| For those new to this blog who arrived here due to links from other sites, please be sure to check out other postings on this site, check out the B&F Forms System (which has several inter-connected computer-fillable PDF forms) and the Enhanced Genealogy Search (a custom search engine that returns more focused results for genealogy searches). |
If you like this page, please press the Google +1 button
Finding US Naturalization records can be very helpful when doing genealogy research, but can frequently be very difficult. Naturalizations before 1906 could be done in any just about any court in the country, and were not standardized. After 1906 the federal government took over the Naturalization process and all forms became standardized nationwide. The location of all Naturalization files post-1906 are generally in set locations based on where the person Naturalized.
There are different kinds of files available, but the main files you may be able to find include:
- Declaration of Intention (also known as 'first papers')
- Petition (also known as 'second papers' or 'final papers')
- Oath of Allegiance (sometimes part of one of the above documents, sometimes separate)
- Certificate of Arrival (certifying what date they arrived in the country, required after 1906)
Other files are also possible to find, but will generally only be found if you do a search through the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) which hold the entire C-File (certificate file) for naturalized citizens (records from 1906 onwards). Ordering a search online ($20) through the USCIS is a very time-consuming process. At the time of this writing, the USCIS is backlogged and processing search requests from four months ago. Once they find records according to your search, you need to then put in a request to copies of the records found, which costs another $35.
As such, the question is how can one access naturalization records without going through such a long and expensive process. There are some records from the National Archives that are up on Fold3.com, and frankly if you have a subscription to Footnote.com, or want to purchase individual documents from the site, this is the easiest way to go if they have the records you want. Fold3.com has Naturalization records from California, Louisiana, Ohio, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. These collections are not complete for each state, so check the site to see which years and which districts in each state are covered. Unfortunately, this collection of records is unlikely to expand on Fold3.com since they changed their focus to military records. If you're lucky the records you want will already be on Fold3.com, but if not its likely that Ancestry.com (the new owner of Fold3.com) will start digitizing new naturalization records instead.
If Fold3.com doesn't have the record you are looking for, then you can in some cases order the records directly from the National Archives. In order to order a record from the National Archives, you will need to know the following information about the person who became Naturalized:
- State in Which the Naturalization Occurred
- City in Which the Naturalization Occurred
- Date Range
- First Name
- Last Name
- Year of Birth
- Residence City
- Residence County
- Petition Number (only required for records from New York State)
If you have additional information, you can also provide it, such as country of origin, date of arrival in the US, name of spouse, etc. Basically, whatever information you can provide that will help the archivist searching the records make sure they find the correct record. If you know alternate names for the person, I recommend adding those to the additional information field.
The form you fill out looks like this (click to enlarge):
 |
| National Archives Naturalization File Order Form |
You might think this is great, everything you've been looking for is going to be on this site, but keep in mind that you need to know all the above information before ordering a record, so you'll need to do some research first. If the relative you're researching lived in the US in 1920, definitely check out the naturalization year field in the census for that year. If you know what year they were naturalized, you now know the correct answer for the Date Range field, and you can hopefully figure out what city and county they were living in based on that year (which could be different than the city and county from the 1920 census since they may have lived somewhere else when naturalized). Of course, to help you figure all this out, you can utilize the B&F US Immigrant Census Form (available on the Forms page), which will let you collect all the relevant information from censuses from 1880-1930 on immigrants.
In addition, I'm sorry to say, not all records are held by the National Archives. Some districts only have records before 1906, some only after. Some years are missing. Some districts only carried out naturalization for a few years. One district only lists records for a single day in 1895. It's not easy to figure out the reasons why some years are available in one district and not others.
In order that you will not have to go to the National Archives site and get all the way through setting up an account and filling out the form, only to find out they don't have the records you're looking for, I've created a chart showing all the States, Cities and Date Ranges. Thus if you go to the State below, you'll see all the Cities from which you'll need to select in the system (sometimes these are not, strictly speaking, cities), and then the Date Ranges are given for each City. I've combined contiguous date ranges, but you'll need to select the date range that includes the year your relative was Naturalized.
