u/EasternCheetahh

My grandmother was a german citizen and married a foreigner in Germany. She never naturalised after moving to the US so she kept her citizenship, and had my mother here as well.

I would like to apply for German citizenship for my mother, myself, and siblings, however I am trying to collect everything needed and its been a pain. I have my geandmother and grandfathers marriage records, her birth certificate from Germany, and everything down to my siblings and I. The only thing I am missing is proof of her German citizenship.

I cannot get her old passport because of familial issues where no one talks to the uncle holding onto her documents, so there's no way to prove it that way. However I did find the ship manifest of her and my grandfather coming to the US with her passport number, can we give that to the BVA to look up her previous passport for proof of citizenship?

I assume if not we will need to trace ancestry back to someone born before 1914 but that might be difficult as it took so long for me to get her current records from Germany, I'm worried I might not be able to get her parent's birth and marriage records let alone her grandparents. If that's the case, is it possible to hire a genealogist to help find these?

Thanks in advance for any assistance and advice!