Naturalization Records — Everything You Need To Know

Naturalization is the process of becoming a citizen of a country. This procedure of obtaining citizenship isn’t unique to the US — many countries today offer citizenship through naturalization. However, here in the US, the process has existed for several centuries now.

A significant percentage of the American population is descended from people who migrated to the US throughout the 1800s and 1900s. If your ancestors have a similar history, they likely went through the naturalization process to become US citizens officially. Their naturalization records can be a goldmine of valuable information and just might be worth exploring to discover more about your family’s history.

Here’s what you need to know about these records.

What Are Naturalization Records?

Nationalization records is a term used to refer to all the paperwork one must fill out during the naturalization process. For your ancestors who applied to become citizens of the US, you’ll probably find these three types of forms as part of their records:

· Declaration of Intent — These are also known as First Papers and were basically the first step of naturalization in which you’d declare your intention to become a US citizen. Most people would fill these out soon after their arrival; many were later exempted from this step for various reasons.

· Petition for Naturalization — These were also known as Second or Final Papers and had to be submitted after completing the residency requirement; typically, an uninterrupted five year period of time spent in the US

· Certificate of Citizenship — This is the final document issued to an immigrant after completing all requirements and taking an oath of allegiance.

For many immigrants from those times, you’re likely to find all these documents in court records where they were initially created. There are some gotchas — primarily the fact that there is no centralized federal database that stores all of these records in an organized manner. The various stages of the process could be completed in any eligible jurisdiction — so your ancestor may have filed first papers on arrival in New York, the petition in Chicago and the oath in St. Louis, so locating them can be a challenge. Once you find them, though, you’ll find a ton of information.

What Kind of Information Is Available In The Records?

Generally, the information you’ll find in naturalization documents for each ancestor will vary greatly depending on the place and time of creating those records.

To put things in perspective, the pre-1906 petitions and declarations are very precise and would usually include only names, native counties, and the date of naturalization. Needless to say, such records hold very little genealogical value. However, it’s important to note that there were no standardized forms at this point in time, so there’s a chance of finding some incredible exceptions.

The records created post-1906 are much more detailed and definitely worth exploring. They usually contain names, addresses, occupation, birthplace, birth date, nationality, country of emigration, marital status, previous foreign residence, immigration-related information, including port and date of entry, and even the ship’s name. The final papers will often much of this information and more, including the names, birthdates and places of birth of the petitioner’s spouse and any children. These records sometimes also contain personal descriptions and photographs. In short, they can be a snapshot of your ancestor’s entire life up until the time he was naturalized!

How To Find And Make Sense Of Naturalization Records?

Generally, you should start looking for naturalization records in the courts in the jurisdictions where your ancestors may have lived. However, if you need help locating the records, you should contact the experts at DavisDNA And Family Research.

They offer traditional genealogy services and can make discovering family history easier for you.

Give them a call to learn more.