Advice
Naturalization Process
1790 - Citizenship required a 2 year residency in the US and
must be preformed
in a court of record.
1795 - Added: 3 yr residency to file a declaration of intent, 5
yr residency
to file final papers. This also provided citizenship to wives
and minor
children. (But remember women did not have the right to vote so
there was no
great motive for a women to become a citizen)
1804 - Widows and children of an alien who died before filing
final papers
were granted citizenship.
1855 - An alien female who married a US citizen was
automatically granted
citizenship (this was repealed in 1922)
1862 - Aliens over 21 yrs who were in the military could become
citizens after
1 yr of residence.
1891 - Office of Immigration was established. Polygamists and
those convicted
of certain crimes or who carried certain diseases were excluded
from
citizenship.
1906 - Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization was established.
Alien
registration was required. residency requirements were changed
to 2 years to
file intent and 5 years for final papers. Wives and minor
children still came
under the 1855 law.
1907 - A female citizen who married an alien lost her
citizenship and took the
nationality of her husband. This was later changed in 1922 but
citizenship was
not restored until 1936.
1918 - Aliens serving in the US armed forces during WWI could be
naturalized
without any residency requirements (But remember they still had
to go to some
court to become a citizen)
1921 - The 1st Immigration Act to establish quotas of immigrants
based on
national origin was enacted.
1922 - Women 21 yrs and over were entitled to citizenship (women
no longer
became citizens when their husbands did) (Most important-women
now had the
right to vote so there was an incentive to become a citizen on
their own)
1940 - Alien Registration Act required registration and
fingerprinting at a
local post office within 30 days of arrival.
1952 - Immigration and Nationality Act Amendment abandoned the
national origins
system of setting quotas on ethnic groups.
Contributed Jul 1999 by Arleen G.
Obtaining Naturalization Records
When looking for Naturalization Records from Cook County,
please keep in mind the following:
1) All Naturalization Records created in the Cook County courts
from 1871 - 1903 do NOT contain the following data:
date and town of birth,
ports of departure and arrival,
occupation,
vessle of passage,
information concerning wife and children, etc.
In other words, the information contained on the soundex
cards for pre-1904 Cook County Naturalization records reflects
almost all the information contained in the records. The only
possibility of obtaining more substantive genealogical
information through Cook County Naturalization records 1871 -
1903 is if the petitioner filed his/her "Declaration of Intent"
in a non-Cook County Court that required more specific
information from the petitioner on its Declarations.
Declarations are usually included with petitions in Cook County
records. Also, items marked as "Court Order Only" on soundex
cards refer to the order of the court that naturalized the
individual. The court order is the only remaining record of
naturalization.
2) Petitions filed in the Cook County courts from 1904 to
October 1906 should, but do NOT always contain the following:
address,
town of birth,
date of birth,
date of arrival,
port of arrival and departure,
occupation,
and witnesses.
3) Naturalization records from October 1906 to 1929 reveal the same information as item "2)" (above) as well as
the wifes name and date of birth,
(and sometimes even the wifes town of birth),
the children's names,
children(s)' dates and town of birth.
Post October 1906 declarations give a physical description of
the petitioner.
4) Soundex cards, the word "minor" next to the certificate
number does not imply that the petitioner naturalized as a
minor. Rather, this term denotes that the person arrived in the
U.S.A. as a minor and became a citizen sometime after reaching
the age of 18 years. The soundex cards often reflect the number
of years the "minor" resided in the U.S.A. before naturalizing.
Minors did not file "Declarations of Intention". "Minor"
petitions provide virtually no genealogical information.
5) The office (see below) charges $6.00 for each **file**
copied. If you find a Naturalization file that you are
interested in, send us a $6.00 check payable to the "Clerk of
the Circuit Court of Cook County", along with:
the persons name,
date of naturalization,
court,
and petition number.
OFFICE OF THE CIRCUIT COURT CLERK OF COOK COUNTY
ARCHIVES
RICHARD J. DALEY CENTER
ROOM 1113
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602
Contributed by Zeteo
