From roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Mon Mar 27 10:47:05 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k2RHl5jb008682; Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:47:05 -0700 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l.rootsweb.com [66.43.16.22]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with ESMTP id k2RHl0Hn030529 for ; Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:47:00 -0700 Received: from roots-l.rootsweb.com (roots-l [127.0.0.1]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with ESMTP id k2RFFiFI012753 for ; Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:15:44 -0500 Received: (from roots-in@localhost) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.8/Submit) id k2RFFii3012752 for roots-approved@rootsweb.com; Mon, 27 Mar 2006 10:15:44 -0500 Received: from lists5.rootsweb.com (lists5.rootsweb.com [66.43.27.41]) by roots-l.rootsweb.com (8.12.10/8.12.10) with SMTP id k2RE8NFI012571 for ; Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:08:24 -0500 Received: (from slist@localhost) by lists5.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) id k2RGdSSi025991 for roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com; Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:39:28 -0700 X-Envelope-From: hornbeck@s-hornbeck.com Mon Mar 27 09:39:28 2006 Received: from mail.rootsweb.com (mail.rootsweb.com [192.168.65.34]) by admin.rootsweb.com (8.12.8/8.12.8) with ESMTP id k2RGdSjb025982 for ; Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:39:28 -0700 Received: from smtp107.mail.sc5.yahoo.com (smtp107.mail.sc5.yahoo.com [66.163.169.227]) by mail.rootsweb.com (8.13.4/8.13.4) with SMTP id k2RGdOqU029618 for ; Mon, 27 Mar 2006 09:39:25 -0700 Received: (qmail 87439 invoked from network); 27 Mar 2006 16:39:26 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO shirley-.s-hornbeck.com) (shirleyhornbeck@sbcglobal.net@69.110.195.219 with login) by smtp107.mail.sc5.yahoo.com with SMTP; 27 Mar 2006 16:39:25 -0000 Message-Id: <6.2.3.4.2.20060327083701.0640e290@pop.mail.yahoo.com> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 6.2.3.4 Date: Mon, 27 Mar 2006 08:39:05 -0800 To: RooTS-L@rootsweb.com From: Shirley Hornbeck Cc: hornbeck@s-hornbeck.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 X-Scanned-By: MIMEDefang 2.52 on 192.168.65.34 Sender: roots-in@roots-l.rootsweb.com Subject: [ROOTS-L] This and That Citizenship Requirements CITIZENSHIP REQUIREMENT ACTS 1790 AND 1796: The first naturalization law was passed March 26, 1790. Naturalization was an option, not a requirement. Prior to 1906 naturalization records were seldom uniform from one court to another and from one era to another. Furthermore these records were created by many different courts and now may be housed in many different repositories. While the rules for naturalization have changed, the basic format has generally been a two step process of "intent" followed by a final "petition", except for veterans of certain wars, who were allowed to do both at once. Minors residing here for five years prior to their 23rd birthday could also complete both steps at once between 1824 and 1906. Naturalization records were not collected by one single entity. A person could "declare intent" in one court and file "petition for citizenship" in a different court. To add to the complexity various courts kept records of differing detail. Some declarations of intent my contain some genealogical data such as original country or place of birth. These records may not contain details about family members. The courts holding naturalization records could be at the county, state or federal level. Children became citizens when their fathers did. Wives, until 1922, likewise became citizens when their husbands did. Further the names of wife and children may not be listed on either application. In general if you are not reasonably sure if, when and where a declaration might have been made, a search is likely to be time consuming and difficult. The order of the forms filed was Declaration of Intention, Petition for Naturalization, then if the test were successful they received there Naturalization Certificate and were citizens. The waiting period to file a Declaration was 1 or 2 years, the Petition was 5 years, then the test. If your family member was naturalized before September 1906, the records are at the courthouse in the county where they were naturalized. Now if your grandparents were married and he became naturalized before 1922, your grandmother would have automatically become a citizen. Any foreign born children would become citizens also. This was the law. If he was naturalized after 1922, then she would have had to file also. Modern Records: Starting in 1906, copies of naturalization papers were collected by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). These records include both immigration and naturalization records. They are more standardized than records of previous eras and include the names of spouses and children, whether they were citizens or not. INS immigration records date from 1897 onward. You can request these files directly. The form needed is G639 and can be requested from your local or regional Immigration and Naturalization Service office or by calling 1--800-870-3676. Verbal information can be sought at 202-514-2607. The more information you have the more likely your ancestor will be identified even if they were not naturalized. There is no cost for the INS record search. You will need to provide full name and address (or addresses) as a minimum. Further, critical dates, social security number, birthday and place of birth >will help insure a creditable search. The address of the Washington, D.C. INS office is: Immigration and Naturalization Service, 425 I (eye) Street NW > Washington, DC 20536. Most aliens became citizens within 10 years of the time they were eligible. Before 1906 the records were kept by federal, state and local courts. There is a book that summarizes these records on file for each state: "Locating Your Immigrant Ancestors: A Guide to Naturalization Records" by James C. and Lila Lee Negles. You can obtain this from Everton Publishers, Inc. or your local intra-library loan program. To become a citizen of the United States by Acts of 1790 and 1796, one had to live in the United States for 5 years and in the state or territory for one year; and had to make a Declaration of Intent three years prior to becoming a citizen. However, naturalization was not required, and many people lived their lives here without naturalization, or after making D of I, not continuing with the procedure. It was purely voluntary. It was not until 1906 that appearance in Federal Court was required - prior to that any court of record could naturalize. As to children, when the father was naturalized, his wife and children were automatically citizens. If a person had lived in the United States for at least 3 years prior to age of 21, he could apply for naturalization directly, without waiting to file the D. of I. A reference source for changes in laws is Gettys, Luella: The Laws of Citizenship in the United States 1934, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois. Remember, naturalization is voluntary and not all immigrants were/are naturalized. You find many naturalizations dated in the 1940's during WWII when many aliens had to be naturalized to stay in USA. See This and That Tips for the rest of this article and more tips: Shirley Hornbeck -