(This page's most recent update is
July 2024)
______________________________________
Immigration Records are some of the richest genealogy record sets and can provide excellent clues as well as data about your ancestors. Specifically, when they came to America or traveled but did not immigrate. Emigration records can tell you when they left their homeland and can direct you to when they might have immigrated if you are having trouble finding the immigration record.
What types of information are available in these records? First of all, let me clarify that naturalization records are a related type of record. You can discover online naturalization collections and records available via links on this website on the Naturalizations Page. In the Petition for Naturalization record for example, where and when the applicant arrived in the U.S. is stated. The Certificate of Arrival is another immigration document used in the naturalization process.
Here’s an article that will list the information available: 45 Reasons to Research Immigration Records
Regarding immigration – it bears repeating – not EVERYONE came through Ellis Island. It was opened between 1892 and 1954. Approximately 12 million people came through that immigration station. The highest year was 1907 when just over 1,000,000 people came through. For immigrants landing in the U.S. ports in the 19th century and early 20th century, the busiest ports were New York, Baltimore, Boston, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. There were almost 100 ports that were used by immigrants to enter the U.S., via the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Great Lakes.
It is also helpful to review emigration records as well. It sometimes occurs that an immigration record is not available online for a variety of reasons, but you might find some useful information from emigration records where one of you’re ancestors embarked on their journey to America.
Here are a few free online sites that have online emigration records available.
Denmark – The Digital Danish Emigration Archives
Norway – Digital Archives – Emigrant Records
Germany – Oldenburg Emigrants Database
Ireland – Irish Famine Emigrants 1846-1851 database
Russia – Russians to America Passenger Data File, 1834 – 1897
Germany – Germans to America Passenger Data File, 1850 – 1897
Italy – Italians to America Passenger Data File, 1855 – 1900
Germany – Hamburg Passenger List
Also listed are passenger lists for travel that may not have been immigration-related. I have discovered interesting clues and information from non-immigration travel records as well.
Below are links to Free Online Immigration and Travel Collections. The first set is general nationwide collection links, followed by the collection links for the specific state.
Note: Some of the links listed below take you to a FamilySearch Collection of digital images. Near the bottom of the page under Film/Digital Notes is the name of each sub-collection. If there is a camera icon at the right of the name (in the Format column) then the collections’ images are browsable. If there is a camera with a key icon, it is only available at a Family History Center or affiliated library. If there is a film reel icon, then it is only available in microfilm format, not digital. To take full advantage make sure that you are logged in to FamilySearch. The results may be different if you are signed in, rather than not.
California Immigration Records
United States
- Emergency Passport Applications Issued Abroad, 1877-1907; Indexes, 1874-1918
- Germans from Russia, Miscellaneous Passenger Manifests
- Immigration of Germans to the United States, created, ca. 1977 – 2002, Documenting the Period 1850 – 1897
- Immigration of Italians to the United States, created, ca. 1977 – 2002, Documenting the Period 1855 – 1900
- Immigration of Russians to the United States, created, ca. 1977 – 2002, Documenting the Period 1834 – 1897
- Index to Mennonite Immigrants on United States Passenger Lists, 1872 – 1904
- Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers, 1918
- Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers, 1918
- Index to the Passenger Lists to the United States from Oct. 1, 1819 to Sept. 30, 1820
- Japanese Immigrants to the United States (from BYU Idaho), 1887-1924
- Mormon Migration Database, 1840-1932
- New York, Castle Garden
- New York, Ellis Island
- Passenger and Immigration Lists Index: a Guide to Published Records of more than 720,000 Immigrants who came to the New World between the Sixteenth and the mid- Twentieth Centuries
- Passenger Lists from Ireland
- Passenger Lists of Ships coming to North America, 1607-1825
- Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving in the United States Register
- Pilgrim Ship Lists Early 1600s – Several Arrival States
- Special Passports 1829-1897; Indexes, 1829-1894
- Supplemental Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic & Gulf Coast Ports (excluding New York)
- Swedish Passenger Arrivals in U.S. Ports, 1820-1850
- U.S., German Immigrants, 1712-1933 (free Index, Images require a subscription)
- United States Immigration, Ship Arrivals & Passenger Lists
- United States, Border Crossing from Canada to United States, New Brunswick, Records of Aliens Pre-Examined at Saint John, New Brunswick, Prior to Admission at the U.S.-Canada Border, 1917-1942
