California, San Francisco, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records - FamilySearch Historical Records: Difference between revisions

| FS_URL_05 = [https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=20&placeId=206859&query=%2Bplace%3A%22United%20States%2C%20California%2C%20San%20Francisco%22%20%2Bkeywords%3Aimmigration Immigration Records in the FamilySearch Library Catalog]

== What Can These Records Tell Me? ==

*The approximate age or date of immigration.

=== View the Images ===

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=== How Do I Analyze the Results? ===

Compare each result from your search with what you know to determine if there is a match. This may require viewing multiple records or images.

{{Tip|More images are available in the FamilySearch Catalog at [https://familysearch.org/search/catalog/2299374 California, San Francisco, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records, 1910-1941]. Click on camera icon to see images.}}

Indexes and transcriptions may not include all the data found in the original records. Look at the actual image of the record, if you can, to verify the information and to find additional information.  

*Use the record to learn the place of origin and find their church and vital records such as birth, baptism, and marriage records. 

*Use the information found in the record to find land and probate records.

*Use the record to see if other family members who may have immigrated with the person you are looking for are listed and have additional information or leads; you may also find additional information on new family members in censuses.

*Repeat this process with additional family members found, to find more generations of the family.

*[[California Church Records| Church Records]] were kept years before counties began keeping records. They are a good source for finding ancestors before 1900.  

=== I Can’t Find the Person I’m Looking for, What Now? ===

*If your ancestor does not have a common name, collect entries for every person who has the same surname. This list can help you find possible relatives.

*If you cannot locate your ancestor in the locality in which you believe they lived, then try searching records of a nearby town or county.   

*Try different spellings of your ancestor’s name.

*Remember that sometimes individuals went by [http://usgenweb.org/research/nicknames.html nicknames] or alternated between using first and middle names. Try searching for [http://genealogy.about.com/od/first_names/fl/nickname-given-name-equivalents.htm these names] as well.   

*Look for the Declaration of Intent soon after the immigrant arrived. Then look for the Naturalization Petition five years later, when the residency requirement would have been met. Look for naturalization records in federal courts, then in state, county, or city courts. An individual may have filed the first and final papers in different courts and sometimes in a different state if the person moved. Immigrants who were younger than 18 when they arrived did not need to file a Declaration of Intent as part of the process.

*Check other possible ports of entry

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