[Renee Stern Steinig e-mailed me to point out that while the National Archives online-ordering system only lists the years in the table below, the actual National Archives regional branches that hold the records may contain more years than what is listed in the ordering system. She has successfully ordered records from NY from later years by selecting a random year range and then indicating the real year of naturalization in the comments. This is of course open to the archivist who receives the order whether or not to fulfill it, but for $7.50 perhaps it is worth the chance since the alternative is more costly and will take much longer.
If you want a year not mentioned in the table below, find the regional branch likely to hold the records you want from the list of locations, then check out the regional branch's holdings to see if they have more years available than what is listed in the online-ordering system (which is reflected in the table below).
For example, New York has a list of their naturalization holdings online that indicates holding that are much more recent than the 1906 date listed as the last year in the online-ordering system.]
I hope people find this useful. If you find any mistakes, please let me know in the comments below. Please also feel free to comment on your own experiences finding and getting copies of Naturalization records.
| State | Town | Year Range |
| Alabama | Birmingham | 1909-1963 |
| Florence | 1922-1926 | |
| Hunstville | 1924-1926 | |
| Mobile | 1906-1969 | |
| Montgomery | 1912-1960 | |
| Selma | 1912-1960 | |
| Alaska | Anchorage | 1903-1991 |
| Fairbanks | 1909-1991 | |
| Arizona | Cities within the Arizona Territorial Courts | 1881-1912 |
| Phoenix | 1912-1991 | |
| Tuscon | 1915-1971 | |
| Arkansas | Batesville | 1906-1964 |
| Fort Smith | 1872-1906 | |
| Harrison | 1909-1950 | |
| Helena | 1909-1953 | |
| Hot Springs | 1941-1981 | |
| Little Rock | 1903-1981 | |
| Texarkana | 1907-1980 | |
| California | Los Angeles | 1850-1991 |
| Sacramento | 1917-1956 | |
| San Diego | 1853-1991 | |
| San Francisco | 1852-1989 | |
| Colorado | Denver | 1877-1951 |
| Pueblo | 1877-1949 | |
| Connecticut | Ansonia | 1893-1906 |
| Bridgeport | 1963-1992 | |
| Hartford | 1842-1906 | |
| Meriden | 1903-1955 | |
| Middletown | 1795-1859, 1872-1906, 1926-1955 | |
| New Britain | 1903-1953 | |
| New Haven | 1836-1992 | |
| New London | 1793, 1819-1906 | |
| Waterbury | 1854-1906 | |
| Winsted | 1842-1906 | |
| Delaware | Wilmington | 1797-1991 |
| DC | Washington | 1802-1991 |
| Florida | Jacksonville | 1895-1975 |
| Key West | 1847-1969 | |
| Miami | 1913-1991 | |
| Pensacola | 1884-1972 | |
| Tampa | 1907-1969 | |
| Georgia | Athens | 1910-1925 |
| Augusta | 1909-1970 | |
| Brunswick | 1939-1982 | |
| Macon | 1906-1930 | |
| Rome | 1906-1964 | |
| Savannah | 1909-1991 | |
| Thomasville | 1938-1981 | |
| Valdosta | 1927-1982 | |
| Hawaii | Honolulu | 1900-1976 |
| Idaho | Boise | 1866-1981 |
| Coeur d'Alene | 1912-1973 | |
| Moscow | 1907-1967 | |
| Pocatello | 1915-1941 | |
| Twin Falls | 1907-1980 | |
| Illinois | Chicago | 1872-1991 |
| Danville | 1906-1962 | |
| Peoria | 1908-1954 | |
| Springfield | 1856-1974 | |
| Indiana | Indianapolis | 1907-1945 |
