That is encouraging. Was your recognition with the LA consulate aided by your father's previous recognition with the Boston consulate?
I have not yet met with the Boston consulate in person, but I have spoken with him a few times on the phone over the past few years. It seems I am restarting the conversation each time I speak with him. He asks some specifics about what I have, and I lay out my case and the documents I've tracked down. Most recently he requested I search for alien files for Pietro's wife, as further proof that Pietro was never naturalized:
He feels that this will help my case because "if Pietro was naturalized, then his wife was probably naturalized at the same time..." so if I prove that his wife was not naturalized, then that is one more piece of evidence that Pietro
may not have been naturalized.
I searched for alien files for Rosa using ancestry.com with no results and chose against spending more time and money to continue down that road. Sure, it might be true that married couples were more likely to get naturalized together, but, in my opinion, proving that Rosa (Pietro's wife) was never naturalized has very little bearing on the case of whether Pietro was naturalized.
The consulate has already asked for Census records. He requested every record from 1908 until Rosa passed in 1951. I could not find a 1910 census record for Pietro. The family arrived in 1914. My grandfather was born in 1916. I found the 1920, 1930 and 1940 census. I do not believe the 1950 census is available. The 1920 census lists the whole family (with misspellings) and identifies Pietro and Rosa as aliens. The 1930 census lists the family (correctly spelled) and identifies Pietro and Rosa as aliens. PIetro passed in 1932. The 1940 census identifies Rosa as widowed but does not distinguish whether she is naturalized ("Na"), an alien ("Al"), or having first papers ("Pa"). There is just a faint scribble mark that looks like the number 4. Her age is also incorrect, suggesting that she aged 17 years from the 1930 to 1940 census.
My latest approach to this process is to develop my case as strong as possible and then present everything to the consulate over the phone at once. Here is a list of the documents that I believe prove Pietro's lack of naturalization. I am very open to suggestions of further documents I should acquire.
- Certificate of Nonexistence of Record from USCIS
Worcester County letter of nonexistence of record
NARA letter of nonexistence of record
1930 Census identifying Pietro as "alien"
1920 Census identifying Pietro as "alien" (though his last name is incorrectly spelled)
Shipping manifest showing Pietro arrived after 1906 (when USCIS records begin)
As always, thanks for reading,
John