West Virginia Emigration and Immigration

How to Find the Records
West Virginia, being entirely inland, has no seaports. Immigrants would have initially arrived at a port on the coast. To search those records, see United States Immigration Online Genealogy Records.

Online Resources

 * 1500s-1900s All U.S. and Canada, Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1500s-1900s at Ancestry; index only ($); includes those with Destination of West Virginia; Also at MyHeritage; index only ($)
 * 1895-1956 United States, Border Crossings from Canada, 1895-1956 at MyHeritage; index & images ($); includes those with Destination of West Virginia

Cultural Groups

 * 1920-1939 Germany, Bremen Emigration Lists, 1920-1939 at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of West Virginia
 * Germans Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of West Virginia
 * Italians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($)
 * Russians Immigrating to the United States at MyHeritage; index only ($); includes those with Destination of West Virginia

Passport Records Online

 * 1795-1925 - at FamilySearch — index and images
 * 1795-1925 - U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 Index and images, at Ancestry ($)

Offices to Contact
Although many records are included in the online records listed above, there are other records available through these archives and offices. For example, there are many minor ports that have not yet been digitized. There are also records for more recent time periods. For privacy reasons, some records can only be accessed after providing proof that your ancestor is now deceased.

U.S. Citizenship and and Immigration Services Genealogy Program
The USCIS Genealogy Program is a fee-for-service program that provides researchers with timely access to historical immigration and naturalization records of deceased immigrants. If the immigrant was born less than 100 years ago, you will also need to provide proof of his/her death.

Immigration Records Available

 * A-Files: Immigrant Files, (A-Files) are the individual alien case files, which became the official file for all immigration records created or consolidated since April 1, 1944.
 * Alien Registration Forms (AR-2s): Alien Registration Forms (Form AR-2) are copies of approximately 5.5 million Alien Registration Forms completed by all aliens age 14 and older, residing in or entering the United States between August 1, 1940 and March 31, 1944.
 * Registry Files:''' Registry Files are records, which document the creation of immigrant arrival records for persons who entered the United States prior to July 1, 1924, and for whom no arrival record could later be found.
 * Files:''' Visa Files are original arrival records of immigrants admitted for permanent residence under provisions of the Immigration Act of 1924.

Requesting a Record

 * Web Request Page allows you to request a records, pay fees, and upload supporting documents (proof of death).
 * Record Requests Frequently Asked Questions

Finding Town of Origin
Records in the countries emigrated from are kept on the local level. You must first identify the name of the town where your ancestors lived to access those records. If you do not yet know the name of the town of your ancestor's birth, there are well-known strategies for a thorough hunt for it.
 * U. S. Immigration Records: Finding the Town of Origin

Background
The settlement of present-day West Virginia began in the mid-1700s when Scotch-Irish and German settlers from Pennsylvania came to the area that is now Berkeley and Greenbriar counties. Heavy settlement began in the 1760s after Indian claims had been settled. These pioneers were generally from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and other northern states and not from Virginia or other areas east of the mountains.

In the early and mid-1800s, many Germans and Irish came directly to West Virginia. A few Blacks were brought to the region in the early years, but many more came after the Civil War to work in the coal mines. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, large numbers of immigrants arrived from Ireland and from southern and eastern Europe, especially Hungary, Italy, and Poland.

Records

 * Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was an important port of entry to West Virginia, but the major port between 1870 and 1915 was New York, where thousands of European immigrants boarded labor trains headed for the coal fields. The Family History Library and the National Archives have passenger lists for New York for 1820 to 1919, and indexes for 1820 to 1846 and 1897 to 1943. The lists for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania date from 1800 to 1916 with indexes for 1800 to 1948. These lists may also be found at ancestry.com. FamilySearch.org also has an index to passengers arriving in Atlantic and Gulf ports titled More detailed information on U.S. immigration sources is in United States Emigration and Immigration.


 * Names of colonial immigrants to America that have been listed in published sources are indexed in:

Filby, P. William. Passenger and Immigration Lists Index. 15 Volumes. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research, 1981. ; some volumes are on films beginning with The first three volumes are a combined alphabetical index published in 1981. Supplemental volumes have been issued annually. There are also later cumulative indexes.


 * The early court records of Augusta county through 1800, which include many of the first settlers of West Virginia, have been published in:

Chalkley,Lyman. Chronicles of the Scots-Irish Settlement in Virginia  : extracted from the original court records of Augusta County, 1754-1800 

Websites
Wiki articles describing online collections are found at:


 * United States, Index to Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at Atlantic and Gulf Coast Ports - FamilySearch Historical Records
 * West Virginia Naturalization Records, 1814-1991 - FamilySearch Historical Records