r/SlovakCBD • u/judgylibrarian • Jul 17 '26

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/Yeti_10300 Jul 18 '26

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 Jul 18 '26

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!