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Passport Records Online

 * 1795-1925 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1795-1925 - U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Index and images, at Ancestry ($)

Offices to Contact
Although many records are included in the online records listed above, there are other records available through these archives and offices. For example, there are many minor ports that have not yet been digitized. There are also records for more recent time periods. For privacy reasons, some records can only be accessed after providing proof that your ancestor is now deceased.

National Archives and Records Administration

 * The National Archives (NARA) has immigration records for arrivals to the United States from foreign ports between approximately 1820 and 1982. The records are arranged by Port of Arrival (See Part 5).
 * You may do research in immigration records in person at the National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001.


 * Some National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) regional facilities have selected immigration records; call to verify their availability or check the online Microfilm Catalog.
 * Libraries with large genealogical collections, such as the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, Utah and the Allen County Piblic Library also have selected NARA microfilm publications.
 * Order copies of passenger arrival records with NATF Form 81.

Massachusetts Ports in NARA Records

 * Barnstable, Massachusetts, 1820-1826
 * Boston, Massachusetts, 1820-1891; 1891-1943; and 1820-1949
 * Dighton, Massachusetts, 1820-1836
 * Edgartown, Massachusetts, 1820-1870
 * Fall River, Massachusetts, 1837-1865 and 1918-1954
 * Gloucester, Massachusetts, 1820-1870, and 1918-1943
 * Hingham, Massachusetts, 1852
 * Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1820-1849
 * Nantucket, Massachusetts, 1820-1862
 * New Bedford, Massachusetts, 1826-1852 and 1902-1954
 * Newburyport, Massachusetts, 1821-1839
 * Plymouth, Massachusetts, 1821-1844
 * Salem, Massachusetts, 1865-1866

U.S. Citizenship and and Immigration Services Genealogy Program
The USCIS Genealogy Program is a fee-for-service program that provides researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records of deceased immigrants. If the immigrant was born less than 100 years ago, you will also need to provide proof of his/her death.

Immigration Records Available

 * A-Files: Immigrant Files, (A-Files) are the individual alien case files, which became the official file for all immigration records created or consolidated since April 1, 1944.
 * Alien Registration Forms (AR-2s): Alien Registration Forms (Form AR-2) are copies of approximately 5.5 million Alien Registration Forms completed by all aliens age 14 and older, residing in or entering the United States between August 1, 1940 and March 31, 1944.
 * Registry Files:''' Registry Files are records, which document the creation of immigrant arrival records for persons who entered the United States prior to July 1, 1924, and for whom no arrival record could later be found.
 * Files:''' Visa Files are original arrival records of immigrants admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration Act of 1924.

Requesting a Record

 * Web Request Page allows you to request a records, pay fees, and upload supporting documents (proof of death).
 * Record Requests Frequently Asked Questions

Finding Town of Origin
Records in the countries emigrated from are kept on the local level. You must first identify the name of the town where your ancestors lived to access those records. If you do not yet know the name of the town of your ancestor's birth, there are well-known strategies for a thorough hunt for it.
 * U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin

Background
1600s. Early settlers of Massachusetts generally came from England and Scotland and the other New England states. Plymouth Colony was first settled in 1620. From 1630 to 1642, fifteen to twenty thousand people settled in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

Up to 1880. Significant immigration from other European countries began in the 1840s, when many people came to work in the textile mills. Prior to 1880 about 95 percent of the overseas immigrants to Massachusetts came from Britain, Ireland, and northern Europe. The Irish were the largest immigrant group from the late 1840s through the rest of the 19th century. In the 1870s large numbers of Canadians, especially French Canadians, began to move overland into the state.

After 1880. A significant change in immigration patterns occurred after 1880. A wave of Italian and Portuguese immigration began in the late 1880s and reached its high point just prior to World War I. Russians, Russian Jews, and people from Poland and other Slavic countries came in large numbers in the early 20th century. In 1907, for example, 80 percent of the immigrants to Massachusetts were from southern and eastern Europe.

Immigration Records
Immigration refers to people coming into a country. Emigration refers to people leaving a country to go to another. Immigration records usually take the form of ship's passenger lists collected at the port of entry. See Online Databases and Resources.

Information in Passenger Lists

 * Before 1820 - Passenger lists before 1820 included name, departure information and arrival details. The names of wives and children were often not included.


 * 1820-1891 - Customs Passenger Lists between 1820 and 1891 asked for each immigrant’s name, their age, their sex, their occupation, and their country of origin, but not the city or town of origin.


