Proof of citizenship - How would one go about determining if a deceased ancestor (grandma) was a U.S. citizen?

Question

My grandmother moved to the U.S. when she was a young child. No records were ever kept by her, or anyone else in the family. I am trying to determine if she was ever naturalized as a U.S. citizen.

Answer 1

This is a fun subject, and complicated.

You don't say her age, but up until 1922 females married to a US citizen male, or naturalized male, automatically became citizens. So would their children. They pretty much rode in on his coat-tails.Therefore, naturalization records may not exist for her or her mother if they entered before 1922. I'd look for her dad's records.

Here's a history of how immigration and laws have developed over the history of the U.S.:

http://www.colorado.gov/dpa/doit/archive...

Happy hunting and good luck.

Answer 2

The National Archives is the keeper of that information. They have all records broken up into regional record centers based on the state where someone lived when an event occurred. So if she came to the US and lived in Belleville, IL for 20 years and then moved to Georgia for the rest of her life, you would contact the National Archives centers in Chicago and Atlanta and ask them for copies of her Immigration and Naturalization records. That would cover everything from her green card to her naturalization petition. To find the NARA centers that might have her records, start here: http://www.archives.gov/locations/

Answer 3

I use the word "depends" a lot.. because... it depends.

Different laws were applicable at different times in history. Example.. Chinese were prohibited from both immigration AND citizenship, for many years.  If a US born woman married a Chinese, I believe she forfeited her citizenship.  If a parent became naturalized, it might have applied to his children.

You should be able to find out, perhaps in her social security file (yes, you can get that for a fee). DEPENDING on her age, she may be in census records in the early 1900s, some of which have designations if a person was/ was not a citizen.  

You are invited, of course.. to post her name and details (parent name, place) and usually someone will do a lookup in the census records for you.