- United States, Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1894-1954
- United States, Border Crossings from Canada to United States, Land Border Entries and Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, 1894-1905
- United States, Border Crossings from Canada to United States, Records and Certificates of Aliens pre-examined at Winnipeg, Manitoba Prior to Admission at the U.S.-Canada border, 1917-1954
- United States, Border Crossings from Canada to United States, 1895-1956
- United States, Border Crossings from Mexico to United States, 1903-1957
- United States, Eastern US Ports, Passenger Lists
- United States, Famine Irish Passenger Index, 1846-1851
- United States, Germans to America Index, 1850-1897
- United States, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
- United States, Index to Alien Case Files, 1940-2003
- United States, Index to Passenger Arrivals, Atlantic and Gulf Ports, 1820-1874
- United States, Index to Passenger Lists, 1820-1940
- United States, Italians to America Index, 1855-1900
- United States, Japanese Americans Relocated During World War II, 1942-1946
- United States, Japanese Immigration Index
- United States, New England, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1911-1954
- United States, Passport Applications, 1795-1925
- United States, Passport to Paradise: the Copenhagen “Mormon” Passenger Lists
- United States, Russians to America Index, 1834-1897
California
- Alien Crew Manifests of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, California, 1896-1921
- California Bound Passenger List of those Bound from NY to CA for the Gold Rush
- California Bound, Ship and Wagon Train Lists
- California, Airplane Passenger Lists from Honolulu, Hawaii, 1947-1948
- California, Airplane Passenger Lists from Honolulu, Hawaii, 1947-1948
- California, Chinese Partnerships and Departures from San Francisco, 1893-1943
- California, County Naturalizations, 1831-1985
- California, Immigration Registers of Japanese, Filipinos, and Hawaiians at San Francisco, 1928-1942
- California, Imperial County, Calexico, Manifests of Alien Arrivals, 1907-1952
- California, List of United States Citizens Arriving at San Francisco, 1930-1949
- California, Los Angeles Passenger Lists, 1907-1948
- California, Northern U.S. District Court Naturalization Index, 1852-1989
- California, Pioneer Migration Index, Compiled 1906-1935
- California, San Diego Naturalization Index, 1868-1958
- California, San Diego Passenger Lists, 1904-1952
- California, San Diego, Airplane Passenger and Crew Lists, 1929-1954
- California, San Diego, Chinese Passenger and Crew Lists, 1905-1923
- California, San Francisco Airplane Arrival Card Index, 1936-1949
- California, San Francisco Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving, 1954-1957
- California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, 1893-1953
- California, San Francisco, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records, 1910-1941
- California, San Francisco, Records of Chinese Laborers Returning to the US, 1882-1888
- California, San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Foreign Seamen Tax Cards, 1883-1924
- California, San Francisco, World War I Enemy Alien Registration Affidavits, 1918
- California, San Pedro, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records, 1930-1936
- California, Southern District Court (Central) Naturalization Index, 1915-1976
- Case Files for Early Immigrants to San Francisco and Hawaii, Early Arrivals Records Search (EARS)
- Chinese Immigration Certificate of Identity, California, 1908-1943
- Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, California, 1905-1921
- Customs Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, California, 1903-1918
- Fresno County, Alphabetical Card File of Alien Immigrants, 1862-1927
- Fresno County, Alphabetical Card File of Ancestral Villages, 1862-1927
- Fresno County, Alphabetical Card File of Names of Vessels, 1862-1927
- Grass Valley, Cornish Mining Families of Grass Valley, California
- Index to Passenger Arrivals at San Diego, California, ca. 1904-ca. 1952
- Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, California, 1893-1934
- Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California, 1907-1936
- Index to the Roster of California Pioneers
- List of Passengers Who Arrived at San Pedro/Los Angeles, California, 1920-1949, in Transit to their Final Destinations
- Lists of Chinese Applying for Admission to the United States through the Port of San Francisco, California, 1903-1921
- Lists of Chinese Passengers Arriving in San Francisco, California, 1882- 1914
- Manifests of Alien Arrivals at San Ysidro (Tia Juana) California, April 21, 1908-December 1952
- Minutes of Boards of Special Inquiry at the San Francisco Immigration Office, 1899-1909
- Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Ventura, California, May 1929-December 1956
- Passenger Lists of Vessels and Alien Manifests Arriving at San Francisco, California, 1893-1953
- Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco from Insular Possessions, 1907-1911
- Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Pedro/Wilmington/Los Angeles, California, June 29, 1907-June 30, 1948
- Registers of Chinese Laborers Returning to the U.S. through the Port of San Francisco, 1882-1888
