I’m trying to figure out at what point my grandfather became a US citizen. Does anyone know how to find out when and under what circumstances a relative who immigrated to the US became a citizen?
He arrived here with his mother and sister when he was eight years old. His Father had been in the US for a little while before they came. (They came from Sicily in the '20s).
Unless he applied to become one he didn’t.
The best way to find about your families history is to ask your oldest living relatives.
From the National Archives: Naturalization Records. From 1790 to 1940, children under the age of 21 automatically became naturalized citizens upon the naturalization of their father.
The family’s listing in the 1930 U.S. census should give the year of immigration for each immigrant, and citizenship status (Al = alien, Pa = first papers filed, Na = naturalized). The 1930 U.S. census is on-line, with an all-name index, at Ancestry.com. Check your local public library to see if they subscribe to it.
You can also make a Freedom of Information Act request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for any record of their naturalization (1906-1956). Or make a request for a copy of their Alien Registration Form (1940-1944).
If you do this, be prepared to wait at least several months for the answer. Also, if they can’t find it (or in the meantime), you might want to check the records of the U.S. District Courthouse where he lived; that’s probably where his naturalization ceremony would have been held.
Also, do you know for sure that he did naturalize? I did some research on my own grandmother, and discovered it’s entirely possible she didn’t.