California Immigration Registers of Japanese, Filipinos, and Hawaiians at San Francisco - FamilySearch Historical Records

United States California  San Francisco County

What is in the Collection?
This collection contains Registers of Japanese, Filipinos, and Hawaiians Held for Boards of Special Inquiry at San Francisco, California, September 1928 to February 1942. The records are a chronological listing of people detained for boards of special inquiry. The records are arranged by date of arrival then by vessel. The collection corresponds with NARA publication A3408 part of Record Group 85 Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service and was filmed at the NARA facility in Washington DC.

What Can this Collection Tell Me?
Information found in this collection may include:


 * Name
 * Age
 * Nationality
 * Significant remarks
 * Name of vessel
 * Port of departure
 * Date of departure
 * Port of arrival
 * Date of arrival

How do I Search the Collection?
To begin your search it is helpful to know


 * The name of your ancestor
 * The date of immigration
 * The port of arrival or departure

Search by Name by visiting the Collection Page: Fill in the requested information in the initial search page. This search will return a list of possible matches. Compare the information about the ancestors in the list to what you already know about your ancestors to determine if this is the correct family or person. You may need to compare the information about more than one person to find your ancestor.

View images in this collection by visiting the Browse Page: To search the collection you will need to follow this series of links: ⇒Select "Browse through images" on the initial collection page ⇒Select the appropriate "NARA Roll Number" which takes you to the images.

Look at each image comparing the information with what you already know about your ancestors to determine if the image relates to them. You may need to look at several images and compare the information about the individuals listed in those images to your ancestors to make this determination. Keep in mind:


 * There may be more than one person in the records with the same name.
 * You may not be sure of your own ancestor’s name.
 * Your ancestor may have used different names or variations of their name throughout their life.

What Do I Do Next?
When you have located your ancestor’s record, carefully evaluate each piece of information given. These pieces of information may give you new biographical details and lead you to other records about your ancestors. Add this new information to your records of each family.

I Found Who I was Looking for, What Now?

 * Learn an immigrant’s place of origin
 * Confirm their date of arrival
 * Learn foreign and “Americanized” names
 * Find records in his or her country of origin such as emigrations, port records, or ship’s manifests.
 * Find federal immigration records
 * Download a copy of the record or transcribe the details.
 * 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 lists to identify siblings, parents, and other relatives who may have immigrated at the same time.
 * If your ancestor has an uncommon surname, you may want to obtain the passenger list of every person who shares your ancestor’s surname. You may not know how or if they are related, but the information could lead you to more information about your own ancestors.

I Can’t Find Who I’m Looking for, What Now?

 * Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for nicknames and abbreviated names.
 * Search the indexes and records of other port cities.

Citing this Collection
Citing your sources makes it easy for others to find and evaluate the records you used. When you copy information from a record, list where you found that information. Here you can find citations already created for the entire collection and for each individual record or image.

Collection Citation:

Record Citation (or citation for the index entry):

Image Citation: