North Carolina Naturalization and Citizenship

Online Resources
United States Naturalization Online Genealogy Records


 * 1795-1925 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index & images
 * North Carolina, Naturalization Records, 1872-1996 ($)
 * Alien, Naturalization and Citizenship Records, images, NC Digital Collection
 * 1918 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index

Availability
Naturalization records have been filed in the U.S. district and circuit courts and in local courts in North Carolina counties. Each court had its own style of record keeping before 1906.

Various types of records were created during the naturalization process, including declarations of intention, petitions for naturalization, oaths of allegiance, and certificates of naturalization and citizenship. Each record can give details about a person, such as age, residence, country or city of origin, ethnic background, the date and port of arrival, the name of the ship, names of spouse and children with their birth dates and places, or current address. For a comprehensive list of North Carolina naturalization records, see:


 * Schaefer, Christina K. Guide to Naturalization Records of the United States. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1997. Pages 249–252 in this book cover North Carolina. For each county, the book lists the courts where naturalizations took place, the years the records cover, where the original records are housed, and the first film numbers of the Family History Library, where applicable. The introduction discusses the naturalization process, the types of records created, and the usual genealogical content of each record.

Federal Records
The U.S. district and circuit court records for North Carolina naturalizations are at the National Archives center at East Point, Georgia. The earliest U.S. district court records begin in 1801 for Elizabeth City, Pasquotank County. Most of these records have not been microfilmed. Only the following U.S. district court records are available on microfilm through the Family History Library:


 * Wilson, Wilson County, 1926, 1929–1945
 * Raleigh, Wake County, 1909–1933

These are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under:


 * United States. District Court. (Alabama, Southern District.) Declarations of Intentions, Naturalizations, and Petitions, 1855–1932. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah. 1987–1989. These films include records from several states.

County Records
Until 1868 naturalization records could be kept in each county by the county, superior, or district court. From 1868 to 1906 the superior court had jurisdiction over naturalizations. Some naturalization records from North Carolina state and county court minutes and county miscellaneous records are indexed in:


 * Camin, Betty J. North Carolina Naturalization Index, 1792–1862. Mt Airy, North Carolina: B.J. Camin, 1989.

Records from a few counties whose records were sent to the state archives are available on microfilm at the Family History Library. Original records for most counties are in the county’s courthouse.

To find naturalization records in the FamilySearch Catalog, including Anson, Beaufort, Bertie, Buncombe, Burke, Craven, Cumberland, Currituck, Durham, Edgecombe, Forsyth, Granville, Halifax, Haywood, Henderson, Lee, Lenoir, Macon, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Mitchell, Moore, Nash, New Hanover, Orange, Perquimans, Pitt, Polk, Robeson, Rowan, Rutherford, Stanly, Surry, Swain, Union, Wake, Warren, and Wilson counties, use a Place Search under:

NORTH CAROLINA- NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP

NORTH CAROLINA, [COUNTY]- NATURALIZATION AND CITIZENSHIP

Naturalization Records after 1906
Records for earlier years usually contain less information than those after 1906, when the federal court system for naturalization was revised and details such as birth date and place, physical description, and marital status may be given. For naturalization records after September 1906, use the Genealogy Program at www.uscis.gov.