Document E: U.S. Immigration Process Pre-World War II

If you wanted to immigrate, the process was to apply at the consulate and be given a waiting list number. When your number was drawn, you had to present all paperwork to the consular officer for review, submit to a medical exam, etc. If everything was in order, you received a visa that had a number assigned to it; each country had a limited number, or quota, of available immigration slots per year. 

In the years immediately preceding U.S. entry into World War II, potential immigrants were required to file the following documents to obtain a U.S. visa. 

• Visa application (Form BC)—Five copies 
• Birth certificate—Two copies (country of birth determined applicable quotas) 
• Immigration Visa 

Two sponsors (close relatives of prospective immigrant were preferred). 

The sponsors had to be American citizens or have permanent resident status, and they had to provide the following: 

• Affidavit of Support and Sponsorship (Form C)—Six copies, notarized 
• Certified copy of most recent federal tax return 
• Affidavit from a bank about accounts (two required after July 1, 1941) 
• Affidavit from any other responsible person testifying to assets and good conduct 

Certificate of Good Conduct from German police authorities, including two copies of each of the following: 

• Police dossier prison record 
• Military record 
• Other government records about the individual 

Affidavits of Good Conduct (after September 1940) 

Evidence of passing a physical examination at a U.S. consulate 

Proof of permission to leave Germany (after September 30, 1939) 

Proof the prospective immigrant had booked passage to the Western hemisphere (after September 1939)