
The following information is optional but is helpful in confirming that we have located the correct individual's A-File:

Because of strong interest and advocacy for the A-Files by local research communities and their congressional representatives, the National Archives at San Francisco will maintain some of the available A-Files from the INS district offices located in San Francisco, Honolulu, Reno, and Guam. Researchers seeking individuals who may have lived in these areas should check both the National Archives at San Francisco and Kansas City records for A-Files.Īs of October 2019, the National Archives at Kansas City received the following holdings: An A-File might also be created without any action taken by the alien for example, if the INS initiated a law enforcement action against or involving the alien.Ī rich source of biographical information, A-Files may include visas, photographs, affidavits, and correspondence leading up to an alien's naturalization, permanent residency, death, or deportation.Ī-Files for the entire United States and its territories are being centralized at the National Archives at Kansas City.

#WHAT IS A .MARG FILE SERIES#
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) signed an agreement on June 3, 2009, to make the Alien Files (A-Files) a permanent series of records, eligible for transfer to NARA custody 100 years after the immigrant's year of birth.Ĭreated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) beginning in April 1944, A-Files contain all records of any active case of an alien not yet naturalized as they passed through the United States immigration and inspection process.
