Immigration question

If you entered through the port of New York, there is an name index you might want to use at: https://stevemorse.org/ellis2/elliswhite.html  Also, did your family become naturalized?  The applications for citizenship should have information about the port of arrival, ship name, and date of arrival.  Have you done a name search on a free (registration required) site such as FamilySearch.org and filter the result with immigration information?

Thank you for your reply and suggestions. We did not come through Ellis Island, probably Philadelphia or Baltimore. I have tried numerous private and government websites with no luck. Even USCIS, the agency that oversaw my naturalization cannot find any of my immigration information.

It might help if we had some names to work with.  Also, when were your parents born?  What was the country of origin?

Did you already request your parent's A-Files from both the USCIS and the National Archives?

Did you request your own file and/or your parents' files through a FOIA, or did you attempt to use the USCIS Genealogy Service? Their FOIA office and their Genealogy Service don't have access to the same files, so if you tried one without success, the other one might have it.  

When did you naturalize? Did you naturalize as an adult, as a minor, or were you considered to be naturalized by your parent's naturalization?  Where were you living at time of naturalization? Do you happen to remember which court?

I mean, very generic advice can be given, but lacking more details, its difficult to make specific suggestions.  

Thank you for posting your question on History Hub!

Without more specific information about the persons involved or what options you’ve already tried, we can only provide very general advice.

If you are a naturalized citizen seeking your own documentation, you may file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to USCIS to obtain a copy of your A-File and/or request a replacement certificate of citizenship from USCIS. You may also file a FOIA request for your parents’ files.  If you already have requested a file through the USCIS Genealogy Program without success, be aware that A-Files above a certain number are instead handled by their FOIA program.  Likewise, if you submitted a FOIA request without success, it may be that you need to request it through their FOIA program. Also, if you or your parents naturalized prior to 1956, there may be a C-File which can be requested through the USCIS Genealogy Program.

If your parents were born prior to 1920, there may be an A-File for them at the National Archives.  We searched the National Archives Catalog and located the series Alien Case Files, 1944 - 2003 in the Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (Record Group 566). For more information about this non-digitized case file, please contact the National Archives at Kansas City (RRFK) at Afileskansascity@nara.gov.

Furthermore, 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, your email 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.

Be aware that while federal courts took over naturalization proceedings in 1906, in some cases, state courts continued to offer naturalization well into the 20th century.  If you are unsuccessful in locating a record for them in the naturalization records of the federal courts where they lived, you may wish to contact the state courts for where they lived to inquire about their records.

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Baltimore, Maryland, 1891 - 1948 (T844) and  Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1/1/1946 - 6/28/1948 (A4228) in the Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (Record Group 85). For more information about these records, please email the National Archives in Washington, DC - Textual Reference (RR1R) at archives1reference@nara.gov.

See also the following blogs for further information and advice:

• https://historyhub.history.gov/genealogy/immigration-and-naturalization-records/b/immigration-naturalization-blog/posts/passenger-arrival-records-at-the-national-archives 

• https://historyhub.history.gov/genealogy/immigration-and-naturalization-records/b/immigration-naturalization-blog/posts/naturalization-records-at-the-national-archives 

• https://historyhub.history.gov/genealogy/immigration-and-naturalization-records/b/immigration-naturalization-blog/posts/alien-files-a-files-at-nara 

• https://historyhub.history.gov/genealogy/immigration-and-naturalization-records/b/immigration-naturalization-blog/posts/passenger-arrival-list-research-tips 

We hope this assists you with your research! 

Sincerely,

Textual Reference Archives II Branch (RR2RA)

23-42898-JA