Alien Registration Form Update

Image: rawpixel

In "Immigrant Ancestors and Alien Registration," I wrote about a new Ancestry database, "U.S., WWII Alien Registration, 1940-1955." In the database, I identified six of my immigrant ancestors who were required to register as aliens during WWII, and I began the process of obtaining copies of their AR-2 Forms. 

Here's my update.

 

First Steps

Prior to my first post on this subject, I watched the webinar "Finding and Using Alien Registration Forms for 20th Century Immigrants." This video was recorded earlier this year, before the Ancestry database came out in late July. While the video discusses searching the government's Flexoline database to obtain an individual's alien registration number, the Ancestry database is based on the Flexoline data. Once you have that alien registration number from the Ancestry collection, you can email your request to NARA. The video is still very helpful for the background on alien registrations and what you might find in them. 

Using the alien registration numbers from the Ancestry database, I was ready to send my request. I used the suggested format and emailed the request to cer@nara.gov, noting my billing address and my preferred record format (PDF): 

Hello,

I would like to order several Alien Registration Forms.

Name: Edward J. Baker
Year of Birth: 1886
Country of Birth: Canada
A-Number: A4766542

Name: Catherine A. Cassidy
Year of Birth: 1886
Country of Birth: Canada
A-Number: A5289342

Please bill me at this address:

Nancy Gilbride Casey
Address
email
Phone

Please deliver the records in PDF format.

NARA's Response

I received a response the very next day from NARA, indicating that they found the files I wanted, a price quote, and information on the next steps to order the records. NARA's email also included additional information from the AR-2 itself. For example, I immediately learned much more about my great-grandfather John Simonik, as shown in this excerpt from the email:

"John Simonek, also known as “Janos Simonek,” born on May 16, 1873 in Forbase, Spiska, Austria-Hungary, A-Number: A2052200, and registered in West Leisenring, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. According to the AR-2, this individual first arrived in the United States on “March ? 1891” with their most recent arrival being on “Mar. 18, 1902” aboard the “Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse from Bremen, Germany.” Line 12 of the AR-2 states the following: “I have not applied for first citizenship papers in the United States.” This AR-2 was stamped on September 20, 1940."¹

I had no idea that John's Slovak name was "Janos" before seeing this and never knew that he had come to the U.S. in 1891 before immigrating permanently in 1902 with my great-grandmother Anna.

The response email included a similar paragraph for each of the six individuals I had inquired about. 

NARA's email also included a "Quotation for Reproduction Services" for ordering copies and an instruction sheet. 

 

Receiving the Forms 

I was on vacation so I didn't order the forms for a few weeks. Following their directions, I printed the quote form and added my credit card information and signature. I scanned the completed form so that I could email it to them for quicker service. Orders can also be paid for by check/money order and mailed to NARA. 

I emailed my order to NARA on Sunday, Sept. 7th, and received an email on Wednesday, Sept. 10th with the files attached! I was shocked at how quickly NARA turned the order around.

The AR-2s each consist of the two-page questionnaire and the individual's right index finger fingerprint.

Page 1 of John "Janos" Simonik's Alien Registration Form.

Each of the five AR-2s surprised me with new information:

• My great-grandfather Janos Simonik served in the Austria-Hungary cavalry between 1898-1901.²
• My great-grandmother Anna Simonik was a member of the Slovak organization Jednota, the First Catholic Slovak Union, in West Leisenring, Pennsvlvania, from 1925 on.³
• Another great-grandfather, Edward Baker, an iron molder, was a member of the American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L., later the AFL-CIO) Foundry Union from 1937 on.⁴
• Edward's son, Charles Baker, worked as a clerk/counter man at a restaurant and cafe in Lorain, Ohio, called Mable Bronson's.⁵ 
• A great-granduncle James Daniel Cassidy was arrested in March 1933 in Detroit on suspicion of smuggling, but was released.⁶

Each of these events is a fascinating new jumping off point for further research. Using the information for John, for example, I believe I've already found his name on the ship's manifest from 1891 when he first came to the U.S.

Obtaining these forms from NARA costs $20 per file or $17 if you order 2 or more at the same time (as of this writing.)  Each file can offer new, unexpected, and even surprising information about an immigrant ancestor. Ordering from NARA was easy and the turnaround was fast—much faster than I had expected. 

If you have ancestors who registered as required by the Alien Registration Act of 1940, I highly encourage you to seek out their AR-2 Forms to round out your knowledge of their past and activities during this time.

Until next time... 

© Nancy Gilbride Casey, 2025. All rights reserved. 

 

NOTES

¹ Ariel Turley, Washington, D.C., [(e-address for private use)], to Nancy Gilbride Casey, e-mail, 12 Aug. 2025, "Alien Registration Request,"; Alien Registration Order Gmail label; privately held by Casey, [(e-address) and address for private use], Tioga, Texas, 2025.

²  Janos Simonik, A2052200, Alien Registration Form, 20 September 1940, Uniontown, Pennsylvania; Record Group 566: Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, College Park, Maryland.

³ Anna Simonik, A2052201, Alien Registration Form, 20 September 1940, Uniontown, Pennsylvania; Record Group 566: Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, College Park, Maryland.

⁴  Edward Joseph Baker, A4766542, Alien Registration Form, 14 December 1940, Cleveland, Ohio; Record Group 566: Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, College Park, Maryland.

⁵ Charles Edward Baker, A5696244, Alien Registration Form, 26 December 1940, Lorain, Ohio; Record Group 566: Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, College Park, Maryland.

⁶ James Daniel Cassidy, A4583995, Alien Registration Form, 21 December 1940, Detroit, Michigan; Record Group 566: Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, College Park, Maryland.