To become a citizen, the alien immigrant had to first apply at a court for a  Declaration of Intention (first papers).   Later he would apply for the Petition for Naturalization (second or final papers).  Then, the Naturalization Certificates themselves, were issued to the naturalized citizens upon completion of all citizenship requirements.   This process took several years to complete as discussed below.   The records that are filed in the courts (and those that you may search for) are the Declaration of Intentions and the Petition for Naturalization.  The Naturalization Certificate was given to the naturalized citizen and you may only find it in your ancestor's personal effects.

8.1 Naturalization  - Before 1906

8.1.1 Naturalization Requirements and Records - Before 1906
Following the Revolutionary War (1776), all white residents of European descent that were born in the colonies or loyal to the Revolutionary cause became citizens.  It was not until 1790 that the first statute regulating naturalization of aliens was enacted.  But, the first definitive statute that became the basis for naturalization for the next century was enacted by Congress on 29 January 1795.  These naturalization provisions included:

• Alien must be a free white male - 21 years or older  (Single women over 21 years could also apply for citizenship)
• Alien must have been  resident in the United States for 5 years to file for the Petition for Naturalization
• Alien must have been resident in the state where naturalized for 1 year (Changed to 6 months in 1940)
• Alien must first have filed his Declaration of Intentions at least three years (changed to 2 years in 1824) before filing for the Petition for Naturalization.
• Wives and minor children automatically became citizens when the husband/father was naturalized.

• From 1824 a child, who was under 18 years when he arrived, could be naturalized without filing a Declaration of Intention (One paper naturalization) when he reached age 21, was a resident of the U.S. for 5 years, and was resident of the state for 1 year.
• Alien Wives became citizens upon marriage to a US citizen husband, or upon their husband’s naturalization since February 10, 1855 until 1922 (when a women’s citizenship was separated from their husband’s.)
• After 1862, honorably discharged veterans of the U.S. Army who served during wartime, and was resident in the US for at least one year, could be naturalized without filing Declaration of Intention (Extended to Navy and Marine Corps in 1894).  The Act of May 9, 1918 provided for the immediate naturalization of an alien in Service during WWI.  They were naturalized in military camps or nearby courts without declaration of intention, certificates of arrival, nor proof of residency.
• In 1868, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution provided for blacks to automatically become citizens.

Note that an alien did not have to file the Petition for Naturalization in the same court that he filed his Declaration of Intentions. (For example, my grandfather filed his Declaration of Intentions in the Hamilton County, Ohio court.  His Naturalization Petition was filed in the Court of Common Pleas in the City of New York).

Generally, most pre-1906 Petitions for Naturalization papers contain little information of biographical or genealogical value.  In the majority of these early papers, only the name of the individual, his or her native country, and the date of the naturalization are given.  However, the Declaration of Intentions in a number of these pre-1906 papers contain useful information including;

• The country of origin,
• The port of arrival,
• The port of embarkation, and
• The date of arrival in the United States.

8.1.2 Locating Naturalization Records - Before 1906

Naturalization records were kept at the court which issued those records.  You may find Declarations of Intention and Petitions for Naturalization that were filed in state or local courts in the County Clerk's office closest to the immigrant's place of residence.  However, these records may now be located at the county or state archives.   Some, such as for the New England States are at the National Archives.

Naturalization records that were filed in United States District or Circuit Courts are in the custody of the Courts or the National Archives, and are stored at one of the Regional Archives or Federal Records Centers.  For example, the National Archives Regional Office in New York has naturalization records filed in local, state and federal courts located in New York City (1792-1906) and in District Courts including those in New Jersey.

Naturalization Records by Repository - New York and New Jersey
Table 1 lists the present location of the naturalization records for most of the courts for New York and New Jersey.  You can contact these courts to locate the naturalization records.

These records have been indexed by the WPA.  Note that the information on the Index Cards are arranged using the Soundex system and includes the following:
    Name of the Individual
    Name and Location of the Court,
    Volume (or Bundle) and the Page (or Record) (This information is needed to locate the copy of the actual record)

1. )   You may want to start your search for the Declaration of Intentions in the area where the alien lived shortly after arriving in the U.S.  If you fail to find that,  you should search for the Petition for Naturalization in the cities or counties where he subsequently lived.   (Sometimes, the Declaration of Intentions will be "attached" to the Petition on the microfilm records).   To search for these records, you should know your ancestor's year of naturalization, so you may therefore know where he lived and thus the locality of the court where he filed his papers.  The year of naturalization may be found in the 1920 census records as discussed in Section 2.0 of this Guide.

2.) The LDS Family History Library has microfilms of many of the indexes to the naturalization records and naturalization records themselves.  Unless you are near the court where the records may be stored, it may be the best place to start your research.  To locate these records in the LDS catalog,   use the Place search and look under  [County][State] - Naturalization and Citizenship
Note:  There are separate indexes to the declaration of intentions and to the naturalization petitions.  You may want to initially search for the declaration of intentions.  If you fail to find that document, search for the naturalization petition.   You may find a copy of the declaration of intentions attached to the Naturalization petition if the declaration of intentions had been filed in a different court.