| Iowa | Cedar Rapids | 1891-1978 |
| Creston | 1930-1951 | |
| Des Moines | 1915-1984 | |
| Dubuque | 1915-1962 | |
| Ft. Dodge | 1909-1977 | |
| Linn County Superior Court | 1891-1894, 1898-1947 | |
| Mason City | 1944-1961 | |
| Ottumwa | 1916-1951 | |
| Sioux City | 1930-1988 | |
| Waterloo | 1944-1962 | |
| Kansas | Ft. Scott | 1916-1966 |
| Kansas City | 1930-1970 | |
| Topeka | 1868-1870, 1872-1890, 1908-1984 | |
| Wichita | 1909-1991 | |
| Kentucky | Bowling Green | 1913-1976 |
| Convington | 1910-1956 | |
| Frankfort | 1912-1951 | |
| Lexington | 1922-1943 | |
| London | 1913-1972 | |
| Louisville | 1906-1978 | |
| Louisiana | Alexandria | 1922-1964 |
| Baton Rouge | 1907-1951 | |
| Lake Charles | 1921-1988 | |
| Monroe | 1838-1861, 1929-1955 | |
| New Orleans | 1898-1903, 1906-1991 | |
| Opelousas | 1918-1964 | |
| Shreveport | 1902-1991 | |
| Maine | Alfred | 1805-1837, 1840-1852, 1860, 1904 |
| Auburn | 1854-1893 | |
| Augusta | 1812-1838, 1878-1906 | |
| Bangor | 1835-1905 | |
| Bath | 1854-1906 | |
| Belfast | 1829-1906 | |
| Caribou | 1892-1893, 1901-1905 | |
| District of Maine | 1790-1991 | |
| Dover-Foxcroft | 1840-1906 | |
| Ellsworth | 1805-1838, 1847-1906 | |
| Farmington | 1839, 1846-1906 | |
| Houlton | 1839-1906 | |
| Lewiston | 1882-1893 | |
| Machias | 1790-1906 | |
| Portland | 1790-1903 | |
| Rockland | 1868-1906 | |
| Saco | 1881 | |
| Skowhegan | 1818-1906 | |
| South Paris | 1852-1916 | |
| Waterville | 1891-1904 | |
| Wiscasset | 1790-1904 | |
| Maryland | Baltimore | 1906-1972 |
| Massachusetts | Abington-Hingham | 1887-1903 |
| Adams | 1895-1906 | |
| Amesbury | 1906 | |
| Attleboro | 1904-1906 | |
| Ayer | 1887-1906 | |
| Boston | 1790-1991 | |
| Brighton | 1896-1906 | |
| Brockton | 1887-1906 | |
| Brookline | 1889-1906 | |
| Cambridge | 1886-1906 | |
| Cambridge/Lowell | 1850-1885 | |
| Charlestown | 1902-1906 | |
| Chelsea | 1886-1906 | |
| Chicopee | 1904-1916 | |
| Clinton | 1900-1906 | |
| Concord | 1905-1906 | |
| Dedham | 1806-1906 | |
| Dorchester | 1902-1906 | |
| East Brookfield | 1902-1906 | |
| Edgartown | 1790-1858, 1887-1906 | |
| Fall River | 1885-1906 | |
| Fitchburg | 1885-1904 | |
| Framingham | 1885-1906 | |
| Franklin | 1900-1906 | |
| Gardner | 1885-1906 | |
| Gloucester | 1885-1906 | |
| Gr Bar (Great Barrington?) | 1887-1906 | |
| Greenfield | 1840-1906 | |
| Haverhill | 1885-1906 | |
| Holyoke | 1885-1906 | |
| Lawrence | 1885-1906 | |
| Lee | 1900-1904 | |
| Lowell | 1838-1854, 1885-1906 | |
| Lynn | 1885-1906 | |
| Malden | 1885-1906 | |
| Marlborough | 1885-1906 | |
| Middleborough | 1885-1906 | |
| Milford | 1900-1906 | |
| Nantucket | 1804-1903 | |
| New Bedford | 1847-1855, 1885-1906 | |
| Newburyport | 1845-1896 | |
| North Adams | 1885-1906 | |
| Orange | 1899-1906 | |
| Palmer | 1896-1906 | |
| Pittsfield | 1787-1906 | |
| Plymouth | 1812-1883, 1885-1906 | |
| Quincy | 1886-1906 | |
| Roxbury | 1836-1906 | |
| Salem | 1797-1906 | |
| Somerville | 1886-1906 | |
| Southbridge | 1898-1905 | |
| Springfield | 1845-1906 | |
| Taunton | 1805-1906 | |
| Waltham | 1885-1906 | |
| Ware | 1899-1906 | |
| Webster | 1898-1905 | |
| West Newton | 1885-1906 | |
| Westborough | 1905-1906 | |
| Westfield | 1886-1906 | |
| Winchendon | 1906 | |
