Post by nancy on Apr 23, 2006 18:37:57 GMT -7
USCIS To Provide Fee-for-Service Genealogy Program
After years of prodding by the genealogical community, it appears the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS-formerly called the Immigration
and Naturalization Service) will provide a method for expediting inquiries
from genealogists for records of their ancestors. There is a notice in the
Federal Register to establish a Genealogy Program to process requests for
historical records of deceased persons.
USCIS claims it receives 10,000 requests a year for the current service
which is provided free under the Freedom of Information Act. Because of lack
of manpower and facilities, it can take more than a year for a request to be
processed. The genealogical community suggested that USCIS provide an
alternate fee-for-service method to expedite requests. Such a service was
started a few years ago by the Social Security Administration to process
requests of their historical records.
Under the proposed rules, genealogical inquiries will no longer be free of
charge. If a request is made under the Freedom of Information Act and USCIS
determines it is a genealogical inquiry, the request will be returned to the
sender who will be asked to resubmit using the Genealogy Program.
The following record groups will be part of the Genealogy Program:
* Naturalization Certificate Files (C-Files), which are records from
September 27, 1906 to April 1, 1956, relating to U.S. naturalizations and
the issuance of evidence of naturalization or citizenship.
* Forms AR-2, which are Alien Registration Forms on microfilm that were
completed by all aliens age 14 and older who resided in or entered the
United States between August 1, 1940, and March 31, 1944. These forms
contain identification information, as well as information regarding the
alien's employment and arrival to the United States.
* Visa Files, which are records from July 1, 1924, to March 31, 1944
containing the arrival information of immigrants admitted for permanent
residence from July 1, 1924 to March 31, 1944, under the Immigration Act of
1924.
* Registry Files, which are records from March 2, 1929, to March 31, 1944,
containing arrival information of immigrants who entered the United States
prior to July 1, 1924, and for whom no arrival records could later be found.
* A-Files, which are case files on individuals containing all immigration
records created or consolidated from April 1, 1944, to the present. Only
files containing documents dated prior to May 1, 1951, will be available.
Submitters will have to show proof of death of the individual such as a
death certificate or obituary notice. If the year of birth was more than 100
years ago, no proof of death will be required. These records often include
information about the children of the individual, and these children may
still be living; therefore, USCIS states that "the Genealogy Program will
not release personal information concerning a subject's children."
USCIS envisions the service to be in two stages. Initially the submitter
would request an index search to determine what information is available.
Then there would be a request for the actual documents.
USCIS has budgeted about $1 million per year for the service, and they
expect such a level of expense could handle the anticipated 25,000 inquiries
per year. This would make break even $40 per inquiry; however, the agency
already has in its budget the cost of processing current inquiries. In the
Federal Register the agency is recommending that the cost for an index
search and for requests for an actual document be between $16-45 for each
file of microfilm being searched and $26-55 for retrieval of textual files.
Interested persons can comment on the proposed regulation. Information on
how to respond to the proposal, as well as a 12-page description of the new
plan, is located at the Federal Register site
a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-5947.pdf
Source: www.avotaynu.com
After years of prodding by the genealogical community, it appears the U.S.
Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS-formerly called the Immigration
and Naturalization Service) will provide a method for expediting inquiries
from genealogists for records of their ancestors. There is a notice in the
Federal Register to establish a Genealogy Program to process requests for
historical records of deceased persons.
USCIS claims it receives 10,000 requests a year for the current service
which is provided free under the Freedom of Information Act. Because of lack
of manpower and facilities, it can take more than a year for a request to be
processed. The genealogical community suggested that USCIS provide an
alternate fee-for-service method to expedite requests. Such a service was
started a few years ago by the Social Security Administration to process
requests of their historical records.
Under the proposed rules, genealogical inquiries will no longer be free of
charge. If a request is made under the Freedom of Information Act and USCIS
determines it is a genealogical inquiry, the request will be returned to the
sender who will be asked to resubmit using the Genealogy Program.
The following record groups will be part of the Genealogy Program:
* Naturalization Certificate Files (C-Files), which are records from
September 27, 1906 to April 1, 1956, relating to U.S. naturalizations and
the issuance of evidence of naturalization or citizenship.
* Forms AR-2, which are Alien Registration Forms on microfilm that were
completed by all aliens age 14 and older who resided in or entered the
United States between August 1, 1940, and March 31, 1944. These forms
contain identification information, as well as information regarding the
alien's employment and arrival to the United States.
* Visa Files, which are records from July 1, 1924, to March 31, 1944
containing the arrival information of immigrants admitted for permanent
residence from July 1, 1924 to March 31, 1944, under the Immigration Act of
1924.
* Registry Files, which are records from March 2, 1929, to March 31, 1944,
containing arrival information of immigrants who entered the United States
prior to July 1, 1924, and for whom no arrival records could later be found.
* A-Files, which are case files on individuals containing all immigration
records created or consolidated from April 1, 1944, to the present. Only
files containing documents dated prior to May 1, 1951, will be available.
Submitters will have to show proof of death of the individual such as a
death certificate or obituary notice. If the year of birth was more than 100
years ago, no proof of death will be required. These records often include
information about the children of the individual, and these children may
still be living; therefore, USCIS states that "the Genealogy Program will
not release personal information concerning a subject's children."
USCIS envisions the service to be in two stages. Initially the submitter
would request an index search to determine what information is available.
Then there would be a request for the actual documents.
USCIS has budgeted about $1 million per year for the service, and they
expect such a level of expense could handle the anticipated 25,000 inquiries
per year. This would make break even $40 per inquiry; however, the agency
already has in its budget the cost of processing current inquiries. In the
Federal Register the agency is recommending that the cost for an index
search and for requests for an actual document be between $16-45 for each
file of microfilm being searched and $26-55 for retrieval of textual files.
Interested persons can comment on the proposed regulation. Information on
how to respond to the proposal, as well as a 12-page description of the new
plan, is located at the Federal Register site
a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-5947.pdf
Source: www.avotaynu.com
