Welcome to Part One of a seven-part blog series! If you need to catch up, here’s the introduction with links to all the blog posts.
While the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act (22 Stat. 58) prevented Chinese workers from immigrating to the United States, Section 6 in the Act provided exemptions for non-laborers, provided that they obtained a certificate from the Chinese government. Later, the U.S. government accepted certificates issued by other foreign governments of which the individual was a subject. These exempt classes (explicitly identified in the 1888 amendment (25 Stat. 476) as merchants, teachers, students, travelers, and diplomats) would be admitted upon presentation of the certificate to the immigration official at the port of arrival.
Section 6 Certificates lacked uniformity, varying in appearance depending on when and where they were issued. The very earliest certificates did not include photographs, but by the 1890s, photos became standard, influenced by the requirement for the Certificates of Residence (see Part Three).
1910 Section 6 Certificate issued to Mah Chung in China (NAID 23835799)
1922 Section 6 Certificate issued to Chin Tuck Yuen in Mexico, Case File 2908/12 (NAID 5955105)
Where can I find these certificates?
If the certificates were turned over to U.S. officials, you can locate these certificates in the individual immigration files. As these were issued by foreign entities, no complete set of certificates exists in federal records.
Want to learn more? Continue on to Part Two!