"These registers tracked Certificates of Identity issued to persons of Chinese ancestry arriving at the port of San Francisco, California between 1909-1938." -- [Introd., p. i]. A fire in the 1940s in the INS Office destroyed thousands of certificates. Some certificate numbers are missing.

Volumes are not in order on film. List includes name of vessels sailing from port, date sailed, arriving port, and date arrived. Also includes name (family and given), age, employment on vessel, nationality, bona fide seamen, when and where shipped (date, place), evidence of intention to remain in the U.S., and other information depending on form used.

Extracts from the shipping columns in the Maitland Mercury newspaper.

The records were microfilmed originally in the 1950's and the paper records were destroyed.