Helpful Search Tips

• Search for your ancestors by name, narrowing the search with their age, dates of arrival, ports of departure or arrival, or country of origin.
• You may get a few results for the immigrant you’re searching for so you will need to check each record to see whether the information matches the information you already have.
• Keep in mind that your immigrant ancestor may not have used the English version of his or her given name and that the surname may also have ethnic variants. This is most likely to be the case in records created when he first immigrated (e.g., passenger arrivals). Learn the ethnic equivalents and try searches in the immigrant's native language.
• Learn about pronunciation in your immigrant ancestor's native language. In some cases clerks may have recorded the name as they heard it.
• Try searching for other variations of your ancestor's name in case it was spelled incorrectly. Wildcards can be used to search for name variants.
• When you find an immigration document, it's important to look at the original image, which may contain information such as the name and address of the immigrant's nearest relative, their intended destination in their new country, or names of other relatives travelling with them. If you find a record in an index collection or a transcription that is not linked to the actual record, follow the link to "Learn more about this database" to find out how to order the original record.
• Be sure to note and research the names of witnesses and fellow passengers from the same place in immigration records. They were often relatives, employers, or friends from the immigrant's previous home. Tracing these individuals in census, directory, or immigration records may help you learn about your ancestor's life before and after they arrived in their new country.
• Once you find a matching immigration record, save it to your family tree - that way you can provide evidence to back up the info in your family tree, easily share your discover with your family, and quickly find the historical record again later.