USCIS FOIA-records before September 27, 1906

[sbancone]

Hi All,

I am planning to apply for dual citizenship under jus sangius and was wondering if anyone has run into the same situation I am encountering right now. My great-grandfather is listed as an alien on the June 1900 census and my grandfather was born a month later. If the census is correct, this probably means my grandfather was born an Italian citizen.

NARA has already confirmed they found no record of my great grandfather's application for citizenship, as well as the county clerk, but the NY consulate requires a certified letter of no record found from USCIS.

However, the USCIS website, as well as form G-639 which is used to request a records serach under the FOIA clearly states that those seeking a record of naturalization that occured before Sept. 27, 1906 should not use this form, and that they should instead contact the county clerk in which the naturalization occured.

USCIS won't certify this information for me in a letter to the consulate, so that the consulate would accept the county clerk's determination of no record as the "last word. Has anyone else "run into this problem? How did you handle it, and how has the consulate handled it?

Thanks!

[PeterTimber]

Perhaps you might wish to consult the Italian Dual Citizenship FAQs of the firm MY ITALIAN FAMILY at their e-mail address at myCitizenship@myitalianfamily and ask them if you cannot get an adequate response from anyone on this forum. They may provide you with the answer without any charge. =Peter=

[matta]

I haven't had that problem, personally, but others I've seen have been required to show the USCIS certificate of non-existence in addition to the County (each county in which the person lived) and NARA records.

USCIS won't have a certificate before 1906, however, the consulates still wanted the search (presumably for stato civile). Only the consulate can answer your question for sure, but if you're waiting on an appointment anyway, you might as well start the USCIS request (it can't hurt).