German naturalization process

[redbird]

I now have the date my grandparents were naturalized. I emailed my cousin Anne yesterday, because Mom thought my aunt Lea and my grandparents were naturalized at the same time, and before my mother, because Lea was still under 18 and could be included on her parents application. Anne said that didn't match her recollection, and offered to have Dave (Lea's widower) see what he could find.

I mentioned this to Adrian, who told me where to find US naturalization records online.* It turns out that my grandparents were naturalized a few months after my mother, who came here several years before they did, and became a US citizen about a month after her 21st birthday.

Anne also asked why I'm putting in the application, if it wasn't too long to explain. The shortest answer, which I gave her, is "Trump scared me," I described applying for German citizenship as being like buying an insurance policy you hope never to use.

*Conveniently for my purposes, the records for that period for the eastern district of New York state are searchable online, though the southern district isn't. When Adrian asked which federal court district New York City is in, I said "southern" without thinking. Then I decided to check whether that had been true in 1951-52: the districts haven't changed, but Brooklyn and Manhattan are in different districts. My mother's family lived in Brooklyn, which is in the eastern district, and those records are online and searchable. Once in a while it's relevant that New York City is divided into five counties.


ETA Feb. 23: I sent my mother a draft of an email to the German embassy about this. She sent back a couple of changes, which I'm going to make, and asked me to hold off until the weekend so she can check the documentation on something rather than going from memory.

Comments

[minoanmiss]

*contemplates*

Someone who is fond of me has suggested I apply for Jamaican dual citizenship, and even though we're on President 46 now I'm still worried that 45 will manage to become 47. However, I can't really ask my parents for information. Not least based on your experiences, what do you think?

[redbird]

I'm still in the middle of this, but I think it's worth looking into and maybe asking someone in the Jamaican government about. I don't know anything about Jamaican law on the subject--but at least the information should be in English.

[cmcmck]

This from the Jamaican High Commission might be worth a look:

http://www.jhcuk.org/citizens/citizenship/by-descent

[minoanmiss]

oooh thank you!

[cmcmck]

Y're welcome.

You may well also have rights of abode in the UK given your ancestry.

[thistleingrey]

I think the five boroughs remain relevant sometimes for real estate, too!

[redbird]

The boroughs are definitely relevant, but even though I know that Brooklyn is Kings County, and Manhattan is New York County, and so on, I didn't think much about the counties when I lived in New York, which I did for the first half century of my life. "What county do you live in?" was a box to check on the state tax forms, for school funding, and determined where I had to go for jury duty, and that's about it.

[readerjane]

Glad at least some parts of this process are turning out to be simpler than expected.