Illinois, Northern District (Eastern Division), Naturalization Index - FamilySearch Historical Records: Difference between revisions

*Find records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, or ship’s manifests

*Look for the Declaration of Intent soon after the immigrant arrived, and then look for the Naturalization Petition five years later, when the residency requirement would have been met. Look for naturalization records in federal courts and 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.  

*If your ancestor had a common name, be sure to look at all the entries for a name before you decide which is correct  

*Continue to search the naturalization records to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives in the same or other generations who may have naturalized in the same area or nearby

*The witnesses named on naturalization records may have been older relatives of the person in the naturalization process. Search for their naturalizations

*You may want to obtain the naturalization records of every person who shares your ancestor’s surname if they lived in the same county or nearby. You may not know how or if they are related, but the information could lead you to more information about your own ancestors