Overview
According to federal naturalization laws, any court of record within the United States had the power to conduct naturalization proceedings. The Pennsylvania State Archives holds the Pennsylvania Supreme Court naturalization records and the county court naturalization records for Erie, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, and Lehigh counties. All other court naturalization records are held by the federal, state, county, or municipal court that issued the naturalization certificate or their designated repository.
If you’re looking for information on citizenship granted elsewhere before 1906, you should contact the clerk of the federal, state, county, or municipal court that issued the naturalization certificate. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has duplicate records of all naturalizations that occurred after September 26, 1906.
You can learn more about researching these kinds of records by exploring our naturalization and immigration records research guide.
Records included in research requests
The Archives staff can search:
- Naturalization lists (but not individual papers) for the colonial period from 1740–1773, as published in “Persons Naturalized in the Province of Pennsylvania, 1740-1773" in the Pennsylvania Archives: Second Series.
- Naturalization records of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1794–1868, which sat in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Chambersburg.
Access to digitized records
The following records of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court are available online.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Eastern District
- Index to Naturalization Papers, 1794–1824, 1842–1868 – Available via the PA Digital Archives
- Naturalization Papers, 1794–1819, 1821–1868 – Available via Ancestry.com and Ancestry Pennsylvania
- Index to Declaration of Intention Dockets, 1832–1901 – Available via the PA Digital Archives
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Western District
- Naturalization Docket, 1812–1867, bulk 1830–1855 – Available via the PA Digital Archives
- Naturalization Papers, 1831, 1840–1841, 1844–1856, 1862, 1867 – Available via the PA Digital Archives
Cost
The cost is $20 per name searched.
Requirements
You must provide the person's name, approximate date or date range of naturalization, and the naturalization record to search. Other helpful information includes:
- Date of birth
- Date of death
- Aliases
- Spelling variants
- County of residence
How to request research
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1
Fill out and submit the online request form.
You should use the online request form for naturalization records to make your request.
After you submit your order, you’ll receive an email confirmation with the total cost and payment options.
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2
Submit the payment for your request.
You can pay by credit card using the link in the email confirmation. Alternatively, you can send a check or money order made payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Our mailing address is:
Pennsylvania State Archives
1681 North Sixth Street
Harrisburg, PA 17102-1106
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3
The Archives staff will review and respond to your request.
Allow 4–6 weeks for us to process your request.
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1
Download and fill out the printable request form.
You should use the printable naturalization records order form to make your request.
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2
Mail in the request form and your payment.
For payment, we accept checks or money orders made payable to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Our mailing address is:
Pennsylvania State Archives
1681 North Sixth St.
Harrisburg, PA 17102-1106
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3
The Archives staff will review and respond to your request.
Allow 4–6 weeks for us to process your request.
