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Flexoline Index (Flex)

The Alien Registration Division of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) created the original Flexoline Index (Flex) in 1940 to index Alien Registration (AR-2) forms created under the Alien Registration Act of 1940. It ultimately served as an index to multiple iterations of Alien Registration Forms: Alien Registration Form (AR-2); Alien Registration Foreign Service Form (AR-102, completed at consular offices); and Alien Registration Seaman Form (AR-102-S). When the Alien Registration Division disbanded near the end of World War II, responsibility for Flex transferred to the INS records program. Thereafter until the early 1950s, Flex entries were created as INS issued Alien Files (A-Files) related to new arrivals, adjustments, or applications by registered aliens. Flex does not contain entries for all A-Files created during this period.

The original Flex records were strips of ticker tape-like paper pasted onto a carrier sheet. These sheets were microfilmed and later manually keyed into a searchable, electronic database. After conversion, the Flex digital images and database were managed by INS, later United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), as a component of the Microfilm Digitization Application System (MiDAS).

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Example Flexoline Carrier Sheet

Flexoline strips for twelve individuals

The Flexoline Index series consists of digital images and a database with data extracted from the microfilmed images of Flex. It serves as an index to the microfilmed (and later digitized) Alien Registration Forms (AR-2, AR-102, AR-102-S) issued 1940–1944 and includes records related to immigration and naturalization in the United States prior to 1955. The searchable Flexoline database contains about 6.9 million unique Alien Registration Numbers (A-Numbers). 

The Flex entries follow three different formats identified by INS as “Format A,” “Format B,” and “Format C.” 

Flexoline Format Data Fields Available

Format A

(circa 1940–1944)

 Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial, Gender Code, Line Number, Alien Registration Number (A-Number), Year of Birth, Country of Birth Code, Place of Alien Registration Codes (State, County, City), and Soundex
Format A

Format B

(circa 1944–1954)

 Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial, Date of Birth, City of Birth, Country of Birth, Date of Entry, Port of Entry, Alien Registration Number (A-Number), and Soundex
Format B

Format C

(circa 1944–1954)

 Last Name, First Name, Middle Initial, Country of Birth Code, Date of Birth, Port of Entry Code, Date of Entry, Alien Registration Number (A-Number), and Soundex
Format C

NARA staff will search the Flex database to assist in retrieving the associated AR-2 form. See the AR-2 web page for more on the search request process.

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NARA cannot provide a copy of the original Flex strip image for an individual because other records on the same carrier sheet may not be releasable, but NARA can provide an extract of the record from the database.

There are several possible reasons why NARA may not locate any Flex records:

  • Flex contains inaccurate information. Individuals completed the AR-2 forms to the best of their knowledge, but may have misremembered their birthdate, country of birth, or other names they had gone by. In addition, the INS manually indexed the AR-2 forms so typos may have occurred as staff transcribed the information.  
  • There are known gaps in Flex. There are about 1.25 million Alien Registration Numbers (A-Numbers) associated with the AR-2 forms that are not listed in Flex. About a million of those A-Numbers are included in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Master Index, which contains names, year of birth, and A-Numbers. However, NARA has not yet taken custody of nor can search the Master Index at this time. 

 

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