Finding Family from Other Countries - 2

Most countries keep records of births, deaths and marriages. Record keeping dates back to the 17th century for most countries, although there are incidents where records are lost or destroyed. You can, however, find living relatives in other countries who may be distant cousins who can help you on your search.

You can find living relatives by doing a people search online. Many people search companies will only search for people who are in the United States, England, Australia or Canada. There are people searches for other countries as well. Bear in mind that the person you meet must also be looking for the same thing as you. You may meet many people who share your last name, but unless you are both willing to go back in time to do some relative searching, you will be reaching a dead end.

Living relatives are another way that you can help your search for family history, especially if your family immigrated to the United States from another country. This can also end up causing you to hit a lot of brick walls and, of course, your family members must have internet access in order for it to work. But if you both go on the same track to see if you are related, you may be able to find more information about your ancestors through someone from another country.