Who are we?
After being recognized as citizens, we began helping our friends, family and wider community in their efforts to pursue citizenship. The process was so complicated when we initially went through it that we vowed to make it as easy as possible for our clients in order to ensure no one else would feel as confused as we did.
With this, Italian Citizenship for Dummies was born.
The best part of our work over the last seven years has been working with diverse people from different backgrounds, all the while seeing them united by this single desire to finally be recognized as the Italian citizens that they are. We have now helped thousands of people from over twenty countries around the world in their journey to Italian citizenship and we are looking forward to helping many more.
Our Team
Our dedicated team of citizenship experts is a mixture of both Italians and Italian-Americans.
Together, our combined skills and expertise allow us to offer our clients comprehensive assistance for every possible situation that may arise during the citizenship process.
Owner & General Manager: Justin Kesselring
Justin joined the team in June 2023 and will be one of your first points of contact. His duties include setting up client files, taking initial client consults, and facilitating U.S. certificates through the long process that they need to go through (exemplifications, legalizations, and apostilles). He also helps to prepare final application folders to send to clients.
As an honorary Italian, Justin enjoys helping people achieve their dreams of becoming dual citizens and hopes they enjoy the freedom to travel as much as he does.
Client Coordinator: Federica Stucchi
Federica is responsible for making sure the dual citizenship process runs as smoothly and quickly as possible for all of our clients. In addition to providing case updates and answering client questions, Federica oversees the Italian and U.S. vital record collection to ensure that turnaround is minimized and that we can have clients’ completed folders in their hands as quickly as possible.
As a native Italian, Federica is passionate about helping her fellow citizens become recognized and looks forward to welcoming them back to their homeland someday.
Founder Emerita: Dr. Paula Coffee
Paula has practiced general dentistry in Parker, Colorado since the 1980s. One of seven children from a proud Italian family in Pueblo, Colorado, the importance of family and her Italian heritage was imbued upon her at an early age.
Always curious if she was eligible for dual citizenship, she was overwhelmed by what seemed to be an extremely complicated and time-consuming process. In 2012, she decided to take the plunge, immersing herself in the world of Jure Sanguinis law. After finally becoming a citizen herself, Paula knew she needed to spread this knowledge to others, to ensure the process went smoother for them than it did for her. Immensely proud and excited by her own citizenship, Paula has helped thousands of Italian descendants obtain their dual-citizenship over the last nine years, and looks forward to helping many more.
Italian Vital Records Guru: Veronica Del Ben
As our in-house Italian genealogical expert, Veronica oversees all vital record collection in Italy. She works tirelessly with our clients to help locate their ancestors’ certificates across the country, and maintains good relationships with Comunes in order to ensure requests are facilitated as quickly as possible. Veronica also conducts additional research with our on-the-ground network whenever additional information is requested from the Consulate.
Veronica is based in Pordenone in Northern Italy and loves unearthing our clients’ family histories from the archives.
Customer Experience Specialist: Ryan Burns
Ryan recently joined our team. He focuses on customer experience and satisfaction; so you will likely hear from him along your citizenship journey. He also conducts some of our initial client consultations and initial client set up. Ryan spent over a year living and working in Italy and only fell more in love with the country and its people – and now has an espresso machine at home because nothing else will do! He knows that the process to claim your citizenship can be overwhelming and works with the rest of our team to make it as effortless as possible.
Translator: Valentina Mecca
Hailing from Potenza, Valentina has earned a BA in Translation, an MA in Diplomatic Studies and a second Master's degree in International Relations from IE Business School in Madrid.
A passionate linguist, she has studied English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and Portuguese. After having spent many years living in both the United States and Spain, Valentina has returned to her native country to work as a certified translator in both English and Spanish. She also specializes in areas of international politics and defense.