United States World War I Naturalization and Citizenship

Index to Naturalizations
Aliens serving in the U.S. military did not gain citizenship through service alone. The naturalization of soldiers was performed under certain provisions of nationality law facilitating the naturalization of members of the U.S. armed forces. These provisions (Act of May 9th,1918) waived the Declaration of Intention requirement and waived or reduced the residency requirement. Thus many soldiers filed petitions and were naturalized the same day.

The expedited naturalization of soldiers could have been performed at either a Federal, State or local court having jurisdiction over the soldier's military base, or a judge from any of those courts might have held "naturalization court" at the military base. In either case, one copy of the petition should be on file in the court's records. Another copy was filed with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which holds duplicate copies of all naturalizations granted after September 26, 1906. '''[https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1858291?collectionNameFilter=true To locate a World War I soldier's naturalization, begin by searching the Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers. 1918, among the Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and microfilmed as M1952.]''' Note: Not all U.S. military bases are included on this index.

If the soldier's name appears in the index file, the index card will contain the soldier's name, date of naturalization, court of naturalization (indicated by court number), certificate number, and name of the military base to which the soldier was assigned as of that date. The court number can be converted to the name of an actual court (i.e. U.S. District Court, Trenton, NJ) by reference to the Directory of Courts having Jurisdiction in Naturalization Proceedings. (Worldcat)

If the soldier's name does not appear in the index file, the researcher may file a Freedom of Information/Privacy Act request to the Headquarters, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (BCIS), Washington, D.C. 20536, using Form G-639 (identifying the soldier by name, date of birth, and place of birth). A search of BCIS records will be determine whether the alien ever naturalized anywhere in the United States, under military or any other provision of U.S. nationality law.

National Park Service
 * Immigrants in the Military during WW I
 * Immigration and the Great War

 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
 * The Immigrant Army: Immigrant Service Members in World War I.

 Related Publications
 * Nancy Gentile Ford. Americans All!: Foreign-born Soldiers in World War I. Texas A & M University Press, 2001.
 * Dennis A. Connole.  America's Foreign Legion. Immigrant Soldiers in the Great War. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2019.

Where to Find the Records
Online


 * United States, World War I Soldier Naturalizations, 1918 (Ancestry) ($) - index only
 * Naturalization Index - WWI Soldiers (Fold3) ($) - contains images of original index cards
 * (FamilySearch) - index only
 * United States, Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers - FamilySearch Historical Records

 FamilySearch Catalog


 * Birmingham, Alabama, Military Petitions, 1918-1924
 * Montgomery, Alabama, Military Petitions, 1918
 * San Francisco, California, Military Petitions, 1918
 * Jacksonville, Florida, Military Petitions, 1918
 * Rome, Georgia, Military Petitions, 1918
 * Savannah, Georgia,Military Petitions, 1918-1923
 * East Point, Georgia National Archives Branch, Military Petitions, 1918-1924
 * Rock Island County, Illinois, Military Petitions, 1918
 * Geary County, Kansas, Military Petitions, 1918-1921
 * Kansas City, Kansas National Archives Branch, Military Petitions, 1918
 * Leavenworth, Kansas Military Petitions, 1918-1919
 * Louisville, Kentucky, Military Petitions, 1903-1906, 1918-1921
 * Richmond County, New York, Military Petitions, 1918-1924
 * Buncombe County, North Carolina, Military Petitions, 1918-1920
 * Raleigh, North Carolina, Military Petitions, 1918-1919
 * Columbus, Ohio Military Petitions, 1918-1919
 * Dayton, Ohio, Military Petitions, 1918-1919
 * Newport County, Rhode Island, Military Petitions, 1902-1918
 * Charleston, South Carolina, Military Petitions, 1918-1924
 * Columbia, South Carolina, Military Petitions, 1918
 * Charleston & Columbia, South Carolina, Naturalization Index,1918, camp Jackson

 National Archives
 * Correspondence Relating to Foreign Born Soldiers, 1917-1921.


 * Military Petitions for Naturalization, 6.3.1918-6.4.1919. Superior Court for San Diego. California. NAID 7570340
 * Soldiers' Naturalization Certificate Stubs,1919-1920. District of Colorado. Denver Term. NAID 651528
 * Soldiers' Petition and Naturalization Record Books, 1918-1928. District for Colorado. Denver Term. NAID 651513
 * Index to Military Naturalization Petitions, 1918. Southern District for Florida. Jacksonville Term. NAID 2945893
 * Index to Naturalization Petitions for Soldiers,1918-1922. Northeastern (Augusta) Division of the Southern District of Georgia. NAID 4319744
 * Records of Soldier Repatriations,1918-19141. Eastern (Chicago) Division of the Northern District of Illinois. NAID 1181480
 * Naturalization Certificate Stubs, ca. 7.1.1918-9.25.1925. Indianapolis Division of the District of Indiana. NAID 4486504
 * Petitions for Naturalization by Members of Armed Forces, 6.18.1918-2.3.1919. District of Indiana. Indianapolis Term. NAID 7564756
 * Petitions and Records of Naturalization for Military Personnel,7.1918-2.1919. Southern Division of the District of Mane. NAID 2826558
 * Petitions for Military Naturalization,1918-1923. District of Maryland. Baltimore Term. NAID 3083600
 * Petitions and Records of Naturalization for Military Personnel,1.1919-7.1919. District of Massachusetts. NAID 2847215
 * Soldiers' Naturalization Certificate Stubs,1918. Fourth (Minneapolis) Division of the District of Minnesota. NAID 6110028
 * Military Petitions for Naturalization,1906-1919. Eastern (St.Louis) Division of the Eastern District of Missouri. NAID 6882941
 * Certificate of Naturalization Receipts Stubs,5.25.1918-1925. District for New Jersey. Trenton Term. NAID 74895885
 * Military Petitions for Naturalizations, 1918-1919. District for New Jersey. Tenton Term. NAID 2555234
 * Military Petitions for Naturalization,6.15.1918-12.31.1946. District of New Jersey. Newark Term. NAID 2505539
 * Index to Naturalization Petitions for Soldiers',ca. 1918-ca. 1926. Brownsville Division of the Southern District of Texas NAID 2658205
 * Naturalization Petitions for Soldiers, 1918-1926. Brownsville Division of the Southern District of Texas. NAID 2658206
 * Naturalization Petitions for Soldiers, 1918-1945. Southern District of Texas. Galveston Term. NAID 2773663
 * Naturalization Petitions for Soldiers,1918-1928. Houston Division of the Southern District of Texas. NAID 2573314
 * Military Petitions for Naturalization,6.29.1918-8.3.1918. Western (Toledo) Division of the Northern District of Ohio. NAID 6037068
 * Military Petitions for Naturalization,1868-1918. District of Oregon. NAID 5716680
 * Military Petitions for Naturalization,1918-1919. Alexandria Division of the Eastern District. Virginia. NAID 874103
 * Index to Military Petitions for Naturalization,1918-1919. Western District of Washington. Tacoma Term. NAID 5716678


 * Records Relating to Aliens and Naturalization,11.22.1918-1.9.1919. RG 156. Camp Amatol, Mullica Twp., New Jersey. NAID 23942723
 * Correspondence Relating to Enemy-Aliens, 1918. RG 92. Newport News, Virginia. Port of Embarkation. NAID 1011476

Training Camps

 * United States, World War I Correspondence Relating to Foreign Born Soldiers, 1917-1921

Libraries


 * Locate these records at a library using Worldcat.