Naturalization records datedprior to October 1991from the federal courts are at the National Archives. If your naturalization took place in a federal court before October 1991, you will need to contact the NARA field site that maintains federal court records for the state where you were naturalized. For example, our office, the Archives 1 Reference Branch in Washington, DC, only has records for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, while the records of the U.S. District Court for New Hampshire are held by the National Archives at Boston. To determine which facility you need, please visit our webpage athttps://www.archives.gov/research/court-records. Please note thatno central index to naturalizations exists.
On the other hand, records for naturalizations that occurredafter October 1991are held by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, successor agency to the Immigration and Naturalization Service or INS). If your naturalizations occurred in October 1991 or after, you will need to contact USCIS directly. For information on requesting copies of records from USCIS, you will need to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with USCIS. Please go to their webpage at:https://www.uscis.gov/records/request-records-through-the-freedom-of-information-act-or-privacy-act.
If you have not done so already, we recommend that you check NARA's Naturalization Records page for more information about the records at:
Naturalization records datedprior to October 1991from the federal courts are at the National Archives. If your naturalization took place in a federal court before October 1991, you will need to contact the NARA field site that maintains federal court records for the state where you were naturalized. For example, our office, the Archives 1 Reference Branch in Washington, DC, only has records for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, while the records of the U.S. District Court for New Hampshire are held by the National Archives at Boston. To determine which facility you need, please visit our webpage athttps://www.archives.gov/research/court-records. Please note thatno central index to naturalizations exists.
On the other hand, records for naturalizations that occurredafter October 1991are held by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS, successor agency to the Immigration and Naturalization Service or INS). If your naturalizations occurred in October 1991 or after, you will need to contact USCIS directly. For information on requesting copies of records from USCIS, you will need to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with USCIS. Please go to their webpage at:https://www.uscis.gov/records/request-records-through-the-freedom-of-information-act-or-privacy-act.
If you have not done so already, we recommend that you check NARA's Naturalization Records page for more information about the records at: