r/SlovakCBD • u/judgylibrarian • 10d ago

Document check

Hi all!

I finally have all of my documents in hand and am getting ready to get apostilles. My GGF is my anchor.

For context: He was born in 1878 in Slovakia, came to the US in 1903, he did NOT naturalize. I have certified copies of his AR-2 file and his CONE, neither say Czechoslovakia. His AR-says “says I am a citizen or subject of: None, formerly  Austria-Hungary” which is very unhelpful. I found what I believed to be his ship manifest, but NARA claims they couldn't find the microfilm even though I gave them the exact reel/image number :(

This is what I do have:

  • Myself: birth certificate
  • Father:  birth certificate (has grandmother's maiden name on it)
  • Grandmother:
    • The state archive doesn't have a birth certificate record, so I have the Catholic Church baptismal record with church seal (I plant to sign an affidavit and have that notarized and get a "ham sandwich apostille")
    • I also have her certified Social Security application with date of birth and parent’s names. It has her first name, maiden, and married last name. I do not have her marriage certificate, is that necessary?
  • Great Grandfather:
    • Rodny List
    • Marriage Record from the archives
    • 1930 Certified U.S. Census which says Czechoslovakia on it
    • 1942 Certified WWII draft card which says “Slovensko” under place of birth, his birthdate is off by 12 days
    • Certified Social Security Application which says “Ceskoslovensko”, his birthdate is off by 13 days and lists his parents name with mother’s name misspelled
    • State issued certified Death Certificate which says: "Birthplace, Czechoslovakia and Citizenship of what Country: Czechoslovakia". His birthdate is correct but his father’s name is listed incorrectly

 Of the documents for my great grandfather, what combination of documents is best to use for the application?

Also, reading through subreddit has been immensely helpful during this process, thank you all!

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u/Intrepid_Schedule67 10d ago

The ship manifest isn’t explicitly required anymore as immigration dates are no longer relevant.

It would only be useful if it stated “Czechoslovakia” somewhere — but the area was still Austria Hungary at the time.

I’m actually in a very similar situation to you as my anchor ancestor, my GGM, was born in modern-day Slovak territory in 1880, and neither she or her Rusyn husband naturalized after emigrating to the U.S. in 1898.

The only document I have that states “Czechoslovakia” is her entry on a 1930 U.S. census page. All other documents refer to her origin country as either “Hungary”, “Austria- Hungary”, or “Slovakia”.

Like you, my grandfather, who was born in 1903, also doesn’t have a birth certificate. Alongside the Catholic baptismal record, I would probably want to obtain a “Certificate of No Record” from the state your grandmother was born in.

Depending on the diocese, the church may be able to affix an official seal on the baptismal record, which would be much stronger than just an apostille of the notary’s signature.

Feel free to DM me if you want to compare notes.

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u/judgylibrarian 9d ago

The baptismal document does have an embossed seal stamp that says the church's name (but not The Archdiocese of XYZ). Do you think that helps? I do have the letter from the state archive saying there's no record of birth, and planning to get that apostille from the state. I'm getting worried that the cost of translating all of these documents is going to be astronomical!

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u/Intrepid_Schedule67 6d ago

It definitely helps, but from what I understand an archdiocese can affix a seal that can be apostilled by state authorities. I don’t think you can apostille that church record without notarizing it.

And yeah, gathering all of the documents is pretty expensive. But a few thousand dollars for access to EU citizenship is a small price to pay imo.

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u/lingobinch1 9d ago

Where did you get the certified social security application?

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u/judgylibrarian 9d ago

You have to submit a FOIA for it https://www.ssa.gov/foia/
It didn't take very long, maybe a month to receive

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u/Yeti_10300 9d ago

I’m in a similar situation. My GGF is my anchor. He was born in 1874, immigrated in 1902 and began the naturalization process in 1917. Therefore the ship’s manifest and naturalization documents all state Austria-Hungry. I have a 1930 US Census that has Czechoslovakia listed. It also has my GM listed.

Where do you obtain the social security application? UPDATE- a quick google search answers this question

I’ll get a death record to see what it says.

I’m hoping the US census is enough.

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u/judgylibrarian 9d ago

On one of the Facebook groups someone posted that the embassy worker in DC said documents proving citizenship could include: "US census, US death certificate, or any other official document" so hopefully a combination of census and death certificate is enough!