3.) You may call or send a letter to the local county courthouse, State Archives, or NARA.  Provide as much known information as possible to help in locating the documents.

Beware!  Many clerks at the local courthouses either do not know about the existence of the naturalization records in their buildings, or are uncooperative.  They may indicate that the records were moved, etc.  Persevere in your search!

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8.2 Naturalization  - After 1906

Then, in 1922, women at least 21 years old became eligible for citizenship, regardless of their marital status. By this act,  women could not become a citizen by virtue of her marriage to a citizen.  

The Declarations of Intention produced after 1906 may have the following information:

• Alien's Name, Marital Status, Address, and Occupation
• Alien's Birthplace, Nationality, Country from which emigrated, and Last Foreign Residence
• Alien's Birth Date or Age and a Personal Description (sex, complexion, eye color, hair color, height, weight, visible distinctive marks)
• Port and Date of Entry and Name of Ship

• Length of time in the United States and the date of the Declaration of Intention
• Photograph (after 1929)

• Name of Spouse, Marriage Date, Marriage Place, Birthplace of Spouse, Birth Date of Spouse, Date and Place of Spouse's entrance to the United States, and the Current Residence of Spouse
• If the spouse is a naturalized citizen,  Where and When the Naturalization took place
• Number of Children born to him or her, and the Date and Place of Birth of each.  If not born in the U.S., where and when their lawful admission for permanent residence in the United States took place.

The Certificate of Naturalization were issued to naturalized citizens upon completion of all citizenship requirements   Most Certificates of Naturalization contain only the name of the individual, the name of the court, and the date of issue. However, the amount of information on these certificates varied from year to year and much additional information may be found on them.

8.2.2 Locating Naturalization Records - After 1906

Three copies of Post-1906 Naturalization Records were made: one was kept at the court of record, one was forwarded to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (Now the BCIS) , and one was given to the applicant..

You can obtain these records by either:

• Contacting the court of record to request a copy.   -  See Section 8.1.2 for suggestions on location these records.  Also, see Table 1 which lists the present location of the naturalization records for most of the courts for New York and New Jersey.  You can contact these courts to locate the naturalization records.
• Researching records of the US District Courts (and some other courts such as the New York City courts) at the National Archives.  Table 1 lists the records available at National Archives for the New York and New Jersey District and Circuit Courts.
• Request copies of the records from the the Bureau of Citizenship and Information Services -BCIS (Formally the Immigration and Naturalization Service)   You can request copies of these records from the BCIS under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).   You may be billed for the copies.  To do this, you can request a Freedom of Information Act Form G-639 from the BCIS by:

• Calling 1-800-870-3676 to request the form be mailed to you.
• Request a form sent by mail by going to:  http://uscis.gov/graphics/exec/forms/index.asp
  
• Downloading the Form G-639 at: http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/g-639.htm

• The alien's full name (with other alternate names or spellings)
• The date and place (country) of birth.
• If the person is still alive, you need his consent.  If he is dead, proof of death is required.    

• Name at time of entry into the U.S.
• Alien Registration Number
• Petition Number
• Etc. 

For immigrants who had dealings with the INS after about 1955 to 1960, the Alien Files (A-files) were filed in District Offices throughout the U.S.  In this case, it may expedite a reply if you forward your request to the INS district office in possession of the desired A-File (probably closest to where the immigrant lived).  To find the address of the BCIS District offices, go to http://uscis.gov/graphics/fieldoffices/statemap.htm

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 8.3  Naturalization Records on the Internet

8.3.1  General Information & Databases on the Internet

The Olive Tree Genealogy - Naturalization Records in the USA
http://naturalizationrecords.com/usa
Most comprehensive collection of  links to online (and offline) naturalization records in each state and county.  A good place to start looking for records in any county in any state.  Search this large (and somewhat confusing) site by skipping down to the absolute bottom of the page (past all of the advertising) to the list of links entitles “state choices” and selecting the state that you are interested in.

Finding US Naturalization Records - a genealogy guide
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/naturalizationrecords.html#online
Comprehensive collection of  links to online (and offline) naturalization records

LDS Family History Library  Catalog - Use Place Search for the County and State of interest: Then look under Naturalization and Citizenship. 
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp

8.3.2   Local NY/NJ Naturalization Databases on the Internet

Ancestry.com  Passenger and Immigration database (fee based service)  — Includes:
New York County Supreme Court Naturalization Petition Index 1907-24  - and other databases.
Go to:     http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/default.aspx?rt=40   for complete list of all included databases.

Southern District Court of NY Naturalizations 1906 - 1959
http://www.italiangen.org/southern.stm

Index To Brooklyn Naturalization Records 1907-1924
http://www.jgsny.org/kingsintro2.htm

Bronx County Naturalization Records 1914 - 1932 (Declaration of Intentions to 1952)
http://www.italiangen.org/bronx.stm

Military Naturalizations for following military facilities
http://www.italiangen.org/military.stm

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