70-year-old woman gets surprise of a lifetime when she learns she's been a US citizen

SACRAMENTO (KABC) -- A 70-year-old woman who came to the U.S. from South America got a citizenship surprise.

Hannie Gerdeman was born in South America and now lives in Holland.

She said she wanted to stay in the U.S. indefinitely to be with her sick mother in Sacramento, so she contacted an immigration attorney to apply for U.S. citizenship.

After doing some research, the lawyer told Gerdeman she's been a U.S. citizen for some 60 years.

"He looked at it and he said, 'but you're a citizen.' When he told us, we were all shocked," she shared as she giggled.

Apparently, Gerdeman's mother and deceased father were U.S. citizens, and at one point she even lived in the U.S. as a child.