Hello my friends,
I'm sure many of you know how to help me.
Since I would like to make a nice Christmas present to my 72 year old dad, I'm looking for Francesco Paolo BRUNO (his brother) alien registration card, declaration of intention, petition and naturalization record.
Francesco Paolo Bruno died on 1995.
Thanks to Cathy Napolitano I have my uncle index naturalization card, so I contacted Nara's Pacific region where I found a person in charge, Gloria Legaspi, who is going to send me the only paper they have, his petition paper.
So now I need his alien registration card, declaration of intention and naturalization record.
I know all these papers are kept to Naturalization record center in Lee Summit, Mo, where last June I have requested the complete file (ICE);
I recently knew that they will take about 18 months to reply you (I hope they don't forget me, I should receive some papers by the end of the next year 2008!!!)
Also I wrote last July to Homeland security located at 111 Massachussets Ave in Washington DC, requesting the certificate of naturalization record.
I have the track number and nothing else.
I know from Washington DC they do reply faster than Lee Summit (2 or 3 months) but I had no answers yet.
I don't know what to do , I know for sure (because it is written on the card) his petition was filed in US District court of San Francisco, I don't know where he filed the declaration of intention, and I don't know who issued the naturalization certificate.
These are the informations I have:

Frank Paul BRUNO (name changed from Francesco Paolo BRUNO)
Born in : Trapani, Italy on 27th February 1930
Arrived from Italy : on February 1956
Residing at: Route 1, Box 238, Colma, CA.
Date of application for naturalization: 21st November 1961
Petition number: 149752
Application filed to: U.S. District Court at San Francisco, California
Alien Registration No: A 10 346 149
Died on : 25th June 1995 in California

Please help me to make this Christmas present to my dad!
Any help or suggestion is greatly appreciated
Have a nice wee end,
bye Riccardo

I know this sounds too simple but, what I did was to go to the county courthouse and asked to have a copy of my grandfather's naturalization information.

As I have learned since, the records were kept in large books. It was difficult to copy from them, but they did. The records in 1902. Not the greatest copy job but I have the record now. So much faster than going through the big agencies.

If you know that he filed his petition in San Francisco, check it out. If you call and the person answering does not know what you are talking about, ask for the supervisor, who usually knows everything about their records.

If you cannot call try emailing the County Courthouse. You need to know where he lived in the San Francisco area then the appropriate courthouse can be found.

I would still be waiting if I had written to the big agencies.

good luck!
Barb

Forgot to add something in my previous post. Just because all this stuff is filed in a US court it still comes back to the County Courthouse where it originated with their signature and stamp.

I did this in Waukegan, Lake County, Illinois and Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. I have requested the same naturalization information from Union City, Hudson, New Jersey.

Barb

Dear Lilbees, thank you for your suggestion.
Just to let you know, these are the addresses where I wrote and what I requested:
1) last June 2nd 2007 I wrote to USCIS, Lee Summit, Missouri to request my uncle complete file under the FOIA, filling out the G 639 form (with some informations I had at that time), with no reply yet

2) last july 20th 2007 I wrote to Civic Center Courthouse of San Francisco, and they checked between 1906 to 1957, without finding nothing (I told them that he was naturalized from 1961 to later), so I received a negative answer

3) last july 20th I wrote to US Department of Homeland Security in Washington DC, and I got just a track number so far

4) last Nov 2nd 2007 I worte to NARA's Pacific Region (with the information Cathy Napolitano found for me) in order to request his alien registration, declaration of intention, petition and naturalization record, and so far I got the only paper they had, his petition

5) last Nov 2nd 2007 I wrote to US District Court - Naturalization Unit of San Francisco to request the same papers, no reply yet

6) last Nov 2nd 2007 I worte to Justice Department - Immigration and Naturalization Service of San Francisco, no reply yet.

All the requests were sent by regular mail, including a self addressed envelope plus stamp, copy of my ID and other document prooving the death of my uncle and so

What else should I do? I hope I did right so far, and I hope to wait not too much, Christmas is 30 days from now!!!!

Thanks bye Riccardo

small question. Was the courthouse at the Civic Center where he filed his petition or in a suburb?

no, he filed is petition at US District court of San Francisco,
thank u
bye Riccardo

Hey Riccardo, I located Colma, California. It is in San Mateo County. If it is okay with you I can call the Superior Court Clerk in San Mateo County tomorrow and see if I can find anything for you regarding your uncle's naturalization papers. Cell phones are so great!
The fee schedule I found for a copy of the records is only $2.50 US. If they have a form I can fill that out for you.

lilbees