Nebraska Naturalization and Citizenship

Availability
You can obtain Nebraska naturalization papers by writing to the clerk of the district court for the county in which your ancestor was naturalized. In some cases, the county has retained microfilm copies and sent the originals to the Nebraska State Historical Society.

The Omaha office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly INS), has a Works Projects Administration (WPA) index to pre-1906 naturalizations for all Nebraska counties and 63 Iowa counties. This index is on microfilm at the Nebraska State Historical Society. They also have a WPA index to district court naturalizations of Lincoln, Otoe, York, and Platte counties from the time of county formation to about 1940. The Family History Library does not have copies of these indexes. The Family History Library has some naturalization records from counties and from United States District and Circuit Courts.

Naturalization information can also be found in the land entry file of an immigrant who purchased or homesteaded land. These records give the name of the immigrant, the court, the date of naturalization or declaration of intention, and the country of previous allegiance.

Post-1906 Records
In 1906 the Immigration and Naturalization Service (now United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) was created, forms were standardized, and duplicate copies of naturalization records were sent to the INS. You can access these records by downloading a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) form from www.uscis.gov, filling it out and sending it to the address listed on the form. You may also contact the National Archives—Central Plains Region (Kansas City) for naturalization records.