DHS approves new fees for genealogy records
Following numerous objections from the public over proposed fees for records, the Department of Homeland Security has approved new fees for genealogy records -- some lower, some higher. The new fees:
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G-1041 Genealogy Index Search Request (online filing) currently $65 was proposed to go to $100 but the final rule has the fee at $30 a $55 reduction (-54%).
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G-1041 Genealogy Index Search Request (paper filing) currently is $65 going to $120, an $80 increase or a 23% increase.
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G-1041A Genealogy Records Request (online filing) currently $65.00, the proposed rule was $240, the final fee is $30 a difference of $30 is a difference between current to final of -$35 or a -54%
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G-1041A Genealogy Records request (paper filing) currently $65, proposed $260, final fee $80 currently to final amoung$15 or a 23% increase.
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G-1566 Request for Certificate of Non Existence is $330 same as in the notice …there was no fee previously.
If you file your form online (see https://www.uscis.gov/file-online), the system will guide you through the process of paying your fees with a credit, debit, or pre-paid card. Bank account withdrawals are also available when paying online. There is often a $50 discount when filing a form online. If online PDF intake is available for your form and you file using this tool, the $50 discount also applies.
Information on Form G-1055 regarding genealogy may be found at: https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/g-1055.pdf
You can read about the arguments made by the public and the DHS's decision in the Federal Register here.
Simon Wiesenthal's 20th Yahrzeit Webinar Slated for April 6
The Simon Wiesenthal Genealogy Geolocation Initiative is holding its Simon Wiesenthal's 20th Yahrzeit from 1-2:30 p.m. on April 6. Topics to be covered include: Immigration Records as a Tool to Learn about Family History in Vienna; Where Vienna’s Jews Lived and the Locations of Their Deportation; The Fate of the Viennese Jews Deported to Lodz, and Accessing the 550,000 Records in One Click. Go here to register. You can find more information on the Simon Wiesenthal Genealogy Geolocation Initiative here.
Gesher Galicia launches new education division
The division will offer courses running the gamut from Jewish genealogy to history to culture. Courses will be available for a variety of skill-levels, and course lengths will range from single-class explorations to more in depth multipart courses that span many weeks. All courses will be offered online, live with the instructor, allowing for a high level of interactivity with your instructor and fellow students. Each class will be recorded and available to registrants for a designated period after it initially airs. Check out the first course being offered and pricing information here.
NY State proposal would limit vital records access
The FY2026 New York State budget proposes to severely limit access to historical New York State vital records and to greatly increase the cost of the records that remain available. The proposal would: 1) decrease the number of years of birth, marriage and death records that are available to genealogists -- genealogy copies would not be available until 125 years after birth, 100 years after marriage and 75 years after death; and 2) raise fees for uncertified genealogy copies from $22 to $95. This would affect all records in New York State other than New York City, which is a separate vital records jurisdiction. Read more about this issue here.
New epitaphs database online for Lviv recovered headstones
Jewishstonesusa.org is a special collection of 'recovered' grave markers that had been stolen from Lviv Jewish cemeteries during the German occupation of WWII and repurposed, usually as building materials for the occupying forces. Most in this collection were recovered from under a street southwest of the city center in 2018 by volunteers, by hand and with machinery, but others were recovered from nearby locations and elsewhere in the city in a number of smaller efforts between 2017 and 2021.
Wiener Holocaust Library offers newly digitized collections
This new platform launched on Feb. 5, Holocaust Memorial Day, provides free access to crucial documents, photos, transcripts, and testimonies that have been digitised over the past three years. These materials include the Jewish Central Information Office’s reports on the growth of antisemitism in Europe in the 1930s, as well as documents donated to the library by the Nuremberg war crimes trial authorities in return for the support the Library gave to prosecutors. Numerous photographic collections, for example photographs of Łódź ghetto, For more information, click here.
IAJGS 2025 Conference Website
You can find out more about the 2025 conference of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) in Fort at its website. On the site you'll find info about the conference, Fort Wayne and the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, one of the largest family history research centers in the world.
Reclaim the Records creates database of veterans' records
Reclaim the Records won access to a once-inaccessible database, the Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS), which includes people who served in the US military and received veterans' benefits in the twentieth century. The organizaiton created its own search engine that gives basic information and an automated way to file a Freedom of Information Act request for the records. Read more here. Start your search here.