In order to request a certificate from Italy, ICGS must know the SPECIFIC location (village, town, or city) and the date of birth, marriage or death within + or - 5 years. An exact date is ideal. The more precise you are, the greater the chance that the archives will locate the record that you are requesting. You can do the research yourself, or you can leave it to us.
If you want to give it a try yourself, ICGS recommends you start your search with
Ship Passenger Lists
Census Records
Social Security Death Index
If you prefer, ICGS will do all the work! We are registered members of several genealogical sites including Ancestry.com, and we have a number of other resources which we can use to determine WHERE and WHEN (in Italy) your ancestor was born, married, or died. We have many years of experience with this kind of research and a very good track record. In some cases, we have been able to direct the Italian archivist directly to a record that they had previously declared non-existant!
Using our memberships, we will check the publicly available census records, naturalization records, passenger lists, original Italian records on microfilm, and even modern phone records. We will try all of the relevant spelling and name variations (for example Giacomo/Jack). Some of these records are handwritten, but we have years of experience deciphering Italian writing from that era.
Includes up to 5 hours of research (for each person) and a detailed report.
$95 USD per person (or $125 for a husband and wife together)
Please contact us at orders@myitaliancitizenship.com for more information.
If you already have a location but aren't sure, we can try to confirm the location by searching the microfilm records from the Italian town or city (IF they are available). Unfortunately, not many microfilm records are available, but when they are, we are often able to find an image of the original record. This allows us to confirm all of the information, and can even lead us to marriage or death records. It also allows us to provide the Italian archivist with the exact record number as it is listed in their record books. This helps to ensure a quick turn-around if/when we request the certificate from them later.
$25 USD per search (if the microfilm is available)
Please contact us at orders@myitaliancitizenship.com for more information.
If you are an American, the American Family Immigration History Center should be your first stop. This website includes a searchable database of all immigrants who passed through Ellis Island from 1892 to 1924. You can search using first and last names or just a last name. Each record will provide you with the ancestor's name, ethnicity, place of residence, date of arrival, age on arrival, gender, marital status, ship of travel and port of departure. To find your ancestor's date of birth, simply subtract the age from the date of arrival. If you are sure your ancestor passed through Ellis Island but do not come up any results after a search for his or her name, try variations of the spelling. Keep in mind that all this information was manually entered into a database from original documents, which can be difficult to read.
For additional research, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has immigration records from various ports from 1820-1957 on microfilm. You may do research in person at the National Archives Building, 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408-0001. Go to Room 400, the Microfilm Reading Room. Staff is available there to answer your questions. NARA microfilm publications may be examined during regular research room hours in Room 400; no prior arrangement is necessary. Some NARA regional facilities have selected immigration records. Call to verify their availability or check the online microfilm locator. For more information, visit the passenger arrival records section of the NARA website.
For locating a person in a particular place at a particular time, and for leading you to other important sources, few records are as valuable as census records. Since birth, marriage and death records were not kept in many states until the early 1900s, the census is often the best source of reliable information. Though census reports varied over time, most censuses include first and last name, state, county, township, street and house number (where appropriate), relationship to head-of-household, race, gender, month/year of birth and age at last birthday, marital status and number of years married, number of children born and number living (for married women), place of birth, father and mother's place of birth, year of immigration and citizenship status for aliens or naturalized citizens, occupation or number of months not employed, information about school attendance and literacy, home ownership or farm residence. Federal censuses are taken only once every decade.
For more information, visit the census records section of the NARA website. Alternatively, and perhaps the easiest way to access census records, is through a paid monthly or yearlong subscription to one of the three major genealogy websites that have digitized census records:
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) is an index of deceased people who had social security numbers and whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration. It's unlikely you will find an ancestor if she/he died before 1962 since close to 98% of the entire index contains individuals who died after 1962. You can search the SSDI for at http://www.ancestry.com. Results include the ancestor's first and last name, date of birth, date of death, last known residence, location of last benefit, date and place of issuance and Social Security number. You can order photocopies of the original application for a social security card (Form SS-5) using a form letter with the address and your relatives' name on RootsWeb.com. The fee is $27 if the social security number is known and $29 if the social security number is unknown or incorrect. The original SS-5 application will include some variation of the following information (depending on the year): full name, (married women also had to provide their maiden name), street address, post office and state, employer's name (if employed), employer's address, age at last birthday, date of birth, place of birth, father's full name, mother's full maiden name, sex, color, date of hiring, date of application and signature. Since this information was provided by your ancestor and not a secondary party, the SS-5 is great way to validate previous research. For more information on ordering a SS-5, visit the Roots Web SSDI Help Desk. If your ancestor died in California, try the California State Death Index, available in many libraries and Family History Centers.
Genealogy.com ($29.99 monthly or $99.99 annually)
Ancestry.com