Your research backwards can start, and you will be limited only by the availability of original sources, time, or money in case you want to hire a genealogist to research for you. Consider that from a certain point backwards (varying with places) all records will be localized, that is available only in local parishes or archives in Italy.

You don't Know where the Records you Need are Kept

Check the Availability of Civil Records for your place and date for your municipality and province in our lists of Archives in Italy.

Place and Year are Not Available to Research

The records you need may be too recent, and still protected by privacy issues. You have to go backwards to reach the point in time when civil records are available. To that purpose, you can request the municipality for an extract of birth with names and ages of parents: click here for a model form: copy and paste it within your text editor, and make the necessary changes. Make it easy for Italian municipality officials to fulfil you requests:

state your connection to the person requested, so as to comply with the Italian privacy law, and give the reason for the certificate (citizenship, administrative, research)
include an envelope with your address possibly already with Italian stamps
include Italian money to pay for the certificates.

Place and Year are Available to Research

You can start your research in this case in a number of ways.

You are familiar with Italian language and handwriting, or at least want to give yourself a try: you can research the Civil Records online.
The registers you need are not online. If there is a Latter Day Saints' Family Center within your reach and you feel at your ease in understanding handwritten Italian, you can order microfilms for the years you need and get started.
You have planned a trip to Italy, and want to spare some time in the Italian State Archives: check addresses and opening times for the archive you are interested in, that is the province capital for your municipality. Before going, make a phone call to the archive there to check if your municipality is in that archive or in another, or missing.
If the municipality was in the Stato della Chiesa, you won't have any Civil Records to search from until after 1870, or your municipality may have changed province during the 20th century, so you'll need another archive.
It is also possible that the acts for a municipality are kept in the Archive of the previous province (i.e. Acts for Bussi and Popoli, now in the Province of Pescara, are kept in the archive in L'Aquila until 1865). The same happens for many Provinces that were created in the 20th century.

Engage a Genealogist

You can hire some specialist to make a research for you from archives. Though it is true that each search is different, it is also fair that you may have an idea of what can be obtained with your funds. Find therefore below two research plans with possible budget.

Basic Research

From father to father along the paternal line, as far back as possible in the Civil Records, not including siblings at each generation apart from those accidentally found, 190 EUR (research, copies and English translations of documents, email reports, shipment to you)- Time necessary: 1 month, report by email on advancement of search.

Other Research Plans

You need to check what years are available for your municipality. And your starting point may be different and you'll need a more limited time span. In this case you can use the fees as a guideline, and request a different timespan of research.

Civil Records available 1809-1928: 6 generations approx. 450 EUR
Civil Records available 1809-1910: 5 generations approx. 350 EUR
Civil Records available 1809-1900: 4-5 generations approx. 300 EUR
Civil Records available 1809-1865: 3 generations approx. 250 EUR

Classic Research

From father to father along the paternal line, as far back as possible, including siblings at each generation, possibly their marriages if noted in the birth acts and available in the archives, fees as above + 50 EUR every extra hour - you can authorize up to a certain sum to keep track of your expenses. The fee includes research, copies and English translations of documents, email reports, shipment to you. Time necessary: 1-3 months, periodical reports by email on advancement of search.

Place and Year are not Available

Records cannot be found in public archives, they are too ancient or missing. Proceed to Step 4.

Step 2 «« Guide Index »» Step 4

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