Hi,

Does anyone know what is the cutoff year is for US Naturalization records being online at Ancestry or similar sites.

I have easily found records for many of my relatives. However, there a number for which I can find nothing (and I know they were naturalized).

Is it because they were naturalized later in the 1930s or 1950s?

Or are the naturalization records not online? I have searched on Google and this website https://www.germanroots.com/naturalization.html implies that not all records are online.

Thanks
David Levine
San Francisco
davidelevine@...

I believe that the absolute cutoff is the end date of INS C-Files (March 31, 1956).  However, not all naturalization records are online.  For example, I was only able to obtain my great-grandfather's 1924 Milwaukee Circuit Court petition by contacting the Milwaukee Historical Society.

That said, it would be worth a try to search the FamilySearch catalog (https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/search ).  Perform a keyword search using the name of the court (or county) and the word Naturalization (ex: Milwaukee Circuit Naturalization).  This will return all collections, digital and microfilm, held by the LDS library, and may include actual record collections as well as index-only collections.  If the records that you are interested in aren't found in these collections, then they are probably not online.

Note that many of the record collections returned by a catalog search are still unindexed:  you can view images, but can't search for a person's name.  Some collections are restricted access and can only be viewed at a Family History Center, once they re-open.
 
Regards,
David Oseas

Researching:
HYMAN/HEYMAN/HEIMOWITS/CHAJMOVITS: Zemplen-Dobra, Hungary > New York;  KLEIN: Satoraljaujhely (Ujhely), Hungary > New York > Los Angeles
KRONOWITH: Hungary > New York;  OSEAS/OSIAS/OSIASI/OZIAS: Iasi, Romania > Chicago > Milwaukee > Los Angeles
SCHECHTER/SHEKTER: Kishinev, Bessarabia > New York;  SHERMAN: Iasi, Romania > New York > Los Angeles
STRUL:  Iasi, Romania > Haifa, Israel;  WICHMAN: Syczkowo (Bobruisk), Belarus > Milwaukee > Los Angeles

A lot depends on where and which court.  I had heard that Fold3 had records, but they did not have Illinois, the central US is mostly lacking in online records.  I did get my zeidi's record by writing to Cook County, Illinois.   Most but not all NY and Philadelphia records appear to be online as are some Washington state and possibly some California.  It is really hit and miss.

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Sarah L Meyer
Georgetown TX
ANK(I)ER, BIGOS, KARMELEK, PERLSTADT, STOKFISZ, SZPIL(T)BAUM, Poland
BIRGARDOVSKY, EDELBERG, HITE (CHAIT), PERCHIK Russia (southern Ukraine) and some Latvia or Lithuania
https://www.sarahsgenies.com