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In depth
Genealogy is the study of family history and descent — tracing family lines through generations using vital records, parish records, census records, and other historical documents. It is the foundational research discipline for CBD cases.
For CBD cases, genealogists: (1) map the family tree from the applicant back to the anchor ancestor, (2) retrieve vital records (birth, marriage, death certificates) for each person in the chain, (3) retrieve the anchor ancestor's records from the country of origin, and (4) document the citizenship chain through naturalization (or no-record) records.
Professional genealogists specializing in CBD cases have expertise in: (1) the archive systems of specific countries (Italy, Ireland, Poland, Germany, etc.), (2) paleography (reading old handwriting in multiple languages), and (3) the legal requirements of CBD regimes.
Related terms
A family tree is a diagram showing family relationships across generations, the visual representation of the citizenship chain in CBD cases.
A vital record is a government-recorded document that certifies a vital event — birth, marriage, divorce, or death — and is the primary evidence in CBD cases.
A parish record is a church document (baptism, marriage, burial) maintained by a parish, used as a substitute for civil records in historic CBD cases.
A pedigree is a documented line of descent, the formal genealogical record used to prove the citizenship chain in CBD cases.
An ahnentafel is a numbered list of ancestors in a pedigree, using a specific numbering system that allows compact representation of multi-generational lineages.
GEDCOM (Genealogical Data Communication) is a standard file format for exchanging genealogical data between different genealogy software and databases.