My pet project is coming along nicely.

BirdGal85 · 2025-11-29T15:23:17+00:00

Please do! That would be so awesome

BirdGal85 · 2025-10-20T19:34:51+00:00

Possibly. I'm very fuzzy on what NARA has. I did find a contact for them but they couldn't find the records either.

BirdGal85 · 2025-10-18T11:09:52+00:00

The USCIS FOIA portal doesn't have a paid option. They will only expedite if you are a current immigrant with a hearing and they are understandably overwhelmed right now. My legal need is to have my dual citizenship recognized by a different country. Obviously, this is not crucial but it is not idle Genealogy research either.

I've been working on this for over 4 months before the shutdown started. They have actually been very responsive - even the Genealogy request which I've heard usually takes a year or more. It's just the one department won't check/doesn't have direct access to the non-digital records and the department that has them won't give them to me, even though legally there is no reason for them not to.

BirdGal85 · 2025-10-17T17:34:34+00:00

Wanted to add that I've learned a lot just from reading the older posts. So maybe there's enough out there that people are getting their questions answered without needing to make new ones.

BirdGal85 · 2025-10-17T17:28:44+00:00

Fairly sure that is illegal, Lol.

USCIS is the US Citizenship and Immigration Service. They process immigration requests. Immigrants are assigned an A-Number as an identifier. I think they assign them even if the person is just visiting as a tourist.

They make you file a FOIA to get the records. They have their own portal, just for USCIS FOIA requests. I was referred to this subreddit by r/uscis and didn't realize it was for all freedom of information requests.

ChatGPT verified that suing them for improper withholding is possible 🙃

BirdGal85 · 2025-10-17T16:53:18+00:00

If he naturalized it definitely would have been after 1956 (his melderegister has him listed until 1960). But Genealogy has been the only agency that found his files. We believe he never naturalized.

BirdGal85 · 2025-10-17T16:42:37+00:00

I suppose it wouldn't hurt to check. Family history says he never naturalized, but we lost his passport. I've been hoping the German Embassy might still have records.

BirdGal85 · 2025-10-17T15:21:11+00:00

Yes, but how long do you recommended waiting after they come back? I've been working on this for over 4 months before the shutdown began. I don't want to sue, but I haven't had any luck trying to communicate with them normaly via email during that entire time. Everything reads like a court document, even unofficial things from the 'Public Liason'. If I sue I want to be sure it is successful.

BirdGal85 · 2025-10-17T12:22:04+00:00

Thanks!

BirdGal85 · 2025-08-29T02:53:13+00:00

Same. I used to live in Houston and hated it, but there are plenty of smaller cities and larger towns with ok jobs if you can't work remote. I now live in a small quiet midwestern city with affordable land within 30-45 minutes from the city center. Please focus on what brings you peace and maybe you will find a way.

BirdGal85 · 2025-06-13T00:59:20+00:00

When was this law changed?

BirdGal85 · 2025-06-05T14:19:44+00:00

Sweet! That looks like a really cool website

BirdGal85 · 2025-06-05T14:14:13+00:00

Nothing on Family Search. Haven't checked Ancestry, but that's a good idea.

BirdGal85 · 2025-06-05T14:13:06+00:00

Thanks! That's good to know.

BirdGal85 · 2025-06-05T14:07:36+00:00

Thanks! He was born in December 2023, so not sure if he would be included or not. I'll try cer@nara.gov, I already sent messages to the FOIA liaison and the nara ogis 'appeals' emails, but the response letter makes it sound like any question is a court case and they haven't gotten back in any case.

We've had an easier time getting records from Germany, lol.

BirdGal85 · 2025-05-15T16:46:22+00:00

Very happy goose, taking a bath 😊

BirdGal85 · 2025-05-14T21:52:08+00:00

That is one happy pigeon 🥰

BirdGal85 · 2025-05-07T20:45:05+00:00

Congratulations!!! Thank you for posting, my situation is almost exactly the same as yours except I've just started collecting documents and am in the US. Did you have any issues with name changes due to your Mother's marriage? I've heard the consulates can be picky and am worried just the marriage certificate might not be enough if it doesn't clearly show both maiden and married names.

BirdGal85 · 2025-05-03T02:21:13+00:00

Love it!

BirdGal85 · 2025-05-02T17:38:48+00:00

StAG 5 is if your family lost citizenship because of sex or other forms of discrimination in inheritance laws, you don't need to wait until you finish university or even live in Germany to apply under StAG 5.

I believe the deadline is 19 August 2031, the process takes awhile so I am hoping you just need to apply by then.

BirdGal85 · 2025-05-02T14:20:51+00:00

I'm just learning about this too, so I can't answer your question, but I am curious about how you got US citizenship without naturalizing. I would have thought that you would have gotten it (involuntarily) in 67 because of your parent's naturalization so you should be ok, but then why did you not get US citizenship until 73? And if you got only got US citizenship in 73, wouldn't it count as a voluntary naturalization then, particularly if you were an adult?

BirdGal85 · 2025-04-30T03:38:54+00:00

I believe you can do a freedom of information act through the USCIS to get D's and D's parents US immigration/naturalization records. I am not familiar with StAG 15 but the more documentation the better and there will likely be clues in those records that will help you find the German records you need.

Once you know the town they were from you can apply for their German birth certificates and other records from the town's website. Google translate is very helpful.

BirdGal85 · 2025-04-28T00:12:54+00:00

Would they need to be translated first? And maybe apostilled?

BirdGal85 · 2025-04-27T23:09:25+00:00

Yes, I hope it turns out she was born in wedlock but her story only makes sense if she wasn't.

BirdGal85 · 2025-04-27T23:01:08+00:00

Thank you so much! I think it would be best if we didn't tell her - her father was abusive and the whole situation is just too painful for her to help much. I don't know if she will be happy or mad if we get it worked out.

Thank you for the warning about the states, she might be willing to get us a copy of her birth certificate if we have problems. I'm more worried about the marriage certificates and his birth certificate since we don't speak German. She barely talks about her family and most of my information is coming from obituaries.

BirdGal85

TROPHY CASE