Government Sources 

Chinese ancestors who immigrated into the United States during the Chinese Exclusion Act years (1882-1943), can discover information in the document files held by the National Archives & Records Administration (NARA). 

Case files include interrogation records with the names of family villages for male relatives, birth dates, names and details of villages, names of wives and in-laws, and hand drawn maps of the family house. It is important to remember that if your ancestors were paper sons, the information in the interrogation transcripts are about that surname and may not be accurate to your family.

The Genealogy: Ethnic Heritage Links National Archives contains links specific to Chinese genealogical resources, surnames and Chinese in California.

Alien Case Files

Because of the complex history of Chinese immigration and naturalization in the United States, as well as the complicated nature of federal record keeping, many Chinese Exclusion Act records were placed into other types of immigration files.

Alien Files ("A-Files") are maintained at the National Archives for immigrants born in 1920 and before. These can be searched using the National Archives online catalog.

Alien Case Files (A-files) include immigrants who originally arrived at the San Francisco or Honolulu (and Los Angeles and Seattle) ports but eventually moved elsewhere in the country. Dates of A-files include those arriving in the late 1800s/early 1900s. The files include individuals born in 1915 (SF) or 1918 (KC) and before. As the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) transfers additional files to the National Archives, the catalog is updated. To search for an A-file, click the blue box "Search within this series" which will generate the full list.

Alien Case Files in San Francisco

Alien Case Files in Kansas City

The National Archives at San Francisco holds more than 200,000 investigative case files of several types created by Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) District Offices in San Francisco and Honolulu. Most concern Asian immigrants and Asian Americans from all over the United States who were investigated under various immigration laws including the "Chinese Exclusion Acts," 1882-1943. Case files were created when individuals traveled to or from the U.S. through the ports of San Francisco and Honolulu. These holdings include files of immigrants detained at Angel Island Immigration Station and similar facilities. 

Names are written in English from the Cantonese sounds. Interrogation questions include how many houses were in the village; which row and which dwelling was the family house; where the school was located; where the well was located; who were the neighbors, etc. Hand-drawn maps of the layout of the section where the family house was located and descriptions and drawings of the interior floor plan of the family house may sometimes be found.

National Archives Case Files Online

Basic Research Steps for Immigration Records a document created by NARA San Francisco to assist you in your research.

INS Index to Certificate of Identity 1909-1938. (download only)

San Bruno Case File Index (download only)

We have compiled a list of indexes to Chinese Exclusion Act records at regional facilities of the National Archives. Researchers can use these to identify specific case files relating to their family members.

The downloadable.xls index files will help researchers find case file numbers and dates of entry into the United States

• Boston (downloadable .xls file)
• National Archives Online index
• Montreal National Archives Online index
• New York Chinese Exclusion Act Index (download only)

Riverside (Perris, CA)

• Exclusion Act Index (pdf)
• National Archives Online Index
• Los Angeles District
• Los Angeles (Local)
• San Pedro, CA
• San Diego including Bakersfield
• Calexico, CA and Nogales, AZ

Seattle (ca.1895-ca.1943) (download only)

• RS (Returning Seattle) ca.1892 to ca.1920.
• Helena, MT
• Port Townsend, WA
• Portal, ND
• Portland, OR
• Sumas, WA
• Vancouver, BC, CA

The USCIS Genealogy Program is a fee-for-service program that provides researchers with access to historic records of genealogical interest. Their Index Search Request program can uniquely identify records at the National Archives or in USCIS custody relating to immigrants.

Individuals born more than 100 years ago may request Alien Case Files (A-Files) through the Genealogy Program. Individuals born less than 100 years ago may request the file under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).  Visit the Genealogy Program page for more information and to download Form G-639 for FOIA requests. USCIS also offers an Index Name Search Service for a fee. 

If a researcher has no other leads other than a name/birthdate/country of birth, perform an index name search to find records among USCIS' historic records series (naturalization records, A-Files, etc.).

The Hawaii State Archives for 1843-1900 Passenger Lists, Arrivals and Departures: Ships Passenger Manifests has indexed all the Ships Passengers Manifests from 1843-1900 in its collection according to the person's nationality, and then alphabetically by last name. There is also an index not organized by nationality, but alphabetically for the years 1880-1900. These passengers were usually tourists or residents, and not contract laborers.

The Archives also has a copy of Ships Passenger Manifests from Feb.1900-Jan.1921.  There is a chronological listing of arrival dates, port of departure and the ship's name.

In 1900, the U.S. Federal government, through its agency Immigration and Naturalization Service, took over all immigration functions from the Hawaiian government. This included the documenting of ship's passengers arrivals & departures.

Manifest Markings-A Guide to Interpreting Passenger List Annotations. 

By Marian L. Smith, Historian, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. 

A comprehensive reference guide to interpreting the markings, or annotations, found on immigration passenger lists. This is an extremely useful reference when researching manifests and passenger lists.

The online Passenger Search database includes about 65 million arrival records of people coming to America through the Port of New York from 1820 through 1957. It's best to have a passenger's last name and other information such as port of departure; the date, or at least the year of arrival in America; the immigrant's approximate age at the time of arrival; and whom they were traveling with.

From 1910 to 1940, Angel Island was the site of an U.S. Immigration Station that functioned as the West Coast equivalent of Ellis Island, although the Angel Island facility also enforced policies designed to exclude many Pacific Coast immigrants coming from eighty countries.

Unlike Ellis Island, Angel Island Immigration Station (AIISF) and Angel Island State Park do not house immigration records and other historical immigration documents collected at the Immigration Station.  A collection of oral histories from former detainees and records (submitted by family members)  are available online through their Immigrant Voices site.