italian great grandparent

[threeboneslater]

hi, i am looking for some help, i have an italian great grandparent (mother's mother's father) and am trying to find out when his parents became naturalized US citizens (my great great grandparents) as this may or may not be the path that leads me to italian citizenship.

i found some information on them from ancestry.com- it was from the 1900 census.

as a result, i have info on their date of marriage, date of immigration, number of children, city of residence, etc. but no info on when they became US citizens- in this case, it would behoove me if they were naturalized AFTER 1903 since that is the year that my great grandfather was born.

can anyone help me find this info, or direct me to a place where i can find more information. thanks

[mler]

Does it say AL after their names? Also, were you able to locate a census for 1910? If not, names and city will help in locating them.

[threeboneslater]

dont think so.. in fact i dont think it said anything after their names

does that mean anything.. do you know how/where i can find more info.. can anyone help me i will give you the names..

thanks

[johnnyonthespot]

I don't have a 1900 census in front of me right now, but if you look carefully you will see a column for citizenship status. "Al" means alien, "Pa" means papers submitted, "Na" means naturalized.

More importantly, if your mother was born before 1/1/1948 then she could not inherit Italian citizenship from her mother; prior to that date, citizenship was passed only by the father.

[threeboneslater]

ok so i did actually find more info- i printed the actual image of the census page from 1900 and it does in fact say "AL" next to my great great grandfather's name- so I am to assume that in the year 1900, he was an alien

the missing pieces of the puzzle are still these, however:

My great grandfather was not born until 1903- so I cannot yet prove that my great great grandfather was an alien at the time of my great grandfather's birth-

my gg grandfather died shortly (not sure how shortly though) after my g grandfather's birth, which (i believe) is why there is no record of him in the 1910 census according to my searching

so i still need to find:

some record of my g grandfather's birth which was in 1903 (in manhattan i believe)

some record of my gg grandfather's immigration status at the time of my g grandfather's birth

and not sure if i need anything else - other than records of the bloodline leading to me from g grandfather...

any advice???

thanks

[threeboneslater]

btw,

my mother (although now deceased) was born in 1959

[johnnyonthespot]

These things vary somewhat by consulate, but you will most likely need:

a) your own birth and, if applicable, marriage certificates
b) your mother's birth, marriage, and death certificates
c) your grandmother's birth, marriage, and death certificates
d) your great-grandfather's birth, marriage, and death certificates
e) your great-great-grandfather's birth, marriage, and death certificates
f) your great-great-grandfather's proof of naturalization or proof that he never naturalized.

Frankly, many of these items d) on down are going to be difficult to obtain, and the likelyhood of date and name discrepancies is going to be high. By far, however, the worst is going to be item f - naturalization.

Official US records at the federal level - the United States Citizenship & Immigration Service (http:\\www.uscis.gov) - do not begin until September, 1906. Finding records from prior years can be very, very, difficult.

And, worse than finding records proving the date of naturalization, is convincing the consulate that the person never naturalized at all. At the very least, you will need to provide multiple letters of "No Record Found" from state and local courts for every jurisdiction your gggrandfather ever resided in, and there is no telling what else the consulate might demand.

[threeboneslater]

thanks for the pep talk...

just kidding.. i know youre trying to help.. but wondering if you have any suggestions on where to look.. county records.. for death etc.. or where??

[johnnyonthespot]

Where did everyone live and/or die in the US? Do you know the name of your great-great-grandfather's Italian birthplace?

How are you fixed for dates of birth/death for each of your ancestors?

[musaccosteve]

Carmine and Forum Members,

I have previously sent requests for a naturalization search on my grandfather to the national USCIS office as well as NARA in Riverside county. For local courts (i.e, court county in which he resided), who do I contact to obtain information "no records found." The L.A. consulate requests that, as noted on her website, if no record is found, you have to show his Italian passport and Alien Registration Card. How would I be able to obtain a copy of his Italian passport when they did not have copying machines when he was alive? Will the court county be able to provide me with a copy of his Alien Registration Card? If not, could NARA in Riverside retrieve this document for me.

Thank you for your help.

Steve

Carmine wrote: At the very least, you will need to provide multiple letters of "No Record Found" from state and local courts for every jurisdiction your gggrandfather ever resided in, and there is no telling what else the consulate might demand.