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immigration · card F

First papers

First papers is the everyday name for a declaration of intention, the court filing an immigrant made to start becoming a U.S. citizen.

Immigrants, clerks and census takers called the declaration of intention the first papers because it opened a two-step process. The petition for naturalization filed some years later was the second papers.

Having first papers did not make a person a citizen, and many people filed them and never finished. A census entry of Pa marks such a man. First papers could also run out: the 1906 law gave declarations a seven-year limit, so some immigrants had to file a fresh one.

As seen in a recordLocal newspaper court column, 1910s
Jan Kowalczyk took out his first papers in the Circuit Court at South Bend, March 2, 1911.
Sources
How to cite this page

Daily Ancestor. "First papers." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/immigration/first-papers. Last checked 2026-10-03.

Related cards

AbbreviationsPPaFirst papers filed (census citizenship code)immigrationDDeclarantAlien who had filed first papers, not yet a citizenimmigrationDDeclaration of intentionSworn first step: intent to become a citizenimmigrationSSecond papersEveryday name for the petition for naturalization
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