| Woburn | 1885-1906 | |
| Worcester | 1837-1906 | |
| Michigan | Bay City | Mar 19, 1895 |
| Detroit | 1837-1991 | |
| Flint | 1965-1984 | |
| Grand Rapids | 1868-1972 | |
| Marquette | 1888-1915 | |
| Minnesota | Duluth | 1897-1972 |
| Fergus Falls | 1897-1902, 1906-1936, 1939-1978 | |
| Mankato | 1897-1901, 1907-1929, 1930-1961 | |
| Minneapolis | 1897-1976 | |
| St. Paul | 1897-1979 | |
| Winona | 1896-1900, 1916-1920, 1955-1961 | |
| Mississippi | Aberdeen | 1913-1943 |
| Biloxi | 1908-1965 | |
| Clarksdale | 1908-1952 | |
| Jackson | 1911-1956 | |
| Vicksburg | 1906-1956 | |
| Missouri | Cape Girardeau | 1907-1979 |
| Hannibal | 1907-1977 | |
| Jefferson City | 1938-1982 | |
| Joplin | 1932-1974 | |
| Kansas City | 1909-1991 | |
| Springfield | 1911-1983 | |
| St. Joseph | 1907-1976 | |
| St. Louis | 1846-1991 | |
| Montana | Butte | 1891-1929 |
| Great Falls | 1891-1929 | |
| Helena | 1891-1929 | |
| Nebraska | Chadron | 1930-1951 |
| Grand Island | 1932-1950 | |
| Hastings | 1931-1942 | |
| Lincoln | 1932-1978 | |
| McCook | 1931-1942 | |
| Norfolk | 1930-1951 | |
| North Platte | 1930-1951 | |
| Omaha | 1868-1906, 1930-1981 | |
| Nevada | 1st Judicial District (Churchill County) | 1908-1956 |
| 2nd Judicial District (Washoe County) | 1907-1949 | |
| Las Vegas | 1956-1991 | |
| New Hampshire | Amherst | 1848-1873, 1876 |
| Colebrook | 1890-1904 | |
| Concord | 1835-1906 | |
| Dover | 1833-1906 | |
| Exeter | 1798-1907 | |
| Gilford | 1847-1874 | |
| Haverhill | 1839-1906 | |
| Keene | 1838-1906 | |
| Laconia | 1846-1852, 1866, 1874-1906 | |
| Lancaster | 1888-1906 | |
| Lebanon | 1894-1904 | |
| Littleton | 1873-1912 | |
| Manchester | 1845-1913 | |
| Nashua | 1857-1909 | |
| Newport | 1812-1906 | |
| Ossipee | 1860-1873, 1876-1905 | |
| Plymouth | 1844-1858, 1860-1900, 1902-1906 | |
| Portsmouth | 1792-1914 | |
| Rochester | 1886-1889 | |
| Somersworth | 1887-1888 | |
| New Jersey | Camden | 1932-1991 |
| Dover | 1918 | |
| Newark | 1914-1982 | |
| Trenton | 1798-1988 | |
| New Mexico | Albuquerque | 1882-1962 |
| Cities in Bernalillo county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cites in Colfax county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Dona Ana county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cites in Grant county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Lincoln county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Mora county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Rio Arriba county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in San Miguel county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Santa Fe county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Sierra county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Socorro county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Taos county | 1882-1962 | |
| Cities in Valencia county | 1882-1962 | |
| Santa Fe | 1882-1962 | |
| New York | Brooklyn | 1865-1991 |
| Buffalo | 1903-1966 | |
| Elizabethtown | 1799-1906 | |
| New York | 1792-1906 | |
| Plattsburg | 1851-1906 | |
| Utica | 1821-1855, 1906 | |
| North Carolina | Asheville | 1907-1959 |
| Charlotte | 1929-1991 | |
| Elizabeth City | 1909-1927 | |
| Greensboro | 1875-1991 | |
| New Bern | 1920-1929 | |