- Sacramento, A Journal of the Birmingham Emigrating Company, the Record of a Trip from Birmingham, Iowa, to Sacramento, California, in 1850
- Sacramento, Sacramento, California, Declarations of Intention, Naturalization Records, and Indexes — 1868-1951
- Sacramento, Sacramento, Sacramento County, California Naturalization Petitions and Records, 1904-1957
- San Diego County, Index to Passenger Arrivals at San Diego, California, Ca. 1904-ca. 1952, National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1761
- San Diego Passenger Lists, 1904-1952
- San Diego, Airplane Passenger and Crew Lists, 1929-1954
- San Diego, California, San Diego Passenger Lists, 1904-1952
- San Diego, California, San Diego Passenger Lists, Collection Record, 1904-1952
- San Diego, California, San Diego, Airplane Passenger and Crew Lists, Collection Record, 1929-1954
- San Diego, California, San Diego, Chinese Passenger and Crew Lists, Collection Record, 1905-1923
- San Diego, Chinese Passenger and Crew Lists, 1905-1923
- San Diego, Index to Passenger Arrivals at San Diego, California, Ca. 1904-ca. 1952, National Archives Microfilm Publications, M1761
- San Francisco County, California Immigration Registers of Japanese, Filipinos, and Hawaiians at San Francisco, Collection Record, 1928-1942
- San Francisco County, California, Immigration Registers of Japanese, Filipinos, and Hawaiians at San Francisco, 1928-1942
- San Francisco County, Chinese and the Early Settlement of San Francisco
- San Francisco County, Chinese and the Early Settlement of San Francisco
- San Francisco County, Chinese in San Francisco
- San Francisco County, Hawaii, Honolulu Alien Certificates Surrendered at San Francisco by Aliens Who Had Arrived at Honolulu, Hawaii, 1912-1946
- San Francisco County, Partnership Lists of Chinese Firms in San Francisco, California, and Nationwide, 1893-1907; and Index of Chinese Departing from San Francisco, California, 1912-1943
- San Francisco County, Settlement and Early Land Records of San Francisco
- San Francisco County, Settlement and Early Land Records of San Francisco
- San Francisco County, United States, California, Certificates Surrendered at San Francisco from Aliens Previously at Honolulu, Hawaii, Collection Record, 1912-1946
- San Francisco County, United States, California, List of United States Citizens Arriving at San Francisco, Collection Record, 1930-1949
- San Francisco Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving, 1954-1957
- San Francisco Ship Passenger Lists
- San Francisco, California, Chinese Partnerships and Departures from San Francisco, 1893-1943
- San Francisco, California, Chinese Partnerships and Departures from San Francisco, Collection Record, 1893-1943
- San Francisco, California, Customs Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco, Collection Record, 1903-1918
- San Francisco, California, Index to San Francisco Passenger Lists, Collection Record, 1893-1934
- San Francisco, California, Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Francisco from Insular Possessions, Collection Record, 1907-1911
- San Francisco, California, San Francisco Airplane Arrival Card Index, 1936-1949
- San Francisco, California, San Francisco Airplane Arrival Card Index, Collection Record, 1936-1949
- San Francisco, California, San Francisco Chinese Passenger Lists, Collection Record, 1882-1947
- San Francisco, California, San Francisco Crew Manifests, Collection Record, 1896-1921
- San Francisco, California, San Francisco Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving, Collection Record, 1954-1957
- San Francisco, California, San Francisco Passenger Lists, Collection Record, 1893-1953
- San Francisco, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records, 1954-1957
- San Francisco, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records, Collection Record, 1910-1941
- San Francisco, Passenger Lists
- San Francisco, Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving in San Francisco from Honolulu, 1902-1907, [NARA Record Group 85, M1494]
- San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Foreign Seamen Tax Cards, 1883-1924
- San Francisco, Register of Chinese Immigrant Court Cases and Foreign Seamen Tax Cards, Collection Record, 1883-1924
- San Francisco, Register of Federal Court Cases Related to Chinese Americans and Chinese Immigrants Arriving at or Departing from San Francisco, California, Ca. 1883-ca. 1916, and Head Tax Cards of Alien Seamen Examined at San Francisco, California, 1921-1924, 1883-1924
- San Francisco, Ship Brooklyn Association Files, 1846, MS 16442
- San Francisco, United States, California, List of United States Citizens Arriving at San Francisco, 1930-1949
- San Luis Obispo County, San Luis Obispo, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1907-1955
- San Pedro, California, San Pedro, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records, 1930-1936
- San Pedro, California, San Pedro, Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records, Collection Record, 1930-1936
- Ship List, New York City to California via Central America 1851 – 1856
- Ships to San Francisco, The Maritime Heritage Project 1849-1868
- Solano County, Migration, Internal, Brief History of Solano County
- Statistical and nonstatistical Manifests and Related Indexes of Aliens Arriving at Andrade and Campo (Tecate), California, 1910-1952
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!