Passport Records

Submitted by: HOST GFS CheriM@aol.com

 

Your immigrant ancestor most likely would have needed an American passport if he/she traveled back to the "old country." This means he/she would have become naturalized and filled out a passport application.

Some information that could appear on an application (example from 1913): name, spouse, minor children including their birth dates, applicant's place and date of birth, ship came on and where and when it departed, resided in the U.S. for how many years including dates and places, the court in which naturalized (Superior, Circuit, etc.) including city of the court and date naturalized, where they are currently residing, occupation, how long traveling, and then an oath of allegiance signed by the applicant. Then below that, is a description of the applicant.

The FHL has 2,090 rolls of film of these applications from 1795-1925, which you can order through your local FHC. The years of 1830-1831, 1850-1852, and 1860-1925 are indexed.

The applications are broken down into 1- or 2-month increments arranged chronologically for each year. If you know the year and not the month, you may have to look through 6 or 7 rolls of film.

For applications after 1925, you will have to write to: Passport Office, Dept. of State, 1425 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20520. You MUST enclose a copy of the applicant's death certificate as well as the approximate time period the applicant would have applied. (It took 2 months to receive mine.)

Some of the items found on a later application (example from 1964): full name, address, date of birth, place of birth, description, approximate departure date, occupation, persons to be included in this passport (asks for a group photo) including spouse's full name and all children's names, places and dates of birth, when the resided in the U.S., previous passport info., father and mother's names, their place and date of birth and if a U.S. citizen, if married (date), to whom, and when and where that spouse was born, if spouse is a U.S. citizen, and if the marriage is or isn't terminated and why (death or divorce including the date). (If a woman was previously married before March 3, 1931 she has to state the same as above for her former spouse.) Also included is traveling info. and whom to notify in the event of accident or death (this was blacked out due to privacy). A separate page had to be completed for a naturalized citizen containing immigration and naturalization info. Other pages are for applicants who are U.S. citizens through parents or husband. These pages contain lots of info.

 

© 2002 GFNEWS, a monthly publication of the Golden Gate Genealogy Forum, Inc. of Franklin, MA.
(America Online Keyword: roots.) The
Editors welcome your ideas and articles,
success stories, favorite genealogy research tips, comments and suggestions.

© 2002 Graphics By Carol, All Rights Reserved