Since I already went over how to get a Dichiarazione di Valore, let me explain that I learned all this the hard way. In fact, for the most part I felt like this during the entire process:
Unfortunately, fist shaking will get you nowhere… not that I was actually getting anywhere most of the time. Obtaining a Dichiarazione di Valore began to feel like a mythical quest. I was obsessed. It seemed that every time I managed to jump through one hoop, they would produce a smaller and more obscure hoop to deal with. Luckily, I was able to become a professional hoop jumper.
Here is the frustrating way to apply for graduate school in Italy:
Step 1: Check with the graduate school and learn that as a foreign applicant, you need some silly form to verify that you really did complete your undergraduate degree.
Step 2: Check the Italian consulate website and learn that all you need is your “original official transcript.”
Step 3: Order official transcripts from UCLA and get some extra, “just in case.”
Step 4: Wait patiently outside the consulate doors at 8:55 am because they open at 9. Look totally silly when people start waltzing in past you and realize that the consulate secretly opens early every day. Except on Thursdays. The consulate is closed on Thursday, obviously.
Step 5: Ask on the front desk and be told to wait for “the lady from the education department.” When she arrives, proudly display your official unopened college transcripts and explain that you need a dichiarazione di valore. Keep your spirits up when she tells you “No. This is not what we consider official. They must sign it. If they tell you they cannot sign it, then that is your problem. It must be signed. Then you must go to the city and then you must go to the state. Ok? Also, it must be translated into Italian. See you soon!”
Step 6: Find a translator online and scan them copies of your transcript to work from.
Step 7: Order more copies of transcripts from college and this time request that they be signed and notarized.
Step 8: Call the city and confuse an employee. Quickly realize that the woman at the consulate must have meant “county” not “city,” and then call the County Clerk.
Step 9: Drive 35 miles in Los Angeles traffic to the County Clerk’s office. You’ll get the form you need fairly painlessly, minus the traffic.
Step 10: Drive 15 miles in Los Angeles traffic to the Secretary of State’s office downtown. You’ll get the form you need moderately painlessly. The Secretary of States office can have a rather long wait, but it will all be worth it when you emerge with your shiny gold sealed Apostille.
Step 11: Check the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Italian consulate website to ensure that you are getting everything right. Then, give up entirely on Italian consulate websites because they are decidedly lacking in information. (See below)
Step 12: Return triumphantly to the Italian consulate and expertly request to speak with “the lady in the education office.” Present her with your now truly official transcript- signed, notarized, verified by the county and approved by the Secretary of State PLUS the transcript translated into Italian. HA! Nothing is impossible.
Step 13: Walk out dejected when she tells you: “This is good! Now do the same with your diploma.”
Step 14: At least have the foresight to ask “Ooooook. Is there anything else I also need to bring when I come back with the Apostille diploma and transcript?” Politely argue with her when she says to bring your entire application back. “Even my letters of reference?!” “Even you letters of reference. Everything.”
Step 15: Repeat Steps 7-12 with the diploma. Yay for traffic.
Step 16: Frantically write your essay, figure out how to format a CV, and call in every favor you can to get your letters of recommendation done ASAP.
Step 17: Check the Italian translation of your diploma the night before going to the consulate and notice that your name is spelled wrong. Of course it is.
Step 18: Remind yourself that you will laugh about this one day, make some coffee, and stay up re-translating the damn diploma yourself.
Step 19: MAKE COPIES OF EVERYTHING.
Step 20: Return to the consulate yet again with every piece of paper ever associated with you.
Step 21: The consulate will accept it! And then ask you where your prepaid envelope is.
Step 22: Drat.
Step 23: Go to FedEx and open an account. Fill out an International Waybill with your new account information to assume all charges for the package when and if the consulate should ever actually place it in the mail.
Step 24: Try to drop off the prepaid envelope.
Step 25: Find that the office is closed on a Wednesday because it is a holiday in Italy.
Step 26: Successfully drop off the prepaid envelope on Friday, because everyone knows that the consulate is always closed on Thursday.
Step 27: Celebrate with some mother-effing-gelato, because wtf was that?!
Step 28: (Optional) Try not to dwell on how angry you will be if you do not get in and this whole adventure was in vain. Instead, think of nice things like Vespas and Ponte Vecchio.
Wait a minute… isn’t that photo of Pontevecchio in Florence? Aren’t you going to Rome? Shouldn’t that be a photo of like the Trevi Fountain? Psh.
