The National Archives is pleased to announce that we have taken custody of key historical records related to immigration - the digitized World War II era Alien Registration (AR-2) forms and the Flexoline database that serves as an index to the AR-2 f...
The demand for proof of citizenship resulted in the creation of certificates of naturalization during the “Old Law” period of United States naturalization history (March 26, 1790–September 26, 1906). Government efforts to end natura...
Researchers often request records for immigrants who were processed at the Angel Island Immigration Station. But the immigration history at the San Francisco port, and its associated records, spanned beyond the operational years at Angel Island (1910...
Filing a declaration of intention was the first step toward naturalization for most persons seeking United States citizenship between January 29, 1795, and December 23, 1952. As its name suggests, an alien “declarant” making a declaration...
Deportation is the removal of a noncitizen already in the United StatesExclusion is the refusal of admission by a Board of Special Inquiry (BSI) Not all deportation and exclusion records survived. If the event occurred after 1892 there is a cha...
Prior to the creation of the Alien files (A-files) in 1944, which documented every step of an immigrant’s journey from their initial entry to naturalization, each immigration office developed their own highly complex filing system. The numerous...
With the declaration of war on April 6, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson called on residents in the United States, citizen and immigrant alike, to loyally uphold all laws and to support all measures adopted in order to protect the nation and secure pea...
The National Archives has passenger arrival records for entries to the United States from foreign ports between approximately 1820 and December 1982 (with gaps). The records are arranged by port or airport of arrival. Passenger arrival re...
Documentation of immigrants entering the United States varied significantly from 1789-1819 because there was not a singular entity creating and maintaining records of immigrants. The Customs Bureau oversaw ports starting in 1789, but, with limi...
The National Archives houses passenger manifests from vessels arriving to the United States from foreign ports between approximately 1820 and the mid-twentieth century. The records are arranged by the port of arrival.Passenger manifests can be useful...
With the declaration of war on April 6, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson called on residents in the United States, citizen and immigrant alike, to loyally uphold all laws and to support all measures adopted in order to protect the nation and secure pea...
The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required that each alien living within U.S. borders go to their local post office and register their alien status with the government during a four month period ending in December of 1940. The registration process i...
When you are researching immigrants during the Civil War time period, Record Group 110 (RG 110), Records of the Provost Marshal General’s Bureau (Civil War), may be a good source of information. For the most part, RG 110 records about aliens ar...
During the 1940s immigrants needed to follow standard processes to adjust their residency status in the United States. For immigrants seeking permanent status whose temporary status was running out or who were technically deportable but found t...
The Department of State issues visas to foreigners traveling to the United States. Before World War I, alien visitors did not require visaed passports in order to enter the United States (except for a brief time during the Civil War, 1861-1865)...
Naturalization is the process by which an alien becomes an American citizen. It is a voluntary act; naturalization is not required.Prior to September 27, 1906, any "court of record" (municipal, county, state, or Federal) could grant United States cit...
What is an A-File?The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) began issuing aliens an Alien Registration number in 1940, and on April 1, 1944, began using this number to create individual case files, called Alien Files or A-Files.A-Files contain...
Passenger arrival lists are a wonderful resource for genealogists. There are a number of useful search tricks and common errors that researchers should keep in mind to ensure success in locating an ancestor. Passenger List Research Tips &...
IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION RECORDSHave you been searching for years and wondered where can you find immigration and naturalization records for a family member that came to America? Or you finally found a single index card with name/s misspelled, ...
