(This page's most recent update is
July 2024)
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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.
Texas 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
Texas
- Alphabetical Card Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Fabens
- Alphabetical Card Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Fort Hancock, 1924-1954
- Alphabetical Manifests of non-Mexican Aliens Granted Temporary Admission at Laredo
- Applications for Nonresident Alien’s Border Crossing Identification Cards made at El Paso, ca. July 1945-December 1952
- Arizona and Texas, Manifests of Alien Arrivals, 1919-1955
- Cameron County, Brownsville, Passenger and Crew List, 1931-1964
- Czech Immigration to Texas
- Czech Immigration to Texas
- Eagle Pass Arrival Manifests and Indexes, 1905-1954
- Early Settlers in Jasper County
- El Paso Alien Arrivals, Collection Record, 1909-1924
- El Paso County, El Paso, Manifests of Alien Arrivals, 1924-1952
- El Paso Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of El Paso, Collection Record, 1905-1927
- El Paso, Manifests of Alien Arrivals, 1924-1952
- European Elements in the Populations of Harris County and Texas
- Galveston, Arrivals, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Page 1
- Galveston, Arrivals, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Page 2
- Galveston, Arrivals, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Page 3
- Galveston, Arrivals, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Page 4
- Galveston, Arrivals, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Page 5
- Houston Arrival Manifests of Airplanes, 1946-1954
- Houston Arrival Manifests of Airplanes, Collection Record, 1946-1954
- Index and Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Progreso/Thayer, October 1928-May 1955
- Index and Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Roma, March 1928-May 1955
- Indexes and Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Rio Grande City
- Indexes and Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Zapata, August 1923-September 1953
- Indexes and Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of Del Rio, Collection Record, 1906-1953
- Indexes of Vessels Arriving at Brownsville, Texas, 1935-1955; Houston, 1948-1954; and at Port Arthur and Beaumont, and Lake Charles, Louisiana 1908-1954
- Indianola Immigrant Database
- Laredo Index of Arrivals, Collection Record, 1903-1929
- Laredo, Index to Manifests of Permanent and Statistical Alien Arrivals, Dec 1929-Apr 1955, Collection Record
- Laredo, Manifests of Alien Arrivals, 1903-1955, 1929-1955
- List of Aliens Arriving at Laredo, Texas, via the Mexican National Railroad or the Laredo Foot Bridge. January 1907
- List of Names of the German Emigrants Emigrated to Texas under the German Emigration Co. in 1845 and 1846 by Shiploads
- Lists of Aliens Arriving at Brownsville, Del Rio, Eagle Pass, El Paso, Laredo, Presidio, Rio Grande City, and Roma, May 1903-June 1909, and at Aros Ranch, Douglas, Lochiel, Naco and Nogales, Arizona, July 1906-December 1910
- Lists of Aliens Arriving at Laredo, from July 1903 to June 1907, via the Mexican National Railroad or the Laredo Foot Bridge
- Lists of Passengers Arriving at Miscellaneous Ports on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts 1820-1873
- Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Presidio, 1911-1955
- Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Yseleta, 1924-1954
- Manifests of Aliens Granted Temporary Admission at El Paso, ca. July 1924-1954
- Manifests of Aliens Granted Temporary Admission at Laredo, December 1, 1929-April 8, 1955
- Manifests of Permanent and Statistical Alien Arrivals at El Paso, 1924-1954
- Manifests of Permanent and Statistical Alien Arrivals at El Paso, 1924-1954
- Manifests of Permanent and Statistical Alien Arrivals at El Paso, Collection Record, 1924-1954
- Manifests of Statistical Alien Arrivals at El Paso, May 1909-October 1924
- Migration into East Texas, 1835-1860, a Study from the United States Census
- Non-Statistical Manifests and Statistical Index Cards of Aliens Arriving at Eagle Pass, June 1905-November 1929
- Non-statistical Manifests and Statistical Index Cards of Aliens Arriving at El Paso, 1905-1927
- Non-Statistical Manifests and Statistical Index Cards of Aliens Arriving at Laredo, May 1903-November 1929
- Non-Statistical Manifests of Temporary Alien Arrivals at Laredo, 1908-1912
- Passenger and Crew Lists Arriving at Various Ports, 1896-1951
- Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Corpus Christi, Texas, and Vicinity, June 1948-January 1959
- Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Galveston, and Other Nearby Ports, 1896-1948; Index, 1896-1951
- Passenger Lists of the Pioneer Czech Immigrants into Texas, 1850-1870
- Passenger Lists of the Pioneer Czech Immigrants into Texas, 1850-1870
- Permanent and Statistical Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Eagle Pass, Texas, June 1905-June 1953; Index to Manifests of Permanent and Statistical Arrivals at Eagle Pass, Texas, December 1, 1929-June 1953
- San Antonio, Alien Arrivals, Collection Record, May 1944-March 1952
- San Antonio, Alien Arrivals, May 1944-March 1952
- Ship Lists of Passengers Who Departed Europe for Henry Castro’s Colony, 1842-1847
- Ships Passenger Lists to Texas
- Statistical and non-Statistical Manifests of Alien Arrivals at Brownsville, February 1905-June 1953, and Related Indexes
- Temporary and nonstatistical Manifests of Aliens Arriving at Eagle Pass, Texas, July 1928-June 1953
- Texas and Arizona Arrivals, 1903-1910
- Texas and Arizona Arrivals, 1903-1910
- Texas, Abstracts from “History of Texas, with Biographical Mention of many Persons and Families of Central Texas [1800’s]
- Texas, Brownsville Passenger and Crew List of Airplanes, 1943-1964
- Texas, Cameron County, Brownsville, Passenger and Crew List, 1931-1964
- Texas, Eagle Pass Arrival Manifests and Indexes, 1905-1954
- Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals, 1909-1924
- Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals, 1924-1952
- Texas, El Paso Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of El Paso, 1905-1927
- Texas, El Paso, Applications for Non-ResIdent Aliens Border Crossing Identification Cards, 1945-1952
- Texas, Galveston Immigration Database
- Texas, Houston Arrival Manifests of Airplanes, 1946-1954
- Texas, Indexes and Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of Del Rio, 1906-1953
- Texas, Indexes and Manifests of Arrivals at the Port of Del Rio, 1906-1953
- Texas, Laredo Arrival Manifests, 1903-1955
- Texas, Laredo Index of Arrivals, 1903-1929
- Texas, Manifests of Aliens Granted Temporary Admission at El Paso, ca. July 1924-1954
- Texas, Naturalization Records, 1906-1989
- Texas, Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Corpus Christi, Texas
- Texas, Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Corpus Christi, Texas, and Vicinity, June 1948-January 1959
- Texas, Passenger and Crew Lists of Vessels Arriving at Corpus Christi, Texas, and Vicinity, June 1948-January 1959
- Texas, Passenger Lists from Galveston, 1913-1916
- Texas, San Antonio, Alien Arrivals, May 1944-March 1952
- Texas, Webb County, Laredo, Manifests of Alien Arrivals, 1903-1955, 1929-1955
- The French in Mexico and Texas, 1838-1839
- The Mexican Texans
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!