How can I find copies of my parents’ birth certificates? They both moved from Greece and became US citizens. Unfortunately I didn’t have any luck finding any records in Greece - they got destroyed during WWll. I thought maybe INS had copies of the document

Question

How can I find copies of my parents&rsquo; birth certificates? They both moved from Greece and became US citizens. Unfortunately I didn&rsquo;t have any luck finding any records in Greece - they got destroyed during WWll. I thought maybe INS had copies of the documents that were submitted for citizenship.

A1 Reference Branch · Accepted Answer

ThomasStewart 
 Thank you for posting your question on History Hub! 
 It is possible, although unlikely, that you will find birth records with the naturalization records. In most cases, records submitted were returned to the individual. 
 Naturalization records dated prior to October 1991 from the federal courts are at the National Archives. If you are looking for a naturalization that 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. To determine which facility you need, please visit our webpage at https://www.archives.gov/research/court-records . Please note that no central index to naturalizations exists . 
 We hope this assists you with your research! 
 Sincerely, 
 Archives 1 Reference Branch (RR1R) RR1R-24-62263-KV

m smith · Answer

The answer depends entirely on whether they immigrated to the US before or after July 1, 1924. If on/after that date, they had to have a visa and a certified copy of their birth certificate would be attached to their visa at that time. The certificate would remain in the USCIS Visa File unless the Visa File (and its contents) were later consolidated into an A-File or C-File between 1944-1956, or into an A-File after 1956. 
 Marian Smith

How can I find copies of my parents’ birth certificates? They both moved from Greece and became US citizens. Unfortunately I didn’t have any luck finding any records in Greece - they got destroyed during WWll. I thought maybe INS had copies of the document

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