Alien Registration and A-Files can reveal far more than an arrival date. Learn what these post-1940 immigration records contain, where to request them, and how to preserve their details as part of your family history.
For many families, immigration research begins with a passenger list, a naturalization certificate, or a name in the census. Those sources can establish when an ancestor arrived and where they lived, but they often leave the more personal questions unanswered.
What work did they do? Which names did they use? What did they look like? Did they serve in the military, apply for citizenship, correspond with immigration officials, or sponsor another relative?
Alien Registration records and Alien Files—usually called A-Files—may help answer those questions. Created during a major change in federal immigration recordkeeping, these sources can connect an immigrant’s arrival with the life they built afterward.
They also require careful handling. The records are divided among the National Archives and Records Administration, or NARA, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS. Access depends on the record type, A-Number, date, transfer status, and whether the person is deceased.
Understanding those distinctions can save time, reduce unnecessary requests, and help you turn an administrative file into a meaningful family story.
Understanding Alien Registration and A-Files
Alien Registration Forms and A-Files are closely related, but they are not the same record.
The difference matters because each series covers a different period and follows a different request process.
What was the 1940 Alien Registration Program?
The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required noncitizens living in or entering the United States to register with the federal government. The program required people aged 14 and older to complete a form and be fingerprinted. More than 5.6 million noncitizens registered between August 1, 1940, and March 31, 1944.
The principal document was the two-page Alien Registration Form, commonly known as Form AR-2. As the Immigration and Naturalization Service, or INS, processed each registration, it assigned the individual an Alien Registration Number—an A-Number—and sent a receipt card bearing that number.
An AR-2 could record:
These details make the AR-2 valuable even when other immigration sources survive. An arrival manifest may describe one day in a person’s journey. The AR-2 can show how that person described their identity and circumstances decades later.
The forms are not official arrival records, so an arrival date reported on an AR-2 should be compared with passenger lists, border crossings, passports, and naturalization papers. Nevertheless, an AR-2 may be the only surviving immigration-related record beyond the original arrival document for some long-term residents.
How A-Files changed immigration recordkeeping
On April 1, 1944, INS began using A-Numbers to organize individual Alien Files. An A-File became the central case file for immigration and naturalization records created or consolidated for one person.
A-Files could be opened for people arriving after that date, for earlier residents whose cases were reopened, or in connection with immigration enforcement. When an older case returned to agency attention, earlier records—such as a visa file or an original AR-2—might be moved into the new A-File.
This means someone who completed an AR-2 between 1940 and 1944 did not automatically receive a substantial A-File. If that person had no later interaction with INS, the standalone AR-2 may be the principal surviving record. If they later replaced a document, sought permanent status, petitioned for a relative, or became involved in another proceeding, an A-File may also exist.
A-Files numbered below eight million generally relate to the earlier period. Files numbered eight million and above, or records created after the applicable Genealogy Program cutoff, ordinarily require a USCIS Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act request rather than a standard genealogy request.
What A-Files can reveal about an immigrant’s life
An A-File is not a standardized biography. Its contents depend on the person’s history and interactions with immigration authorities.
Some files contain only a few pages. Others contain dozens or hundreds of pages assembled over many years. Possible documents include visas, applications, affidavits, photographs, correspondence, foreign civil records, residency information, and material connected with naturalization, permanent residence, deportation, or death.
Identity details and name changes
Immigrant names can appear differently across languages and records. A person might use a birth name, married name, Anglicized name, nickname, transliteration, or spelling created by a clerk.
An A-File may place several of these versions together. That can help explain why a family member appears under one name in a passenger list, another in the census, and a third on a naturalization certificate.
Do not treat every discrepancy as an error. A variation may reflect a different language, an informal identity, a change in marital status, or a practical adaptation to life in the United States.
USCIS asks researchers to provide alternate names and spellings because its researchers search the names supplied in the request. At minimum, an index search requires a full name, at least a birth year, and a country or place of birth.
Create a digital legacy that your children and grandchildren will be proud of.
Create a family legacyPhotographs, relationships, and everyday circumstances
A photograph can transform an abstract research subject into a recognizable person. Addresses can place that person within a neighborhood, while employer details may reveal the industry that supported the household.
Affidavits and petitions may identify spouses, children, siblings, parents, friends, employers, or sponsors. Correspondence can provide clues about language ability, health, finances, travel, family separation, and attempts to navigate government procedures.
These details are useful because family history is more than a chain of names and dates. Relationships explain why people moved, who helped them, and how one migration affected later generations.
Sensitive passages should still be interpreted carefully. Immigration files were created for administrative or legal purposes, not as neutral family histories. A statement may represent one person’s account at one moment, and an official conclusion may not tell the whole story.
