USCIS (US Citizenship and Immigration Service) Genealogy Program

If you have family that is or at one time was resident in the United States, this service provided by the US Citizenship and Immigration Service will be of interest.

Genealogy

The USCIS Genealogy Program is a fee-for-service program providing family historians and other researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records.  Click the links at right and below to learn about our services and records.

 

Choose the Correct Form or Request Type:  Please read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), form instructions, and other information on this website before sending any money.

 

The USCIS Genealogy Program offers two services:

• Index Search: Using biographical information provided by the researcher, USCIS searches its historical immigration and naturalization record indices for citations related to a specific immigrant. Search results (record citations) are returned to the researcher, along with instructions on how to request the file(s) from USCIS or the National Archives. Fee: $20.00.
• Record Copy Request: Researchers with valid record citations (USCIS file numbers), gained through a USCIS Genealogy Program index search or through independent research, may request copies of historical immigration and naturalization records.  Fee: $20.00/$35.00  (depending on the record type).

Records available through the USCIS Genealogy Program:

• Naturalization Certificate Files (C-files) from September 27, 1906 to April 1, 1956
• Alien Registration Forms from August 1, 1940 to March 31, 1944
• Visa files from July 1, 1924 to March 31, 1944
• Registry Files from March 2, 1929 to March 31, 1944
• Alien Files (A-files) numbered below 8 million (A8000000) and documents therein dated prior to May 1, 1951

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=d21f3711ca5ca110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD&vgnextchannel=d21f3711ca5ca110VgnVCM1000004718190aRCRD

Blog Revived

Originally started as a means of communicating with the Ukrainian Community on Prince Edward on genealogical topics as well as cultural, it is time to separate the two topics.  The cultural aspect will be moved to another forum and this blog will concentrate on genealogy issues. 

This blog will replace my eMailings to various individuals and organisations as well as serve to quickly supplement my columns in "The Guardian" and as an archive for my older articles.  These changes will take place over the next few months, with revision of the new website of the Ukrainian Genealogy Group at UkrainianGenealogyGroup-PEI.org.

Next UGG-PEI Meeting - 1 Dec 2007

Ukrainian Genealogy Group - Prince Edward Island

Will hold its next meeting on Saturday, December 1st, 2007, at 1300h (1:00pm) in the Stratford Town Hall, Southport Room, 234 Shakespeare Drive, Stratford, PE. The topic will be Researching and Travelling in Ukraine - So you got there, what now? The realities of research in Ukraine will include a slide show of Ted's recent trip to Ukraine. Please pre-register so that we can have sufficient resource materials. Bring along your research questions! http://uggpei.isn.net eMail: uggpei@isn.net tel 902.569.8611 New Members and the Curious always welcome! You don't need to be a member to Participate ! For Information on the Ukrainian Christmas Celebration please go to http://xmas2008.tk

New book from Maria Lewycka: Strawberry Fields

New book from Maria Lewycka: Strawberry Fields <#TOP>^

Strawberry Fields
by Marina Lewycka

From the Publisher

From the author of the international bestseller A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian comes a tender and hilarious novel about a crew of migrant workers from three continents who are forced to flee their English strawberry field for a journey across all of England in pursuit of their various dreams of a better future.

Somewhere in the heart of the green and pleasant land called England is a valley filled with strawberries. A group of migrant workers, who hail from Eastern Europe, China, and Africa have come here to harvest them for delivery to British supermarkets, and end up living in two small trailer homes, a men's trailer and a woman's trailer. They are all seeking a better life (and in their different ways they are also, of course, looking for love) and they've come to England, some legally, some illegally, to find it. They are supervised-some would say exploited-by Farmer Leaping, a red-faced Englishman who treats everyone equally except for the Polish woman named Yola, the boss of the crew, who favors him with her charms in exchange for something a little extra on the side. But the two are discreet, and all is harmonious in this cozy vale-until the evening when Farmer Leaping's wife comes upon him and Yola and does what any woman would do in this situation: She runs him down in her red sports car. By the time the police arrive the migrant workers have piled into one of the trailer homes and hightailed it out of their little arcadia, thus setting off one of the most enchanting, merry, and moving picaresque journeys across the length and breadth of England since Chaucer's pilgrims set off to Canterbury.

Along the way, the workers' fantasies about England keeprudely bumping into the ignominious, brutal, and sometimes dangerous realities of life on the margins for émigrés in the new globalized labor market. Some of them meet terrible ends, some give up and go back home, but for those who manage to hang in for the full course of this madcap ride, the rewards-like the strawberries-prove awfully sweet-especially for the young Ukrainians from opposite sides of the tracks, Andriy and Irina, whose initial mutual irritation blossoms into love.

