How do I find my ancestors naturalization papers?

Cachelle Guadagnino,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

Naturalization is the process by which an alien becomes an American citizen. It is a voluntary act; naturalization is not required.

In general, naturalization was a two-step process* that took a minimum of five years. After residing in the United States for two years, an alien could file a "declaration of intention" ("first papers") to become a citizen. After three additional years, the alien could "petition for naturalization" (”second papers”). After the petition was granted, a certificate of citizenship was issued to the alien. These two steps did not have to take place in the same court.  [*Exceptions can include cases of derivative citizenship, processes for minor aliens 1824-1906, and special consideration for veterans.]

If a naturalization took place in a Federal court, naturalization indexes, declarations of intention (with any accompanying certificates of arrival), and petitions for naturalization will usually be in the National Archives facility serving the state in which the Federal court is located. No central index exists. To ensure a successful request with the National Archives, researchers should include: the name of petitioner (including known variants); date of birth; approximate date of entry to the US; approximate date of naturalization; where the individual was residing at the time of naturalization (city/county/state); and country of origin.

In most cases, the National Archives will not have a copy of the certificate of citizenship. Two copies of the certificate were created – one given to the petitioner as proof of citizenship, and one forwarded to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

All INS records are now overseen by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS maintains duplicate copies of court records (including the certificate of citizenship) created from September 27, 1906 through March 31, 1956 within Certificate Files (C-Files). Beginning on April 1, 1956, INS began filing all naturalization records in a subject’s Alien File (A-File). C-Files and certain A-Files may be requested through the USCIS Genealogy Program.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!

Alicia Gabriel

If you are willing to give us his name, approximate birth year, and if he lived anywhere other than Rochester NY in the US, we could help you look for the information.

Thank you for helping me, Susannah!

my Great Uncle’s name is Antonio Guadagnino,

DOB: 1891 (I can dig up the month and day, if you need it.)

Death: 1939

Born in Sicily. Lived in Rochester, NY. He married and had a daughter, who never had children. His wife left him, with their child, for another man, in Michigan.

I am really trying to find out where exactly his parents were born, in Italy. I believe his father Anthony (Antonio) was born in Termini Imerese. I don’t know which are there or his parents name.

My Great Grandmother’s name is listed by many names. One is Giacomina. The rumor is she was born in Messina. Who knows!

I appreciate any help you can offer!

Many thanks!

Cachelle

I am not having much luck finding any information on Antonio Guadagnino born in 1891 who lived in Rochester NY, although there are several Guadagnino families in that city.  Could you give me the names of any or all of his siblings, which may lead me to information on their parents?  

I am so sorry!  I gave you the other side of the family’s last name.  Please excuse me.

His name is Antonio Lombardo. He was born in the Province of Palermo, in Sicily and as far as I know, he lived only in Rochester, NY, with the exception of his time in the military.

1891 - 1939

Thank you!

At least with this name I was finding the family in censuses, and Antonio's burial in 1939 along with some info from the military.  I did not find on-line a naturalization record for either Antonio or his father, although I did find in an index of declarations of intentions a listing for an Antonio Lombardo 16 Dec 1915, vol 10 p. 392.  I do not know if this is either your Antonio or his father, or the other Antonio Lombardo born in 1885, who also lived in Rochester.

The best places to look for place of birth for an immigrant are naturalization records and then possibly passenger arrival lists and the earliest US religious records for the immigrants (in this case the baptisms of the first couple of children born in the US, might list the baptismal place of the parents). Of course place of birth might appear in any record for an individual.

Italian civil and church records are kept at the town level and there are at least 134 towns in the Province of Palermo. Catalog Search Results for Italy, Palermo - FamilySearch.org  I thought I would look at a few towns since US records listed Antonio's birth date as 7 Aug 1891 and for some reason I started at the end of an alphabetical list of the towns in Palermo.  My usually luck in research is to find a record in the last record I look at, not the first; but a lot about the following records match the family you are looking for, but there is NO guarantee this is the same family.  You would have to either match the information to other US records or work your way through all the other towns in Palermo, looking for another Antonio Lombardo born on that date (registration is usually a day or two later).

