Eastern Slovakia Genealogy Research Strategies
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Eastern Slovakia Genealogy Research Strategies
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Writing to the US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly the US Immigration and Naturalization Service) for an Immigrants' File (and how to obtain the US Social Security Application) Alien Registration Form | Who's Got What Through the Freedom of Information Act, relatives can petition the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) (see note 1) for copies of their immigrant ancestors' records. The file may include the Alien Registration Form, 1st or 2nd papers, naturalization documents and yearly reports and perhaps other documents. Most files are quite small, so request the entire file. Expect 3-6+ month response time, or longer since 9/11/01 due to heavier processing volumes at the bureau. Q: How do I go about petitioning? A: Fill out US Government Form G-639. It's a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Then determine where to send it. Make sure you send documentation that attests how you are related and proof of death (death certificate, obituary) if the death occurred after 1900. This will speed things up immensely. Read more about the Freedom of Information Act at the USCIS site. For most immigration records before World War II, the files are quite thin and will probably contain only a few pages. Request the entire file. Try not to be too specific, as this tends to restrict the search. As you know by now, name spellings are the most notorious for having been changed. You want to be certain to include all known and possible spelling variations. If you have naturalization information, social security numbers, etc. include them. Include anything that might be useful in distinguishing one immigrant from another - approx birth date and year, places of residence in the US and timeframes, place of birth, wife's name, parent's names. If you are uncertain about the information SAY SO. This helps the researcher tremendously. The key is to include any info that might be HELPFUL, rather than filling out the form verbatim. I asked for copies. I made it clear it was for genealogy purposes and that this was my grandmother, so it really mattered to me (not to be used as part of some legal proceedings, etc.). I left a phone number and I said THANK YOU. My thought was if you recognize these clerks are doing this manually, and you make their job easier or more pleasant, they are more apt to persist in finding the record. I think technically you are supposed to demonstrate your relationship to the immigrant by supplying copies of birth certificates for yourself and each ancestor back to the one you are researching OR proof the subject is deceased. That said, I only sent in the immigrant's death certificate (copy) and I got everything. I think if you explain your relationship you'd be all set. Probably depends on who works your request and how diplomatically you present yourself. I also understand that records that are beyond the privacy threshold (100 years or thereabouts) are open to all requestors and thus require none of the above justification. The Bureau suggests sending the form to your nearest USCIS/INS office. In my case, I started by sending it to the National Archives in D.C./Maryland. Though no info was found there, they did know which office was correct (my case, USCIS/INS, Buffalo, NY) and forwarded it. Do not depend on this behavior. Some office clerks simply respond with "no records found." Just because one office responds with "no records found" does NOT indicate that the whole of all Bureau records have been searched. It’s been my experience that you may have to petition multiple offices before you succeed, as rules for immigration and naturalization archives changed quite a bit in the early days. In most cases only one office will hold the entire set of records for an immigrant. Remember, this is a manual search process and one INS office does NOT know what the other offices have. File one petition for each immigrant. DO expect it to take several months, and DO NOT be surprised if you are shuttled around from office to office. You don't have to pay anything from the USCIS/INS unless it's over some very reasonable threshold. My 4 pages came thru at no charge. If there's a charge, they'll notify you and expect payment (before or after delivery of the file, unknown). Of the greatest genealogical use was the USA Alien Registration document contained in an USCIS/INS file. In 1940, the US Government, getting jittery about a war breaking out, required all aliens to register. It contains a boatload of information. Even if your immigrant never became a naturalized citizen, as long as he/she resided in the US in 1940, he/she was required to complete this document. The document contains when/where/how they immigrated, where they immigrated from (*village name* , most important), date of birth and port of departure in most cases. You may petition the INS for a copy of this document. This is a treasure trove of information. More details are found at the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration, Alien Registration Records, 1940-1944 Now a component of the US Department of Homeland Security. There is a good facsimile of an Alien Registration form at this site. "The Alien Registration Act passed by Congress on 29th June, 1940, made it illegal for anyone in the United States to advocate, abet, or teach the desirability of overthrowing the government. The law also required all alien residents in the United States over 14 years of age to file a comprehensive statement of their personal and occupational status and a record of their political beliefs. Within four months a total of 4,741,971 aliens had been registered. The main objective of the act was to undermine the American Communist Party and other left-wing political groups in the United States." Source Spartacus Educational Designed as a national defense measure, the Act required all aliens (non-US citizens) within the United States to register with the U.S. Government. They registered at Post Offices, and their registration forms were forwarded to the USCIS/INS for processing. After processing, a receipt card (Form AR-3) was mailed to each registrant as proof of their compliance with the law. Source: US Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Why Isn't the Green Card Green? Remember, the G-639 is a general form, applicable to all government agencies. It is generic enough to let the user request pretty much any information the government may hold. Therefore, you need to be specific enough in your request and determine for yourself which agency is likely to hold the information you seek. As such, the same FOIA process is used to obtain the SS-5 from the Social Security Administration. I'll write more about that later, as time permits. While the INS/BCIS may have most extant immigration records (manifests, alien registration forms), it does not necessarily have the naturalization/citizenship files.
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