Alien Case Files (A-Files)

An immigrant's application to extend her stay in the USA

Alien Case Files ("alien" here meaning person of foreign origin) are records created to document people who immigrated and lived in the United States before they became citizens.

The files vary in size for each immigrant and usually include photos of the person and documents of the immigrant, such as marriage and birth records, address change records, correspondence with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), an application for an immigration visa and alien registration, a medical examination record, a certificate of arrival and an application for naturalization.

Information found in Alien Case Files is valuable for genealogy research to confirm personal details and immigration experience to the USA.

History of Alien Case Files

The INS began creating these files on immigrants in April 1944. Immigrants' file numbers were based on their alien registration number, which the INS gave to immigrants starting in 1940. Between 1944 and May 1, 1951, about six to seven million immigrants were given alien registration numbers.

The Alien Case Files were created to mainstream records on immigrants into one location. Before these files were created, INS staff had to search multiple record areas to find all available documents on an immigrant.

Criteria for creating Alien Case Files for immigrants

Alien Case Files were created for immigrants who met the following criteria:

• The person became an alien in 1940 and returned to the INS for any reason besides becoming a U.S. citizen after 1944
• The person arrived in the United States after April 1, 1944
• The person became a citizen on or after March 31, 1956

Where to find Alien Case Files

An immigrant reports her address change on a form that is found in her Alien Case file.

The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Genealogy Program holds Alien Case Files that are dated up to May 1, 1951 for immigrants' arrival in the USA. Files for immigrants who were born more than 100 years ago began being transferred to the National Archives from USCIS in 2010. The majority of Alien Case Files still can be found through the USCIS Genealogy Program.

National Archives in Kansas City holds the files for those immigrants who were born before 1909. Some files that were managed by the INS district offices in San Francisco, Honolulu, Reno, and Guam are held in the National Archives in San Francisco.

MyHeritage's Indexed Alien Case Files at MyHeritage collection indexes Alien Files dated between 1944 and 2003 from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).

How to request Alien Case Files

Correspondence investigating immigrants can be found in Alien Case Files.

National Archives accepts requests for Alien Case Files after users have searched the archives catalog and found the file they are interested in within the catalog. Requests for Alien Case Files must include enough information to find the record such as complete names (known aliases or maiden names), National Archives Identifier, and Alien Registration number. Optional information such as date and place of birth and date of immigration helps to obtain the correct file.

Requests can be made by postal mail, e-mail, and fax can be made to National Archives at Kansas City, Attn: A-Files Request, 400 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108; Afiles.KansasCity@nara.gov, fax: (816) 268-8038 or National Archives at San Francisco, Attn: A-Files Request, Leo J. Ryan Federal Building,1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA 94066; sanbruno.archives@nara.gov, fax: (650) 238-3510.

The USCIS Genealogy Program accepts requests online and by postal mail. Those making requests by postal mail can download the forms and instructions here. The fee is $65 each for an index search and a record request by postal mail and online. The program also takes index search and record requests on this page.

Those who cannot find their relatives' or ancestors' Alien Case Files through National Archives or the USCIS Genealogy Program can make a request with the USCIS by using Form G-639. Making requests using this form is considered a Freedom of Information/Privacy Act request. The file can be obtained for free unless the request involves many hours of searching and photocopying.

Explore more about A-Files

• Indexed Alien Case Files at MyHeritage: This collection indexes Alien Files dated between 1944 and 2003 from the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
• Other immigration and travel records on MyHeritage

• Alien Files (A-Files) at National Archives: Detailed information on the files held at National Archives

References

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