Washington Naturalization and Citizenship

History
Naturalization records have been filed in various courts, usually with the county clerk, who also served as the clerk of the superior court. The Family History Library has acquired many of the naturalization files for Washington. You can obtain copies of declarations, petitions, and proceedings from each county courthouse or federal court.

Naturalization records were often filed with donation and homestead land records (see the “Land and Property” section). The naturalization certificates in the donation land files were not microfilmed but can be obtained from the National Archives.

Post-1906 Records
In 1906 the Immigration and Naturalization Service was created, forms were standardized and naturalization was changed to federal courts (district and circuit). Duplicate copies were created in the court and sent to the INS. For naturalization records filed after September 1906, contact the local office of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (formerly INS) or the National Archives—Pacific Northwest Region (Seattle).

Availability
The National Archives—Pacific Northwest Region (Seattle) at http://www.archives.gov/pacific-alaska/seattle/ has the records of the U.S. district and circuit courts in Spokane, Seattle, and Tacoma from 1890 to 1957. The U.S. District Court indexes and records, 1854 to the 1970s, are on microfilm at the Family History Library. It also has records from 1853 to 1975 relating to naturalization in territorial and other courts for King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Thurston counties.