The information available for each individual recorded in the collection includes:
- Given name and surname
- Court where petitioned
- Birth date or age
- Arrival port
- Arrival date
- A reference to the location of the original record including a volume number, page number and record number
Further details from Ancestry: The first step for an immigrant wishing to become an official U.S. citizen was to complete a Declaration of Intention to naturalize. These papers are also known as First Papers as they are the first forms to be completed in the naturalization process. Generally these papers were filled out fairly soon after an immigrant's arrival in America. After the immigrant had completed these papers and met the residency requirement (which was usually five years), the individual was able to submit his Petition for Naturalization. Petitions are also known as Second or Final Papers because they are the second and final set of papers completed in the naturalization process. Immigrants also took a naturalization oath or oath of allegiance. These oaths are often filed with the immigrant's first or second papers. After an immigrant had completed all citizenship requirements he was issued a certificate of naturalization. Many of these documents may be found in the court in which they were created.
The amount of information that is contained on each of these naturalization documents varies widely between time and place. However, they often contain significant genealogical information and are often worth the search to locate them.