 * 1891-1954 - Information given on passenger lists from 1891 to 1954 included:
 * name, age, sex,
 * nationality, occupation, marital status,
 * last residence, final destination in the U.S.,
 * whether they had been to the U.S. before (and if so, when, where and how long),
 * if joining a relative, who this person was, where they lived, and their relationship,
 * whether able to read and write,
 * whether in possession of a train ticket to their final destination, who paid for the passage,
 * amount of money the immigrant had in their possession,
 * whether the passenger had ever been in prison, a poorhouse, or in an institution for the insane,
 * whether the passenger was a polygamist,
 * and immigrant's state of health.


 * 1906-- - In 1906, the physical description and place of birth were included, and a year later, the name and address of the passenger’s closest living relative in the country of origin was included.

Information in Passports
Over the years, passports and passport applications contained different amounts of information about the passport applicant. The first passports that are available begin in 1795. These usually contained the individual's name, description of individual, and age. More information was required on later passport applications, such as:


 * Birthplace
 * Birth date
 * Naturalization information
 * Arrival information, if foreign born

For Further Reading
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An especially helpful source on immigration and ethnic groups in Massachusetts is:

Thayer, Mrs. Nathaniel. The Immigrants (1830-1929) in Volume 4 of Commonwealth History of Massachusetts, pp. 142–71. Edited by Albert B. Hart. New York, NY: The States History Company, 1930. {{FHL|656150|item|disp=FHL book 974.4 H2ha}}

Filby, P. William. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index. 11 Volumes. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1981-. ({{FHL|291926|item|disp=FHL book 973 W32p}}; some volumes are on microfilm.) Indexes over 500,000 passengers to America from 1650 to mid-1980 in published passenger lists. Includes the immigrant's name, age, and year of arrival. Provides source list for all indexed passengers. The first three volumes are a combined alphabetical index that was published in 1981. Supplemental volumes have been issued annually.

Colket, Meridith B. Founders of Early American Families: Emigrants from Europe 1607–1657. Cleveland, Ohio: General Court of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America, 1985. {{FHL|285129|item|disp=FHL book 973 W2cm.}} Includes a list of those who came to the Colonies during the first 50 years. Lists names, dates, and brief information about each immigrant and sources for further research.

Banks, Charles E. Planters of the Commonwealth: Emigrants to New England in Colonial Times. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing, 1961. (Family History Library {{FHL|283833|item|disp=FHL book 974 W2bf}} and {{FHL|283833|item|disp=FHL film 874196}} and FHL|283833|item|disp=FHL fiche 6046840}}

Anderson, Robert C. The Great Migration: Immigrants to New England, 1623–1633. Boston, Massachusetts: New England Historic Genealogical Society, c1995. {{FHL|22717|item|disp=FHL books 974 W2a 3 vols}} Genealogical information about the early immigrants to New England. Each volume is indexed, with a cumulative index at the end of Volume 3. Well documented with sources cited.

Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607–1776, and Emigrants in Bondage 1614–1775 {{FHL|773852|item|CD-ROM no. 9 pt. 350}}does not circulate to Family History Centers [Novato, California]: Brøderbund Software, 1996. A comprehensive list of about 140,000 immigrants to America from Britain. Includes Massachusetts immigrants. May show British hometown, emigration date, ship, destination, and text of the document abstract.

Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants in Bondage, 1614–1775. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1988. {{FHL|654640|item|disp=FHL book 973 W2c}} An alphabetical list of English convicts transported to colonial America.

Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1661–1669. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990. {{FHL|410429|item|disp=FHL book 973 W2coL}} A list of those who emigrated from England to America, including those who were deported and those sold into labor. Compiled from English public records.

Coldham, Peter Wilson. The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1700–1750. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1992. {{FHL|513401|item|disp=FHL book 973 W2coL}} A list of those who emigrated from England to America. Compiled from English public records. Usually gives name, age, occupation, residence, ship, destination, and precise source citation.

Bolton, Ethel Stanwood. Immigrants to New England, 1700–1775. Salem, Massachusetts: Essex Institute, 1931. {{FHL|328742|item|disp=FHL book 974 W2b}} and {{FHL|328741|item|disp=FHL film 874195 item 3}} This list includes names, dates, place of origin, place of settlement, and some family information.

[https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/287914? Michael Tepper, ed. ''Passengers to America. A Consolidation of Ship Passenger Lists from rthe New England Historical and Genealogical Register.'' Baltimore:Genealogical Publishing Company, 1977. FHL 973 W3t]

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