| Raleigh | 1909-1965 | |
| Statesville | 1916-1949 | |
| Washington | 1915-1929 | |
| Wilkesboro | 1910-1920 | |
| Wilson | 1928-1953 | |
| North Dakota | 1st Judicial District | 1861-1877 |
| 2nd Judicial District | 1861-1882 | |
| Fargo | 1890-1924 | |
| Ohio | Cincinnati | 1859-1963 |
| Cleveland | 1855-1967 | |
| Columbus | 1917-1947 | |
| Dayton | 1916-1951 | |
| Oklahoma | Ardmore | 1896-1906 |
| Guthrie | 1907-1933 | |
| Oklahoma City | 1930-1991 | |
| South McAlester | 1891-1906 | |
| Oregon | Portland | 1859-1992 |
| Pennsylvania | Erie | 1940-1972 |
| Harrisburg | 1911-1917 | |
| Philadelphia | 1790-1991 | |
| Pittsburgh | 1820-1979 | |
| Scranton | 1901-1991 | |
| Wilkes-Barre | 1943-1972 | |
| Williamsport | 1909-1913 | |
| Puerto Rico | San Juan | 1899-1972 |
| Rhode Island | Bristol | 1804-1903 |
| District of Rhode Island | 1842-1906 | |
| East Greenwich | 1854-1903, 1905-1906 | |
| Newport | 1793-1906 | |
| Providence | 1793-1903, 1905-1906 | |
| Westerly | 1817-1819, 1842-1906 | |
| South Carolina | Aiken | 1917-1926 |
| All Divisions | 1965-1991 | |
| Charleston | 1886-1965 | |
| Columbia | 1910-1965 | |
| Florence | 1911-1929 | |
| Greenville | 1910-1929 | |
| Western District (All Divisions) | 1911-1965 | |
| South Dakota | Sioux Falls | 1906-1928 |
| Tennessee | Chattanooga | 1907-1974 |
| Greeneville | 1913-1964 | |
| Jackson | 1921-1929 | |
| Knoxville | 1908-1991 | |
| Memphis | 1907-1963 | |
| Nashville | 1907-1991 | |
| Winchester | 1942-1944 | |
| Texas | Abilene | 1911-1984 |
| Amarillo | 1913-1988 | |
| Austin | 1907-1981 | |
| Beaumont | 1906-1991 | |
| Brownsville | 1909-1917 | |
| Corpus Christi | 1913-1954 | |
| Dallas | 1908-1991 | |
| Del Rio | 1908-1982 | |
| El Paso | 1907-1972 | |
| Fort Worth | 1906-1982 | |
| Galveston | 1907-1921 | |
| Houston | 1908-1991 | |
| Laredo | 1907-1988 | |
| Lubbock | 1930-1962 | |
| Paris | 1909-1917 | |
| San Angelo | 1910-1959 | |
| San Antonio | 1907-1987 | |
| Texarkana | 1930-1960 | |
| Victoria | 1907-1955 | |
| Waco | 1906-1981 | |
| Wichita Falls | 1917-1980 | |
| Utah | Salt Lake City | 1906-1930 |
| Vermont | Barre | 1900-1906 |
| Bennington | 1842-1906 | |
| Chelsea | 1844-1906 | |
| District of Vermont | 1801-1906 | |
| Guildhall | 1896-1906 | |
| Hyde Park | 1842-1894 | |
| Middlebury | 1840-1904 | |
| Newport | 1838-1906 | |
| North Hero | 1829-1900 | |
| St. Albans | 1835-1906 | |
| St. Johnsbury | 1840-1906 | |
| Vergennes | 1848-1906 | |
| Woodstock | 1838-1905 | |
| Virginia | Alexandria | 1909-1981 |
| Big Stone Gap | 1914-1944 | |
| Charlottesville | 1910-1957 | |
| Danville | 1907-1966 | |
| Norfolk | 1851-1992 | |
| Richmond | 1906-1956 | |
| Roanoke | 1906-1990 | |
| Washington | Seattle | 1890-1991 |
| Spokane | 1903-1991 | |
| Tacoma | 1890-1991 | |
| Walla Walla | 1907-1972 | |
| Yakima | 1907-1950 | |
| West Virginia | Charleston | 1906-1929 |
| Elkins | 1790-1980 | |
| Fairmont | 1944-1974 | |
| Phillipi | 1910-1925 | |
| Wheeling | 1844-1875, 1912-1978 | |
| Wisconsin | Madison | 1941-1969 |
| Milwaukee | 1848-1970 | |
| Superior | 1910-1955 |
This is a very useful table and must have taken a lot of time and effort on your part. Thank you for providing this great finding aid to us.
