Country of Arrival Records - Naturalization Records Part 1 You can't help but feel proud when you find your ancestor's naturalization records. Those simple documents entitled new citizens to many liberties they could only dream of in their old country. But the actual search for naturalization records can be time consuming, confusing and frustrating. Many immigrants simply did not naturalize. Any children they bore in the US were automatically US citizens. Also, it was not a requirement for British settlers in North America prior to the American Revolution. Will you find information on your ancestor's birthplace in naturalization records? That's hard to say definitively because these records vary in content from place to place and by time period. Generally, you will find your ancestor's name, age and country of birth. However, naturalization records in the 20th century were more informative. What did the naturalization process consist of? From 1790-1906, it generally consisted of two steps. After the immigrant had been in the US for a set number of years (depending on the requirement at that time), he could file his Declaration of Intent in any court that would accept it. The Declaration was simply that -- the immigrant's declaration that he desired to become a US citizen. The court would then provide the immigrant with a copy of the Declaration to carry with him. NOTE: The Declaration usually contains more genealogical information than any other naturalization record. After another set number of years (depending on the US residency requirement at that time), the immigrant could then file his Petition for Citizenship. This could also be filed in any court that would accept it and it did *not* have to be filed in the same court as the Declaration! It didn't even have to be filed in the same state! When the petitioner then went into court, he had to bring a character witness with him. This witness would swear under oath that the petitioner was morally upstanding, understood the US Constitution and was literate. (Literacy was a requirement for naturalization for most time periods in US history.) Next, the petitioner would swear under oath that he met all residency requirements, understood the US Constitution, was literate and renounced all allegiance to his former country. After he was sworn in as a citizen, he surrendered his copy of his Declaration of Intent to the clerk of the court. Some courts then provided the new citizen with a pretty certificate that they could take home and frame! NEXT: Naturalization Laws and how the changed throughout history.