Consulate General of Italy

We had quite a journey applying for Italian citizenship through marriage. It makes you feel like a hero when you are done collecting all the documents and apostiles from different states and countries. In total, the whole process (without taking a language exam) took us more than 1.5 years. But we would not be able to do it without nice people who work in the Consulate who were super helpful and responsive. We especially want to thank Elisabetta who helped us a lot during this journey.

My husband and I went to the embassy to apply for an ERV, we were a bit nervous about the appointment not knowing what to expect. We were greeted by a very professional guard then directed to a lady behind a window; her name was Patrizia, she was efficient and kind, who together with Paolo process our two application in about 40 minutes. The entire process was very pleasant. The building was plenty of parking and very easy to find. Thank you for making us feel welcome!

The consulate moved to 12424 Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica as of Sept 2023.
I’ve never had such a quick experience in a consulate before. It took 15 minutes to go through my passport appointment. I made sure I had all the right papers for the date, yes, but it was still pretty impressive how fast it was.
There was plenty of parking in the area and the building was easy to find.

Update: Passport came in the mail TWO DAYS LATER !

I understand where the negative reviews come from - this office is a representative of a whole bureaucratic system. The tasks you come to a consulate for are inherently frustrating to deal with, and in all honesty the Italian officials (i.e. the people actually in Italy) can be slow and opaque. The application procedures aren’t the easiest to understand and follow, either.

But on the other hand, we’ve only had good experiences with consulate personnel over the past 10 years. Years ago an agent named Raffaella was very helpful with my paperwork, and more recently, my wife and I found Elisabetta to be very friendly and responsive so long as we were following procedures. I think that holds true in general, and probably should: the consulate won’t do the work for you and won’t necessarily answer questions you can look up yourself. There are many things they don’t have control over. It can be hard to make first contact and they probably won’t help you out if you haven’t read the procedures for your visit and don’t have your stuff in order.

I know this doesn’t sound like a 5-star review but in my opinion the negative reviewers may have an unrealistic view of what a consulate should be like. And the people we’ve interacted with have been, without exception, kind and helpful.

Note: the office recently moved to Wilshire Blvd and we only ever visited the old Ave of the Stars address, so can’t say anything about the physical location.

Staff and the Vice Consul were very helpful with my questions and application. The Consulate had just moved to its new location and they were still moving in, but they gave me enough information (flying in from another state) that I could be sure I wasn't going to miss the appointment due to any ground transport snafu. They were competent and professional.

Hours of operation are not accurate. I have called and emailed. No actual response to the email other than a scripted email that does not apply to my Italian citizenship question, which has to do with voting. And calling, enter the extension of the department-sometimes on hold until the line gets disconnected without ever talking to someone. And the one time I did the lady was so rude and impatient and made no effort to answer my question. Very disappointing that a Italian government agency whose primary purpose is to assist citizens abroad has people working for it that seem to hate their job.

I’ve been to this office several times in person and lots of phone and email communication in preparation for my visits. Very helpful!

Very professional and serious people are here. I love that! Consulate business transactions are not something where you “wing-it”, show up prepared.

A special mention to operator Elisabetta, who was fantastic to work with me.