Is a petition for naturalization good enough?

[KorB]

NARA is sending me the petition, but they said the INS has the actual certificate of naturalization. Do I need the oath and naturalization certificate or will a certified petition suffice?

[mler]

NARA will send you, not only the Petition, but also the Declaration of Intent and the Oath of Allegiance. The Oath has the date of naturalization on it, and most consulates accept this in lieu of an actual certificate.

The documents should come to you with a paper attached (often with a red ribbon) indicating the source. This serves as certification. If you did not request a certified copy, you will simply get the copies and will have to make a new request. Other than that, you should be fine.

[corrado]

for a NOT FOUND record USCIS, the old INs will not issue a docuemtn to me, but said I should use the letter from the national archives, which looks like it was written by boy scounts ( no insult intened to the BSA). Is this going to work?

[Nello-LosAngeles]

corrado
I have not requested anything from NARA yet. Will you tell me how? I know I need a "NOT FOUND" letter.

I have also made a Freedom Of Information request from US Immigration and Naturalization. I used their for G-639 and sent it to the Lee's Summit MO address on the form instruction sheet. This is virtually free. I just received acknowledgement that they recieved the request, which I mailed it 8 days ago. I read someplace that they are normally able to complete these "simple" request in 20 days.

[mler]

Nello,

If you need the letter of "no record," NARA cannot help you. Since NARA operates through regional facilities, a "no record" letter from one region does not provide proof of non-naturalization (his papers could be on file in another region).

What you need to do is just what you did do. The INS document provided through FOIA is exactly what you need. However, I think the timetable you were given is very optimistic. Others who have requested such documents report that the wait is several months to a year.

Best of luck.

mler

[Nello-LosAngeles]

mler,
Thanks for the delightful news, both good and bad! No NARA that's good -- several months from US Immigration --wow!

The letter I received says they consider this a "simple" request so it goes ahead of "complex" requests. I am going to be traveling for 3 weeks, I am hoping for a "delivery" while I am gone. Also have my letters to Italy mailed and have all but one of my US birth/marriage records. My problem is getting an appointment at L A Consulate.

Thank you,
Nello

[corrado]

Thank you all for the information.

I never after two years recieved a reply to my FOIA from uscis, so i contacted my congressman. She sent the request to uscis and they said they don't do this for the citizenship request, the NRA info is good enough.
Well , the paper from NRA doesn't look very official! And you are right it only gives you inforation for your area. This is fun. I called the consulate and they said the NRA is sufficient, but I don't in any way belive them. This is trulya mess...

[mler]

Why don't you believe them, Corrado? The NYC Consulate accepted my grandfather's petition and oath in lieu of a Certificate of Naturalization, without a problem; and it's likely your consulate will do so as well. Think positively.

BTW, be sure that you have "certified" documents. When I requested copies by mail, that's all I was sent--copies. I then visited their offices and asked for "certified" copies. They attached a certification letter to my papers with a lovely red ribbon. (All the certification shows is that the documents were legitimately provided by NARA.)