Grandfather’s Naturalization Paperwork

Well, to review, my Grandfather was born in 1888, jumped on a boat in 1905 and came to New York.  He lived here in America beginning in 1905.  In 1926, he got married to my grandmother.  (Well, she wasn’t my grandmother yet but you know what I mean).  In 1927, like magic, my father was born.  (ditto about him not being my father quite yet, I wasn’t even around yet).  So technically, my father was at this point, both an American and Italian citizen, since my grandfather was not an American citizen yet, but my father was born in the US.  Then, in 1943, my grandfather petitioned and became an American citizen.  I was born years later.  The important thing here is that my father was born before my grandfather became a US citizen.

After doing some research, I discovered that the National Archives in Washington retains copies of the early Naturalizations, so there’s my next step.

Off to the US Department of State web site.  I went to:

United States Department of State, Authentication Office

at uscis.gov

Looks easy but I have no idea where I can start the process so I click on the “RESOURCES” >”HOW DO I CUSTOMER GUIDES” > “HOW DO I”  link, and voila…

 

Ok, spend some more time doing some looking around…

I located discussions, postings, informative sites, and all sorts of other information, all leading me to incorrect resources, as well as back to the USCIS web site.

Then I found I was nowhere close… I needed to go visit the National Archives for what I need.

So off to the NARA web site at archives.gov.  I should have known!

Needless to say there are many options at this web site, but to save someone time, go to, of all places, their online store!  Yes, you’re apparently going shopping for a document, so a store would be the right place.

From there, you select the “Request and Order Reproductions Online” option.  (Makes sense…)

So this finally brings you to an area where you can actually order what you need.  You’ll have to create an account, but then simply follow the instructions.  And as a shortcut, you can get to this page by going to:

https://eservices.archives.gov/orderonline/

A bit more assistance for when you’re at that page…

Once you create your user account and log in, click on the ORDER REPRODUCTIONS button.  Then click on the “Immigration and Naturalization Records” link.  It should show you fees and tell you the information will cost something like $7.50 (at least as of today’s price).  Click on the “Naturalization Records” link (haven’t we clicked on a link like this before?)  Ah, now the truth comes out… You’ll need a certified version for the dual-citizenship paperwork so pull down the “Select Delivery Format” option and select “Certified paper copy”.  Well, now it’s more like I thought… this adds $15 (today’s price) to the charge.  Click on “Add to Cart” (remember, we’re doing some online shopping… maybe you can buy a few music downloads, and some Wisconsin cheese while you’re here).  And be sure to add a copy of Enrico Fermi’s Naturalization paperwork into your cart while you’re there.  NO KIDDING!  It’s right there under where you’re working… You can actually do this!

Anyway, when you’re done, it’s pretty much like any online store.  You check out (no, not as in “kick the bucket” checkout).  When you’re finally done and place your order, you’re all done.

I waited about a week, and, sure ‘nough, this pretty document came in the mail, with a big red fabric ribbon attached, with all sorts of somewhat-official-looking stuff.  The cover note starts “To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:”  Not sure what this means, except, hearing the word “greetings” from the government makes me think of the old draft board salutation.

So this document contains such information as your relative’s name, current address, name and address of friends and witnesses (and even their occupations), details on your relative’s children, ages, addresses, etc, how he/she came to the US and when, on what boat (if applicable), and even a formal request to change their legal name.  AHA!  This will help me since my grandfather used a few different names.  On his naturalization paperwork, he listed one of these names.  And, in general, this document could give you some missing pieces of the puzzle for your ancestor’s genealogical information.

Two other good things about this paperwork…  It doesn’t have to be apostilled since it’s coming from the government, not a county or state, and it also doesn’t have to be translated.  In other words, this document is done.  It’s ready to present to the Consulate.

Or is it?

Now I’m always worried about details.  So now I’m wondering.  Is this really an official document from the Department of Naturalization.  Shouldn’t it have lots of registration stamps?  Something with a US Government seal or SOMETHING that shows it’s official, not just a genealogical record-looking document.  And how hokey, a red ribbon run through some holes in the paperwork and stuck to the top note with a gold seal (like you’d get at an office supply store to make something look official).  So now I start to worry.

I did a bunch more searching.  Yes, I love Google!

After posting some questions on one of my dual-citizenship boards asking if this sounds right, sounds like an official document, I got the answer I was hoping for, yes, it “sounds” like I have what I need to prove his naturalization details.  “Sounds” like it.  So I’ll park this document and hope for the best.

At this point, I was still waiting for January, 2011 (yes, remember, I’m catching this blog up in 2011, so I now know how this all plays out, whether or not I’m done with the process, and so on) just to present my paperwork.

So at this point in my work, all I could do is assume that I had a valid document that they would accept.  (I was mainly nervous having read stories form others who had presented the incorrect naturalization paperwork and had to obtain new stuff.)

So another milestone (I think)…