Passenger Search

Help locating U.S. passenger arrival records.

U.S. Customs Passenger Lists began in 1820. To search for immigrants to the United States after 1820, you need to know at least your ancestor’s name, approximate date of arrival in the U.S., and approximate age on arrival.

Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1891--1957 To search the Microfilm Catalog online:

An estimated 40% of Americans are descended from people who passed through the Ellis Island immigration station during its six decades of operation. But what...

Ellis Island is a historical site that opened in 1892 as an immigration station, a purpose it served for more than 60 years until it closed in 1954. Located at

Angel Island Immigration Station was the primary point of ingress and sometimes unwilling egress—by deportation—for a million immigrants.

Angel Island Immigration Station, principal immigration facility on the U.S. West Coast from 1910 to 1940, where Asian immigrants were detained. It functioned as both an immigration and deportation facility, at which some 175,000 Chinese and about 60,000 Japanese immigrants were detained under oppressive conditions.

Uncovering family records can be complicated process, but they can reveal valuable information about a person’s background which may include interrogation questions, photographs, witness testimony, and cross references to other family members.

There are a number of free websites where you can search for passenger arrival records (manifests). Some are very general and some can be very specific. Here are some that we have found particularly helpful- and they are totally free.

Name index to lists of 25 million people (not just immigrants) who arrived at Ellis Island, Port of New York, 1892-1924. In addition, includes a link to images of arrival lists at the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Web site.

Find out information about people who came to America through Ellis Island.