Marianne, According to law no Declaration of Intent was required of your ancestor in order to become naturalized if he/she immigrated to the U.S. as a minor (under the age of 18 years). The reason I say this? I received a copy of the 1906 Naturalization petition of an ancestor who had arrived in Boston in 1883 and the following notes from the archivist accompanied the paperwork: Notes from the archivist: "The petition shows he declared he arrived in the United States as a minor under the age of 18 years. Therefore by law no Declaration of Intent was required of him! Page 2 of the Petition includes the depositions of witnesses. Prior to 1906 no copy of the "Certificate" was kept by the court. (The one and only original was given the "new" citizen.) Other than that, I have nothing further to contribute on the subject. Regards, Nancy > Did age make a difference in immigrating to the US in the > 1885 time frame. Was there an advantage to being younger? > In my grandfathers naturalization papers it states that he > was then "a minor under the age of eighteen years." I don't > think his age as given is correct. Of course everytime his > age is required it is different than the last time. (e.g. > Naturalilzation, marrige certificate, census) > > Marianne