Do adult children have access to deceased parents Citizenship records?
Hello,
I would like to thank anyone who reaches out to help in advance!
My Children and I are trying to reconnect with our German herritage. We just recently discovered our family member has passed away a couple years ago. I have tried to look for offical information if the family member had been naturalized or not. So far nothing has come up. This would have taken place after 1955. So my question is:
Can an adult child request copies of their deceased parents Citizanship and or status?
If so; Can someone be so kind to point us in the right direction?
Again, Thank you in advance!
Answers
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@Kristen9429 It depends! You would need to know where it could have taken place. Every state and some municipalities have different privacy rules and laws. In some, 1955 might be too new. But you might access records by going directly to the location. Most keep citizenship records in a book. Some kept actual forms prior to a certain date. You might use the search tab on the main page and see what you can find under each one. Full Text search is new, but I found citizenship documents from 1917-1930 in a small village in Ohio.
To answer your question, however, if you can prove the individual is your parent it should not be a problem at the location.
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Good afternoon @Kristen9429
Just to clarify before we dive deeply into available records, are you looking for US citizenship records - often called naturalization documents?
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Yes. As I can understand by the information I have found. He accompanied his mother from Germany to US in 1955. A few years later his mother Naturalized. I believe he may have had a green card to stay. However we are not sure. We are trying to figure out if he still had German citizenship upon his death. Since there was no contact before death, we are not certain if he ever naturalized or not. But his child may be able to request such records if they exisit. However the search for that information if such a thing is even possible, isn't telling us much.
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You may also be able to ascertain if the ancestor was naturalized through other documents. Social Security records might be available and should reflect his citizenship. A Green Card holder or permanent resident would be eligible for Social Security.
In general, you would not have to show evidence of a relationship to obtain the records, if they exist.
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