ReplyDeleteI was able to obtain my grandfather's 1912 naturalization records from NARA. He was naturalized in Sunbury, Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. This is my only experience with NARA records and they are totally unreadable copies. I have tried every image correction program I could find and I can't read a single word on them.
Thank you for sharing your hard work. Love the name of your site. My husband got it right away.
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Thank you! Now I know one place NOT to look.
ReplyDeleteBarb
Great website! Thank you so much for sharing the information.
ReplyDeleteAt the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT I was able to find my Grandfather's and my Great Uncle's "Application" and "Naturalization" papers from Oakland,CA in the early 1900's.
ReplyDeleteI was able to find an ancestor's Declaration of Intent (first papers) microfilmed at a local library, but was excited because the National Archives states "A Federal naturalization record usually consists of a petition, and sometimes, in addition, a declaration of intention, and a certificate of arrival." I was willing to spend the $7.50 to see what was on the petition (second papers) as well as the certificate of arrival, since my ancestor arrived after 1996. Alas, the CD came today, and all that is on it is the Declaration of Intent, which I already had.
ReplyDeleteI do like the National Archives willingness to search without a fee. Another ancestor, for whom I have only been able to find an Oath of Allegiance for in the library microfilm, I submitted a request for, and they responded they were unable to find anything.
John (TransDutch),
ReplyDeleteDo you know for sure that your ancestor actually completely the Naturalization process? What year did they file their Declaration of Intent? If the ancestor shows up in the 1920 census, does it show a year that they were Naturalized? If they show up in any census between 190-1930 that is after the date of the Declaration of Intent, what do the Naturalization status fields say? If you haven't looked at the census information for this kind of info before, try my US Immigrant Census Form on the Forms page to help collect all the relevant data.
Brilliant question. I realized I had to answer that I wasn't sure, and lo and behold, in both the 1920 and 1930 census my gg grandfather is listed with the 'al' alien code. So it does appear likely that he didn't finish the process. Which explains why the National Archives only had the first papers.
ReplyDelete(The family immigrated in 1908 and 1909, and the first papers were filed in 1910]
John (TransDutch),
ReplyDeleteUsually if the first papers have been filed the census record should say PA to indicate that the first papers have been filed, but the final process was not yet completed. I guess if the 1920 census indicated AL then your ancestor must have given up on filing final papers at some point, and thus still received the AL designation.
Philip
In the US census there are 3 answers to the question of naturalization: al=alien (no papers filed), pa=first papers (declaration of intention) or na=naturalized.
ReplyDeleteIn the 1920 census, the year of naturalization is asked.