A practical example
Imagine that a family knows their great-grandmother arrived from Italy before the First World War but cannot find a reliable birth date. The census gives two different years, and her surname appears in several forms.
Her AR-2 might provide the name she used at arrival, her exact reported birthplace, her first and latest entries, her 1940 address, employer, physical description, signature, and fingerprint. If she later petitioned for a relative or applied for replacement documentation, an A-File might add a photograph, affidavits, correspondence, and copies of civil records.
No single detail should automatically override every other source. Instead, the researcher can compare the AR-2 and A-File with passenger lists, census schedules, marriage records, naturalization papers, and family documents.
The result is not merely a corrected date. It is a richer account of where she came from, how she identified herself, where she worked, and how she maintained family connections across borders.
How to find and request alien registration records
Before submitting a paid request, collect as much identifying information as possible:
Search family papers first. An A-Number may appear on an Alien Registration receipt card, naturalization material, immigration correspondence, permanent resident documentation, or another federal record.
Requesting a 1940–1944 AR-2
As of May 17, 2024, new AR-2 requests are handled by NARA rather than the USCIS Genealogy Program.
Begin with NARA’s online Flexoline Index in the Access to Archival Databases system. The index can provide an A-Number, name, birth year, country of birth, and place of residence at registration. However, the public Flexoline index currently covers people born in 1923 or earlier, and it contains gaps. A failed search does not prove that no AR-2 exists.
NARA asks requesters to provide the person’s name and spelling variants, country and date of birth, A-Number if known, estimated year of entry, and state of residence during the 1940s. Reproduction fees may apply, and NARA can generally supply digital PDF copies.
Access also depends on age and death status. Records for people born more than 100 years ago are generally unrestricted. For a deceased person born fewer than 100 years ago, NARA requires a FOIA request and proof of death, such as a death certificate, obituary, funeral-home letter, or recognized death-index record.
Be prepared for an imperfect image. Most original AR-2 forms were destroyed after microfilming, and the surviving digital versions reproduce the quality of that microfilm. Some pages may be blurred, crooked, incomplete, or marked by lines.
Searching for an A-File at the National Archives
A-Files become eligible for transfer to NARA 100 years after the immigrant’s year of birth. As of August 2025, NARA reported more than 1.5 million A-Files at Kansas City and more than 300,000 at San Francisco for people born in 1925 or earlier, although both collections contain substantial gaps. Transfers continue over time.
Search the National Archives Catalog using:
Each transferred file should have an individual catalog entry. That entry identifies the A-Number, National Archives Identifier, and the NARA office holding the file.
Most A-Files are centralized in Kansas City. San Francisco holds certain files associated with the former San Francisco, Honolulu, Reno, and Guam INS district offices, so researchers with connections to those regions should check both collections.
If the file appears in the catalog, follow the entry’s contact information to request copies from the correct office. A-Files may also be examined in person by appointment. Fees can change, so confirm current reproduction costs before ordering.
If the person does not appear in the catalog, NARA does not currently hold an individually indexed A-File it can retrieve for you. The record may still be with USCIS, may not yet have transferred, may have been consolidated into another series, or may never have existed.
Requesting a record from USCIS
For a deceased immigrant whose qualifying record remains with USCIS, the Genealogy Program offers two basic request paths:
USCIS requires a file number for a record request. Its Genealogy Program generally covers A-Files numbered below eight million and documents in those files dated before May 1, 1951. Later files and later documents generally fall under the USCIS FOIA or Privacy Act process.
If the research subject was born fewer than 100 years before the request date, USCIS requires documentary proof of death. Acceptable evidence may include a copy of a death certificate, obituary, funeral program, gravestone photograph, religious death record, Social Security Death Index entry, or documentation relating to death benefits. Do not submit an original document.
Fees and filing methods can change. Check the current USCIS fee schedule and request instructions before submitting a genealogy request.
Common research mistakes to avoid
The first mistake is assuming that an A-Number guarantees the existence of an A-File. A person may have received a number through the 1940 registration program but never had a later case that resulted in an A-File.
The second is searching only one version of a name. Include maiden names, translated first names, phonetic spellings, reversed name order, and likely transcription errors.
Give them the home they deserve. Bring your family legacy into the digital age.
Start archivingThe third is expecting every requested record to arrive without redactions. A-Files may mention children, neighbors, sponsors, or other third parties who could still be alive. Privacy rules can therefore result in withheld or redacted information.
Finally, do not treat every statement as unquestionably correct. Dates could be estimated, spellings could be altered, and information could be supplied under stressful circumstances. Record what the document says, identify who supplied the information when possible, and compare it with independent evidence.
How MyHeirloom helps preserve the story behind the file
Obtaining an AR-2 or A-File is only the beginning. If the downloaded PDF is left in an email attachment or an ambiguously named computer folder, its meaning may soon become difficult for the rest of the family to understand.