Sounds like you had a thrilling application experience. If you DO go to Florence… make sure you get some gelato from Grom, it’s the best.
ha, yes, that IS Florence. And I AM moving to Rome, but I love Firenze and want to go back!
I throughly enjoyed this break from doldrum and I don’t think you described how difficult applying is, you made it sound so upbeat. I guess when you get to move to Rome and satisfy the end goal, the application process isn’t too bad in hindsight.
I’m going through the exact same thing! And feel so frustrated! Today at the Consulate the lady in charge of Education told me I have to bring the Dichiarazione di Valore Form, and she added: I don’t know the name of the form, I hardly ever do this $$%^&%$# So, now I have to go online to look for the mysterious form. Any ideas on where to find it?? I was so discourage today..
There’s a form?? I never had one. Which consulate (city?) are you dealing with?
=/ the Consulate in boston, they want me to bring a form and I’m completely lost!
Your blog has been so helpful!! I’m starting an Erasmus Mundus masters program in France/Italy and I need to obtain a DV before I leave. I have 2 more weeks to get it all sorted out!
The San Francisco Consulate requires my high school (yes, high school) transcript and diploma notarized and signed by an Apostille. Afterwards I have to drive down to LA (I went to UCSB), and do the same for my college diploma and transcript. Holy cow!
Do you remember how picky the consulate was about the translation? I talked to “the lady from the education department” and she told me that I don’t need to get anything translated because she “understands English very well”. As much as I would like to trust what she said, because paying and waiting for a professional translation seems like a pain in the ass and I’m pressed for time, I’d hate to drive all the way down there just to be turned away because my documents haven’t been translated.
I hope to one day laugh about all of this.. Right now I’m pulling my hair out.
Also, did you have your Apostilled documents translated?
Hi Robin! I didn’t have to have the Apostille itself translated. Just the document originals (transcripts, diploma)
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Hi! Did you have to wait to get the DV back and then apply for the study visa? Or can I apply for my visa before? Thank you for all of your advice!!
Hi Morgan- I applied separately. The DV was sent directly to my school so I didn’t need it for the visa. I already had the letter of acceptance and invitation letter which implied that I had the DV. (Though so consulates may handle it differently). Good luck!
Hi, I am in the process of completing this insane process in order to complete my visa request for Italy. I am currently already residing in Rome for work so I am trying to complete all of this remotely with the help of my contacts back home. Do you know if it matters who notarizes my degrees and transcripts or does it have be done through the school itself? ( I only ask because I went to 4 different schools several in different states so I am trying to streamline this process so it is less running around for my family) Am I able to get all my official transcripts and degrees notarized by the same (non-university) registered notary?
Thank you for your breakdown on the steps. It has been such a nightmare trying to figure this out.
Hi Kylie,
I think any notary is fine, but you have to have a notary that is registered in that state. Because you then go to the secretary of state to get the apostille. They have to confirm that the person who notarized it was actually eligiable to notarize in that state. Universities are usually familiar with the process of notarizing! They will have someone they can call.
Natalie, I need your help cause i feel i am going CRAZY!! I am actually Italian, and i obtained my Bachelor Degree in NY. I am going through the same insanity of getting this MOTHER****** DV. I did not present my documents to the consulate yet, but what i have done is the following:
1. I have made a copy of the original degree and official transcripts (which already come with the official school seal and the signatures from President and Chairman /Board of Trustees) and i contact a notary public who signed the documents. I also took them to the County Clerk and the State for an Apostille. Am i doing this right? Will they accept this? Please HELP!!
Natalie, I need your help cause i feel i am going CRAZY!! I am actually Italian, and i obtained my Bachelor Degree in NY. I am going through the same insanity of getting this DV. I did not present my documents to the consulate yet, but what i have done is the following:
1. I have made a copy of the original degree and official transcripts (which already come with the official school seal and the signatures from President and Chairman /Board of Trustees and the registrar-the transcripts) and i contact a notary public who signed the documents. I also took them to the County Clerk and the State for an Apostille. Am i doing this right? Will they accept this? Please HELP!!
Ok, I have 1000 questions, and now I am 1000% more stressed than I was 10 minutes ago. I am in the process, and currently living in Italy, so having to do everything from here and I will only have 1 day to fly to my consulate….. That being said I can not afford to fly back home and redo this as many times as you did. I called my university (CSUDH) IN CALIFORNIA, they said they do not sign or notarize transcripts because they are already official and if I want it notarized it is up to me. What am I supposed to do now? Next question, why on earth do you need to go to the county clerk? do they sign the paper too? Then I need to go to the secretary of state and have them put a gold sticker on it?
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