DiMeglio Septic , Inc .
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RESIDENT , from Page 1 married and had three daughters
together before emigrating to the United States on October 31 , 1979 .
According to Giovannone , she and her two sisters were automatically granted citizenship when her parents became citizens . In 1987 , Giovannone received her Certificate of Naturalization and was officially a United States citizen .
In a post-9 / 11 world , entities like the Department of Motor Vehicles ( DMV ) need to take appropriate measures to make sure people obtaining driver ’ s licenses are legal United States citizens . When Giovannone thought she misplaced the original copy of her Certificate of Naturalization , she was informed that she would not be able to renew her driver ’ s license because she couldn ’ t sufficiently show proof of her citizenship with the photocopy of the certificate she had , even though she had lived in the United States for the past 38 years at the time .
“ I went to renew it , and I didn ’ t have my original with me . I only had a copy of it , and they wouldn ’ t give me my license back . They wouldn ’ t let me renew my license until I had this piece of paper . My lawyer even went there to see if that was for real because he never had a problem . I don ’ t know what the circumstances are with the DMV anymore ,” Giovannone said .
Giovannone said she had to reapply for her Certificate of Naturalization about 20 years ago , because unbeknownst to her father , it was in his personal files with his own certificate . The process to reapply for a Certificate of Naturalization took about six months and cost about $ 500 .
Last year , Giovannone almost had to go through the same lengthy process again when she was blindsided with finding out she needed the original copy of her Certificate of Naturalization to renew her license and that the copy she made would not suffice .
The document is worth four of the six required points of identification at the New Jersey DMV and because Giovannone didn ’ t have a United States passport ( also worth four points ) either , she
Wednesday , April 5 , 2017 • The Hammonton Gazette • Page 3
Resident recounts experience with docs , driver ’ s license
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couldn ’ t prove she was a United States citizen . To further complicate matters , Giovannone wouldn ’ t be able to get a passport without showing a valid ID and valid proof of citizenship .
Between March and June , Giovannone had no valid driver ’ s license and could not drive herself to work or drive her children to and from school .
“ This paper was lost , and I couldn ’ t drive for three months . It was horrible . I got rides to work for three months because I could not renew my license without the original … I missed a lot of my kid ’ s baseball games because it was very hard to find rides to the games . It was hard . I couldn ’ t take them anywhere . I was out three months ,” Giovannone said .
Fortunately , Giovannone got by with the help of her friend , Shonda Miller , who was her main source of transportation during her time without a license .
“ She ( Shonda ) helped me tremendously for the three months — in not even the blink of an eye — helping me get to work and to pick up my kids ... She was there for me nonstop for the three months ,” Giovannone said .
It was also Miller who took Giovannone to the DMV when the father of Giovannone ’ s daughter informed her that he had found the original copy of her Certificate of Naturalization .
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Giovannone said she doesn ’ t know anyone else that has had to go through a similar situation and that it is not fair that there is no easier way to prove someone ’ s citizenship if they do not have a passport or a Certificate of Naturalization , even though they ’ ve been a citizen since they were a child .
“ I ’ ve been in this country since I was seven years old . My parents did everything they could as Italian immigrants to come here , learn English , have a better life for their kids and then we have to go through this ? ... I think it ’ s just a horrible thing . I don ’ t know how to put it in words that I ’ ve been in this country , and we did everything that we could as immigrants to come to this country and get our paperwork ,” Giovannone said .
Miller shared Giovannone ’ s sentiments and said she doesn ’ t understand why there can ’ t be a digital database for such crucial documents .
“ It shouldn ’ t be so hard to obtain naturalization paperwork . It shouldn ’ t just be one copy and you ’ re done . They should be able to look it up on the computer , use your fingerprints , find it in the computer ,” Miller said .
Unfortunately , it was up to Giovannone to get a physical copy of her Certificate of Naturalization .
See LICENSE , Page 4
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