A filename such as A1234567.pdf does not explain who the person was, why the record matters, or how its names and places connect with living relatives.
MyHeirloom helps turn scattered memories, relationships, and important information into an organized, secure, and meaningful legacy for future generations. Instead of preserving the government file without explanation, you can connect it to the person’s wider life.
Build a documented immigration Keepsake
A MyHeirloom Keepsake can combine selected record images with a written interpretation, photographs, audio, video, and links to related people.
For example, an immigration Keepsake might include:
This approach preserves both evidence and context. Future readers can see the source while also understanding how it fits into the family’s story.
Add a date to the Keepsake and it can appear in the Life Timeline, placing immigration events alongside marriages, births, military service, employment, moves, and family milestones.
If you want to move beyond disconnected PDFs and folders, start for free with MyHeirloom and create one Keepsake around a single immigration record.
Connect the record to people and relationships
Immigration files often identify relatives who are otherwise difficult to place. My Tribe can preserve profiles of important family members and other close connections, while the Family Tree can show genetic and non-genetic relationships across generations.
This context is particularly useful when an affidavit names a sponsor, a petition identifies a sibling, or a correspondence file refers to a child under an unfamiliar married name.
Weaver can help you develop questions and structure the story. It might prompt you to consider what the immigrant left behind, who received them in the United States, which traditions continued, or which details still need verification. Weaver should support reflection and storytelling rather than replace documentary research.
Separate family stories from sensitive records
Not every page of an A-File should be broadly shared. It may contain addresses, medical information, financial details, allegations, or information about third parties.
Use a public or family-facing Keepsake for the material you want others to understand. Consider DocuVault for sensitive records and explanatory notes that require more restricted handling. DocuVault is designed for important private information and has its own password and visibility controls.
Before uploading historical records anywhere, review the entire file. Respect living people, avoid publishing unnecessary personal information, and follow any applicable archive restrictions.
MyHeirloom is not a substitute for the National Archives, USCIS, formal genealogy citations, or a legal document. Its value is different: it gives the family a structured Legacy Room where records, memories, relationships, and interpretation can remain connected instead of being dispersed across drives, phones, social platforms, and paper boxes.
Conclusion
Alien Registration Forms and A-Files can illuminate the years after an immigrant arrived in the United States. They may document names, occupations, addresses, physical descriptions, photographs, relatives, applications, and correspondence that do not survive anywhere else.
Successful research begins with the distinction between the sources. AR-2 forms cover the World War II-era registration program and are now requested through NARA. A-Files began in 1944 and may be held by NARA, the USCIS Genealogy Program, or the USCIS FOIA program depending on the file’s age, number, date range, and transfer status.
Once you receive a record, preserve more than the image. Record where it came from, transcribe important passages, compare its claims with other evidence, explain uncertainties, and connect the document to the people it names.
That context is what transforms an administrative record into family history. Start for free with MyHeirloom and begin building a Legacy Room where immigration records, photographs, relationships, and family memories can tell one coherent story.
FAQ
1. Is an AR-2 the same as an A-File?
No. An AR-2 is a two-page Alien Registration Form used primarily between August 1940 and March 1944. A-Files are individual immigration case files introduced on April 1, 1944, although an earlier AR-2 may sometimes have been moved into a later A-File.
2. Did every person who completed an AR-2 receive an A-File?
Not necessarily. Registration produced an A-Number and an AR-2, but an A-File was usually created only if the person later had an active immigration matter or INS initiated a case. Someone with no later agency interaction may have an AR-2 without a substantial A-File.
3. Where should I request an AR-2 today?
Submit new AR-2 requests to the National Archives. Since May 17, 2024, the USCIS Genealogy Program has no longer accepted new requests for this record series.
4. What if I do not know my ancestor’s A-Number?
Search NARA’s Flexoline Index and the National Archives Catalog using names, variants, birth information, and residence details. If the record remains with USCIS and you do not know its number, a USCIS Genealogy Index Search may identify relevant historical file citations.
5. Can I request an immigration record for someone who may still be alive?
The USCIS Genealogy Program is intended for historical records of deceased immigrants. Records concerning a living person generally require the USCIS FOIA or Privacy Act process, with access governed by identity, consent, and privacy requirements.
6. How should I preserve an A-File for future generations?
Keep an unedited master copy, record the archive and request details, create a readable transcription, and note any conflicting evidence. In MyHeirloom, you can create a contextual Keepsake, connect the immigrant to My Tribe and the Family Tree, place key events on the Life Timeline, and keep more sensitive material in DocuVault.
MyHeirloom gives you a dedicated Legacy Room—a private, secure space to collect photos, videos, documents, and stories.
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