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Health & Fitness

Real Political Housewife of Sarasota, Nikki Caragiulo, Receives U.S. Citizenship

Nikki Caragiulo, Wife of District 2 Sarasota City Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, Receives Her Certificate of U.S. Naturalization

Nikki Caragiulo, wife of Sarasota City Commissioner Paul Caragiulo, recently received her Certificate of Naturalization, and will head to a voting booth for the very first time in November.

Nikki remembers visiting Florida every break she and her sister got from their English boarding school. But, it was not until 1994 that parents, Mr. and Mrs. Barker, legally immigrated to Naples, Florida from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, U.K., after purchasing two businesses in Marco Island, Florida.

As a minor, Nikki was able to remain in the United States on her parents’ E-2 Investor Visa.

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“I don’t think I’ve ever had too much anxiety about having to return to England,” she says. “But, I know that it’s grown more and more stressful for my parents, especially after 9/11.”

An E-2 Investor Visa can be renewed every 2 to 5 years, and the investor must show a substantial contribution to the American economy. For almost that past 20 years, Nikki’s parents have consistently maintained their legal alien status through an increasingly detailed process, including two interviews at the American Embassy in London, after the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

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After graduating from Community High School in Naples, Nikki chose to seek a degree in order remain in America, so she applied for and received her U.S. Student Visa. During this temporary and conditional step, she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Stetson University in Deland. It was shortly after her college graduation, in 2002, when “Nikki met Paul.”

Still, the next step for Nikki was to apply for a one-year work permit, allowing her time to find a job as well as a company willing and able to sponsor her. From there, Nikki used her BBA from Stetson University to secure employment in advertising sales, maintaining legal status through what is called an H-1B Visa.

Then in 2006, she married restaurateur Paul Caragiulo, allowing her to apply
for permanent resident status—AKA a green card. Nikki shares, “once I had that
for five years, I could apply for citizenship.”

Nikki’s accomplishment ironically came on her recent birthday. But, unlike the ease of pulling a red, white and blue silk ribbon from a gift box, this present was earned by her and her family’s vigilance on the solid principle of contribution.

Finally, what did raising her right hand and declaring the Naturalization
Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America mean to Nikki?

Aside from her more obvious inability to vote for her husband in last year’s Sarasota City Commission election in District 2, Nikki describes, “Before—like when we would go on a cruise or something—the girls would ask: ‘Mommy, why do you have a red passport, and ours is blue?’”

And if that’s not enough to melt your heart, Nikki is able to give back to her parents by sponsoring them in attaining their green cards.

But, for now, daughters, Sophie and Caroline, will get to see their Great Grandpa when he visits Sarasota, as the Caragiulo’s warmly-welcome all of their U.K. guests, six months at a time.

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