An illiterate elderly Italian citizen in Australia for 40 years lost her passport. How can she get a new one?

Question

My friend lives in country Victoria and has no drivers license, so is quite isolated. The Italian embassy responsible for passports is in Perth and I have emailed them with photocopies of her relevant papers ( except she has no photo ID) but they will not deal with me.They tell me she is not registered as an Italian citizen but even though I followed all the steps to register her, I've hit a brick wall. She is an intelligent woman, just not well educated and especially has trouble with English. She does not want to become an Australian citizen but she wants a passport for a visit back to Italy. What can I try next?

Answer 1

It may well be that your friend should possible become naturalised as an Australian and apply for a duel citizenship. I know it is a hassle my mum went through the same thing when she applied for her Aussie passport. She had to get citizenship here as her Maltese records had been lost during ww2 bombings. Luckily with some assistance and a few trips back to Malta the relevant documents 'turned up'.

I think your best bet may be to go down that path. It may not be an option out of pride and or her Italian pension but if all else fails then you may have no choice. I would maybe try and find someone at any of the Italian Embassies/Consulates that was a bit more sympathetic.

She is not alone is what is happening to her. I wish you both luck.

Answer 2

Hi.  I feel for your friend.  I teach English to people just like her, and I appreciate the difficulties they face.  That said, ask any Italian (in Italy) and they'll tell you this is typical of their bureaucracy. There must be hundreds, if not thousands of Italians like her world-wide -  illiteracy was very common in Italy before the second world war.

This is a delicate issue, and I think she should have legal representation at any cost - we don't want her to experience a Vivian Alvarez situation. (Yes, I know it's different as Alvarez was an Australian citizen, but the threat of detention is very real.)

Here's a link to a specialist legal centre which should be able to help your friend: http://www.rilc.org.au/  Yes, it says "refugee" in the title and she is not a refugee, but these ppl should be able to advise her too.

Probably the only thing she can do is to approach the Australian Immigration Department, but as I say, with skilled legal representation.  

Good luck.

Answer 3

Wow, what a frustrating situation. There is an Italo-Australian association called Co.As.It. They have an Aged Services & Community Care division and might be able to help or suggest another course of action that you can take.