but I was hoping to find the original documents of the petition and declaration -- you don't get that with Nara do you? Hi Claire, ..Yes NARA has the original petitions and declarations. I was doing photocopying of the documents for some months, for the Italian group in the NY NARA .. ..I was also able to obtain my father's declaration with a photo of him at 38 yrs, with the help of the leader of the group .. Really nice people down there .. .. Not all have photos .. Good luck .. _http://www.italiangen.org_ (http://www.italiangen.org) MaryPat