Synopsis

From the author of the international bestseller A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian comes a tender and hilarious novel about a crew of migrant workers from three continents who are forced to flee their English strawberry field for a journey across all of England in pursuit of their various dreams of a better future.

Ukrainian Music Source

Information from Orysia Dawydiak.

Hi folks,

Just returned from our last trip, got this site as a source of
Ukrainian music directly from Ukraine. You may already have it -
excellent prices etc.

UMKA -

http://www.umka.com.ua/eng/

Easter comes but once this year

Hi folks,

I have been inundated* with eMails asking if we will be doing
anything for Easter this year. Combined with the fact that both
Easters fall on the same Sunday this year and other pressing matters
we will not be able to do anything this year.

Chrystos Voskres!

Christ is Risen!

* an inundation is anything more than 3 for a group our size
--

Ukrainian Genealogy Group - Prince Edward Island

http://uggpei.isn.net

http://uggpei.blogspot.com/

contact: Ted Lomatski 902 569-8611

Discontinued Access to Ancestry.com Databases

For many years, Ancestry.com has provided free access to patrons of family
history centers around the world. Ancestry has informed the Church that as
of April 1, 2007, it will discontinue this free access to the full
Ancestry.com service.

Free access through Ancestry.com to the following databases will continue:

1. Index and images for the 1880, 1900 and 1920 U.S. censuses
2. Full name indices for the British 1841-1891 censuses (England and Wales)
3. World War I draft cards indices as created and miscellaneous other
databases

Free access is likely to be discontinued for the remainder of the
Ancestry.com databases including:

1. Index and images for the 1930 U.S. census
2. Index and images for the 1901 British census (England, Scotland, and
Wales)

At this point, Ancestry.com is not offering an option for family history
centers to independently purchase commercial or library site licenses.
Patrons, of course, may choose to subscribe directly to Ancestry.com.

Free access to online databases is important and we therefore intend to add
many new databases to FamilySearch.org (the website of the Mormon Family
History Library). Much of the data preparation will be accomplished
through the online indexing program available at FamilySearchIndexing.org.
We encourage you to visit the website to learn more.

Volunteers have already begun indexing the 1900 U.S. census and other
projects. Other censuses and vital record collections will be indexed as
soon as the 1900 U.S. census project is completed. The more volunteers that
participate, the sooner access can be provided. Since access to databases on
FamilySearch.org is free to all, we anticipate that this will be of great
interest to individuals around the world. We are also exploring
opportunities to provide broader access to additional databases from other
online service providers.

Please inform patrons regarding our plans to provide access to records and
invite them to help by participating in the FamilySearch Indexing projects.
We will communicate as more information becomes available. Thank you for all
that you do on behalf of our patrons.

fhcsupport@support.familysearch.org
--

Ukrainian Genealogy Group - Prince Edward Island

http://uggpei.isn.net

http://uggpei.blogspot.com/

contact: Ted Lomatski 902 569-8611

Genealogical tour to Western Ukraine

Genealogical tour to Western Ukraine

The Toronto Ukrainian Genealogy Group (TUGG) www.torugg.org is hosting a genealogical tour to Western Ukraine in June of 2007. If members of your organization wish to join us, they are most welcome! Here are the particulars.

The "Discover Your Roots Tour" runs from June 7 to June 24, 2007. For complete details and how to register see:
www.torugg.org/TUGG%20Projects/trip_to_ukraine.html

We will spend a number of days in Lviv, Chernivtsi, Ivan-Fankivsk, Ternopil and Kyiv, both as tourists and researchers. We will visit various archives and visit the villages of our ancestors. Here is a more Detailed Itinerary of the Tour. http://www.torugg.org/trip_itinerary1.html

Those wishing to go on this "Discover Your Roots Trip", will need to fill out a Reservation Form, http://www.torugg.org/reservation_form1.html

And the Archives Family Search Form. www.torugg.org/archive_form.html

It is important that the Archives Family Search Form be filled out as best you can. Our intention is to forward the requests from the Form to the respective archives for processing. We will inform them when we will be visiting their archive and hopefully the requested genealogical information will have been prepared and readied for our visit.

Costs:
Air/Land rate, based on a twin/sharing basis is $3599.00 (CAN$)
For Single Occupancy per Person add $600.00 (CAN$)

Regards,
Jim Onyschuk jodanji@aci.on.ca