Naturalization Records

Naturalization is the process by which an alien becomes an American citizen. These records can tell a researcher a person’s birth date and location, occupation, immigration year, marital status and spouse information, witnesses’ names and addresses, and more. This guide explains which naturalizations the National Archives holds and what you must supply to order a copy.

Which court held the record

Before 27 September 1906, any “court of record” - municipal, county, state or federal - could grant U.S. citizenship. As a general rule the National Archives does not have naturalization records created in state or local courts. A few indexes and some records have been donated to the National Archives by county, state and local courts and may be available as original records or as National Archives microfilm publications.

After 1906 the courts forwarded copies of naturalizations to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Naturalizations from Federal courts are held in the National Archives regional facilities for the Federal courts of their area, and the National Archives in Washington, DC holds naturalization records for the Federal courts in Washington, DC.

What you must supply to order

To locate a naturalization record for an individual you should have the following available:

• state in which naturalization occurred
• name of the petitioner
• country of origin
• city and county of residence at the time of naturalization
• approximate year of birth

Additional information may significantly aid the search. That includes the petitioner’s street address, month and day of birth, and the actual court of naturalization.

You can also research records in person or hire an independent researcher.

Information available from other sources

• State Archives should be contacted to request a search of state, county and local court records.
• National Archives regional facilities can help with the search of Federal court records.

For more information

For more detailed information about naturalization laws and procedures, consult:

• Kettner, James H. The Development of American Citizenship, 1608-1870 (Chapel Hill, NC: Univ. of North Carolina Press, 1978).
• Newman, John J. American Naturalization Processes and Procedures, 1790-1985 (Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society, 1985).
• Newman, John J. American Naturalization Records, 1790-1990: What They are and How to Use Them (Bountiful, UT: Heritage Quest, 1998).

For general information about the regulation of immigration into the United States, consult U.S. Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, An Immigrant Nation: United States Regulation of Immigration, 1798-1991 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1991).

For information about Federal naturalization records and indexes available as National Archives microfilm publications, consult the listings for Record Group 21, Records of U.S. District Courts; Record Group 85, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service; and Donated Materials in the National Archives, in Microfilm Resources for Research: A Comprehensive Catalog of National Archives Microfilm Publications (Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1999). See the National Archives microfilm catalogs.

For detailed information about research and locating Federal, State and local naturalization records and their availability on microfilm, consult:

• Schaefer, Christine. Guide to Naturalization Records of the United States (Baltimore, MD: Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., 1997).
• Szucs, Loretto Dennis. They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins (Salt Lake City, UT: Ancestry, 1998).

Sample images

These show the kind of record this reproduction contains. They are examples only and are not your record.

Enrico Fermi’s petition for naturalization.