| [Skip Navigation] [Text & Graphics] [Home] [What's New?] [FAQs] [Search & Site Map] [Glossary] [Feedback] [Translate] [Printer Friendly Version] |
Historical Research Tools
A number of helpful historical research tools are provided on these and other related pages.
Among them are the Legislative History 1790-Present index, listing all major US immigration and naturalization laws, with their legal citation, and a link to a list of each law's major provisions.
Another is the online version of the Nationality Interpretations, which are the Naturalization Service's legislative history of each provision of US nationality/naturalization law.
Jump to Family History Research
Subject History Research
Federal Immigration Service history is the history of US immigration since the 1890's. Agency records at the National Archives, many of them long ignored and forgotten, constitute a rich resource for social, ethnic, labor, intellectual, and legal historians, as well as all students of US immigration policy.
In future, these pages will include detailed information on Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (Record Group 85) and other relevant records available for research at the National Archives. At present, we include a guide to Chinese immigration records within the National Archives system.
Reference tools:
Millions of Americans trace their family history to an immigrant. Finding a record to reveal where that immigrant came from, or when and where they first stepped foot on American soil, is often a long and frustrating task. Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) may help in this search, as they are the records of 20th century immigration to the United States.
These pages contain information on a variety of early 20th century immigration procedures and documents of interest to family historians, and are meant to help those researchers interpret the records.
Standard immigration and naturalization records may be searched at or through the National Archives or other family history research facilities, and we have provided links to National Archives pages containing introductory material and basic instructions for research.
DATES of INS RECORDS
The INS began to create and maintain immigration records in 1892 and naturalization records in September 1906. For earlier years, one must consult the records of other agencies at the National Archives, or other non-Federal records.
INS RECORDS and the NATIONAL ARCHIVES
Some INS immigration records are found only at the National Archives, while others remain only with DHS. All ship passenger arrival lists, dating 1892 to the 1950's, are at the National Archives, as are land border port immigration manifests dating from the 1890's to the 1950's.
Later, additional immigration records dating from July 1, 1924, remain with DHS and are available only via a Freedom of Information Act request.
DHS maintains naturalization files (called "C-Files") for each US naturalization beginning September 27, 1906. These C-Files remain with the Department, and are available only via Freedom of Information Act procedures. The vast majority of post-1906 naturalization records are duplicated in court naturalization records, and Federal court naturalization records may be found in the regional facilities of the National Archives (in Record Group 21).
Last Modified 06/11/2003