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Christine Schaefer’s Guide to Naturalization Records of the United States contains the most comprehensive listing of where records filed in various courts are currently held and whether they have been microfilmed by the Family History Library.
Federal court records (i.e. district or circuit courts):
State, county, or city court records:
If the naturalization took place in a federal court, then the declaration and petition will usually be held in the National Archives regional branch serving the state in which the federal court is located. To find out which regional branch holds federal naturalization records for your ancestor’s state, consult the table here. For regional branch contact information and websites, visit here and click on “Research Facilities.” To learn more about NARA’s holdings of naturalization records, go here. For a $10.00 charge, you can place an online order for a reproduction of a naturalization petition (which may also include the declaration) filed in any federal court. The National Archives claims a 2-3 month response time and will not charge you if they do not find a matching document.
National Archives at New York City [serving New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands]
One Bowling Green, 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10004
Phone: 1-866-840-1752 or 212-401-1620
Email: newyork.archives@nara.gov
* For information on naturalization holdings at the New York City branch, visit here.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), maintains copies of all naturalization applications filed in all U.S. courts between 1906 and 1956, and those filed after that period for immigrants arriving between April 1, 1944 and May 1, 1951. The USCIS offers a fee-for-service Genealogy Program, which provides researchers timely access to historical individual immigration and naturalization records, including the above specified naturalization applications. The Program typically follows a 2-step process. For an initial fee of $65, the researcher must first request that the USCIS search their Master Index to determine whether they have any files pertaining to the researcher’s person of interest. Then, if the index yields a matching file, the researcher must request a copy of the relevant file for another $65 fee. Naturalization files may only be requested if the subject of the file is deceased or would be more than 100 years old. If the subject is living, was born less than 100 years ago with no proof of death (such as a death record, entry from the Social Security Administration’s Death Index, or published obituary), or arrived after May 1, 1951, the file must be requested from the USCIS Freedom of Information Act Program. Please note that it is not possible to visit the USCIS in person.