Inspired by a wonderful blog post written by Nancy Gilbride Casey, I decided to email the US National Archives (NARA) to order an Alien Registration Form (AR-2) just before Thanksgiving.
According to NARA, the Alien Registration Program registered more than 5.6 million noncitizens between August 1, 1940, and March 31, 1944. If you, like Nancy and me, have an immigrant ancestor who was not naturalized at that point, maybe your ancestor will also have registered using the AR-2 form.
To learn more about the AR-2 and the ordering process, please read the NARA info on this page.
Why order AR-2?
Nancy's post and the NARA website show why an AR-2 can be a valuable document for genealogical purposes. Above, a sample page from an AR-2 form taken from NARA's info page.
The form asks for current name and other names used by the noncitizen, as well as address, birth date and place, marital status, physical characteristics, date and place of arrival in America, occupation, employer, organizations involved with, military service if any, other close relatives living in America, and more!
Process for searching and ordering
For an excellent, detailed tutorial, see the Allen County Public Library's Genealogical Center's video here.
I checked Ancestry's collection of alien registrations here and discovered a number of ancestors had filed AR-2 forms. Here's NARA's search page and be sure to check the FAQs if this is your first search. You need the A-file number of your ancestor to make your request.
After finding my great aunt Jennie Salkowitz in the database, I followed the instructions to email an inquiry, as follows:
Greetings! I would like to order the Alien Registration Form of:
Name: Jennie Salkowitz [female]
Country of birth: Russia
Date of birth: 1888
A-file number: A4_41071
Registration place: Bronx, New York
I then wrote that I would like NARA to quote me the fee or bill me so I could pay for non-certified pdf copies. I included my full mailing address, phone number, and email (vital to be able to receive response).
UPDATE: Quote received today!
Because Nancy received her response within days, I was hopeful that maybe I would have a similar experience.
Hours after I published this blog post, I heard from the National Archives that they confirmed the availability of my great aunt's AR-2 file. The response quoted a price of $20 and explained exactly how to place the actual order with my payment, to complete the transaction.
NARA notes a response time of 1-2 weeks for the file I just ordered, with a possible delay due to the holiday season.
If all goes well, I'll blog again soon about what I learned from great aunt Jennie's AR-2 form. And of course I'll begin submitting additional requests.
Oh drats! I do hope yours comes through soon. I guess I was just extraordinarily lucky...must have been a down time. As far as payment, when they get back to you they will include a quote form with payment options by check or card. I chose card as it was quicker. I am anxious to hear what you learn as well! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nancy, for the inspiration and the encouragement. I can't wait to see what I learn about my great aunt.
DeleteYay! You got the quote! That's exciting.
DeleteI can't wait to hear when you get it! I've never used this resource and I really should. I'm going to go and read Nancy's post about it to learn more. This could be really helpful with a few of my difficult ancestors who were not naturalized during that time.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to hearing about your records. I have no recent immigrants or anyone who didn't naturalized, so have never ordered one. But you and Nancy made it look easy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this Marian I’m always amused when a document refers to “aliens” be sure to share what you discover.
ReplyDeleteWe were in the middle of the government shutdown when I first saw Nancy's post, and I figured they would be backed up afterward, so I haven't pursued this yet. I'm trying not to be too hopeful - my great-grandparents immigrated from Romania in 1907 and never completed the citizenship process, so they had Alien Case files. Romania is a steel wall, so the only chance of getting more information on my great-great grandparents might be this file. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fairly smooth process and $20 isn't too bad, given the information you'll (hopefully) receive in return. Looking forward to the update!
ReplyDelete