Immigration Records

The National Archives has immigration records from 1820 to 1982. There are some earlier immigration records that are incomplete for the port of Philadelphia beginning in 1800, and for the port of New Orleans, 1813-1819. Most pre-1820 passenger lists have been published.

Here is some of the types of information you can find in the immigration records:

• one's nationality, place of birth
• ship name and date of entry to the United States
• age, height, eye and hair color
• profession
• place of last residence
• name and address of relatives they are joining in the U.S.
• amount of money they are carrying, etc.

They do not have passenger lists available online, but there is a list of the microfilm available for each port. You can also search the Microfilm Catalog to see which regional locations have the microfilm you are seeking. Type in Passenger as the keyword. More information.

General Overview

• Immigration Records (Ship Passenger Arrival Records)
• Order copies of passenger lists using the Order Online! system, or with NATF Form 81

Specific Immigration Topics

• Canadian Border Crossing Records, an article in Prologue
• Chinese Immigration and Chinese in the United States: Records in NARA's Regional Archives
• "Famine Irish Passenger Records" in the Access to Archives Databases (AAD). This database identifies 604,596 persons who arrived in the Port of New York, from 1846-1851. Despite the name of the records, approximately 30 percent of the passengers list their native country as other than Ireland.
• Great Lakes Crew Lists
• Index to Case Files for Early Immigrants to San Francisco and Hawaii
• Mexican Border Crossing Records
• View Selected Chinese Immigration Records Online
• Genealogical CD-ROMS on Immigration in the Archives Library Information Center, National Archives Building, Washington, DC
• See the Passenger Arrival Records of the von Trapp Family
• View Selected Alien and Immigration Records Online

Happy hunting.

Dale L. Edwards