#449 birth of Antonio Lombardo 7 Aug 1891 in Villaurea to Antonio Lombardo and Gi_achina Scialabba (I cannot figure out the missing letter).

Italy, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1862-1910; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9MZ-Y15Q?cc=1947613&wc=MDBD-KMS%3A245876501%2C246853701

All Italian civil birth registrations follow basically the same wording and a translation of the form is found at Italian Birth Document Translation • FamilySearch

This is the marriage record for Antonio Lombardo, age 27, and Gi_achina Scialabba, age 19 in Villaurea on 16 Apr 1890.

Italy, Palermo, Termini Imerese, Civil Registration (Tribunale), 1862-1910; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9M8-3GVQ?cc=1947613&wc=MDB8-QWL%3A245876501%2C246013501

Translation of marriage record Italian Marriage Document Translations • FamilySearch

If this is the marriage record for Antonio Lombardo, I actually think that the above Italian records might be his family.

New York, County Marriages, 1847-1848; 1908-1936; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:9Q97-YSG7-QXH?cc=1618491&wc=38MY-3TL%3A1583169002%2C1583192802

1. If we can believe the information on the Census doco, father Antonio (1861) was naturalised some time between 1900 and 1910. I would have expected that son Antonio (1891) would have been automatically naturalised as well because he might still have been a minor?

2.There is a 1909 declaration of intention for an Antonio b 1885, so I assume that there is a fair chance that he isn't the one in that 1915 index: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C915-RS5H-B

Hi Cachelle,

Welcome to History

I found a Possible Match to your Antonio in 1924

wife Marie

children Michael, Joseph, Leonard, Antonio, John

two pages, one is the petition of intent, the other is the full naturalization

familysearch.org is a free website, you just need to register to use

New York, County Naturalization Records, 1791-1980; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-L9M8-PC4C?cc=1999177&wc=MDSB-WP8%3A326209701%2C330178001

New York, County Naturalization Records, 1791-1980; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89M8-PH4T?cc=1999177&wc=MDSB-WP8%3A326209701%2C330178001

Alice Lane

Research Volunteer

Dear Cachelle Guadagnino,

Thank you for posting your request to History Hub!

The National Archives has custody of any Naturalization records from Federal courts dated prior to October 1991.  If your Great Uncle was naturalized prior to September 1906, the naturalization could have taken place through a municipal, county, state, or federal court; any naturalizations after September 1906 was through Federal courts only.  Please consult our Online Naturalization Records, 1790-1995 guide in order to find where to search online for the Federal court records. The guide is organized alphabetically by state.

The online databases found on the guide consist of Ancestry, Fold3, and Family Search. There may be a fee for using the Ancestry and Fold3 service, but Family Search is available for free with the creation of an account.  Ancestry and Fold3 may be accessed for free through a NARA facility or through any participating universities or public libraries.

As a public health precaution due to COVID-19, all National Archives research rooms nationwide, including those at Presidential Libraries, are closed to the public until further notice. Please check NARA’s web page about COVID-19 updates for the latest information. We apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience.

We hope this is helpful. Best of luck with your research!

****Edit: Naturalizations after September 1906 were not only through Federal courts.  Beginning on September 27, 1906, naturalization was encouraged to transfer to the Federal courts when US naturalization law imposed a fee structure.  It is possible that naturalization took place in a lower court from the early to mid 20th century, as it took time for lower courts to let go of the practice.  Over half of all naturalizations were done in state or local courts prior to 1926 and even some areas, such as Kansas, have naturalization petitions in local courts as recent as the 1980s.  I apologize for any confusion and would like to thank our Subject Matter Expert for immigrant records in Kansas City for pointing out my error.***