Millions of immigrants to the United States filed for citizenship or became naturalized citizens. In the process, they created a paper trail of records that are invaluable in helping us determine where they came from and when and where they arrived in the U.S. It's important to know that immigrants weren't required to become citizens, so many were never naturalized. Also, some began the process, but never completed it. And from 1790 to 1922, a wife was automatically granted citizenship when her husband was naturalized, so women rarely appear in naturalization records prior to 1922 (although they may be mentioned in their husband's files after 1903). Even with all these caveats, if your male ancestor came to the U.S. after 1790, it's definitely worth a search to see if they applied for naturalization.

Although the details of the process have changed over the years, the overall naturalization process has remained a fairly stable one with two major steps: 1) the filing of a declaration of intent or "first papers," and 2) the petition for naturalization or "second papers" or "final papers." For the most part, an immigrant could file first papers after having lived in the U.S. for two years and for second papers after having lived here for five years.

 Video Clip
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Ancestors expert John Philip Colletta explains more about naturalization records.

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