United States nationality law

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The Great Seal of the United States

The Immigration and Naturalization Act sets forth the legal requirements for acquiring and losing citizenship of the United States. The requirements become more explicit since the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, with the most recent changes made in 2001.

Contents

1 Possession of citizenship

1.1 Rights of citizens
1.2 Responsibilities of citizens

2 Acquisition of citizenship

2.1 Natural-born citizens

2.1.1 Birth within the United States
2.1.2 Through birth abroad to two United States citizens
2.1.3 Through birth abroad to one United States citizen

2.2 Naturalization

2.2.1 Eligibility for naturalization
2.2.2 Expeditious naturalization - children
2.2.3 Child Citizenship Act of 2000

3 Dual citizenship
4 Nationals who are not citizens
5 Loss of citizenship
6 See also
7 External links

Possession of citizenship

Rights of citizens

U.S. citizens have the right to participate in the political system of the United States (with most U.S. states having restrictions for felons, and federal restrictions on naturalized persons), are represented and protected abroad by the United States (through U.S. embassies and consulates), and are allowed to reside in the United States, and certain territories, without any immigration requirements.

Responsibilities of citizens

Citizens are liable for jury service. Citizens are also required to pay taxes on worldwide income, including income earned while residing abroad (regardless of the duration of the residence) – but only beyond the first $80,000 in this case because of the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion.[link]. U.S. taxes payable may be further reduced by credits for foreign tax paid.

Male U.S. citizens and permanent residents who reach the age of 18 are required to register under the Selective Service Act (while the U.S. does not actively use conscription, it reserves the right to do so): failure to do so is a criminal offense (up to 5 years imprisonment, $20,000 fine, and the suspension of federal educational grants/loans). The United States Government also insists that U.S. citizens travel into and out of the United States on a U.S. passport, regardless of any other nationality they may possess.

Acquisition of citizenship

Natural-born citizens

Most United States citizens are natural-born citizens, meaning they have been citizens since birth by virtue of having been born in the United States or born to United States citizens overseas.

Birth within the United States

Children born in the United States (including not only the 50 states and the District of Columbia, but also, in most cases, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Panama Canal Zone before it was returned to Panama), are U.S. citizens at birth (unless born to foreign diplomatic staff), regardless of the citizenship or nationality of the parents (see Jus soli). This has become controversial, as some non-resident parents enter the United States to give birth, so that their children will be U.S. citizens. A birth certificate is considered evidence of citizenship.

The U.S. citizenship status of children born in the United States to non-citizen parents has been generally accepted as settled law since 1898, when the Supreme Court held in U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark that almost all such children were entitled to citizenship by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Although efforts have been made in Congress, from time to time, to overturn the Wong Kim Ark ruling or limit its effect, via either a new amendment to the Constitution or ordinary legislation, no such attempt has ever succeeded.

Through birth abroad to two United States citizens

In most cases, one is a U.S. citizen if both of the following are true:

Both their parents were U.S. citizens at the time of their birth
At least one of their parents lived in the United States prior to their birth.

A person's record of birth abroad, if registered with a U.S. consulate or embassy, is proof of their citizenship. They may also apply for a passport or a Certificate of Citizenship to have their citizenship recognized.

Through birth abroad to one United States citizen

In most cases, one is a U.S. citizen if all of the following are true:

One of their parents was a U.S. citizen at the time of their birth;
Their citizen parent lived at least 5 years in the United States before their birth; and
At least 2 of these 5 years in the United States were after their citizen parent's 14th birthday (see note below).

Note: If born before November 14, 1986, one is a citizen if their U.S. citizen parent lived in the U.S. for at least 10 years and 5 of those years in the U.S. were after their citizen parent's 14th birthday. The newer law does not apply retroactively.

Different rules apply for those born before December 24, 1952.

Naturalization

Naturalization is the process by which one becomes a citizen of a country. If not a U.S. citizen, one may be eligible to become one through naturalization. A person who becomes a U.S. citizen through naturalization is not considered a natural-born citizen. Consequently, naturalized U.S. citizens are not eligible to become President of the United States. For example, in 2005, the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor could not succeed to the presidency because they became U.S. citizens through naturalization. Ordinarily, the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor are tenth and eleventh in the presidential line of succession, as established by the United States Constitution and the Presidential Succession Act.

Eligibility for naturalization

To become a naturalized United States citizen, one must be 18 years of age at the time of filing, a legal permanent resident (LPR) of the United States, and have resided as a LPR in the United States for five years less 90 days before they apply (this requirement is reduced to three years less 90 days if they (a) acquired legal permanent resident status through marriage to a U.S. Citizen, and (b) have remained married to and living with that citizen since their marriage). They must have been physically present for at least 30 months of 60 months prior to the date of filing their application. Also during those 60 months if the LPR was outside of the U.S. for a continuous period of 6 months or more they are disqualified from naturalizing (certain exceptions apply for those continuous periods of six months to 1 year). They must be a "person of good moral character", and must pass a test on United States history and government. Most applicants must also have a working knowledge of the English language (there are exceptions for long-resident older applicants and those with mental or physical disabilities), although this requirement is not intended to be an onerous one, since the test requires that they read and write simple sentences in English, such as "The United States is a democracy". However, some applicants fail the language and civics tests, and others are deterred from applying for naturalization by virtue of the test requirement.

Expeditious naturalization - children

Effective 1 April 1995, a child born outside the U.S. to a U.S. citizen parent, if not already a citizen by birth because the parent does not meet the residency requirement (see above), may qualify for expeditious naturalization based on the physical presence of the child's grandparent in the U.S. In general the grandparent should have spent 5 years in the U.S., 2 years of which after the age of 14.

The process of naturalization, including the oath of allegiance, must be completed before the child's 18th birthday. It is not necessary for the child to be admitted to the U.S. as a lawful permanent resident. [Details]

Child Citizenship Act of 2000

Effective 27 February 2001, the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 provided that a non-U.S. citizen child (aged under 18) with a U.S. citizen parent, and in the custody of that parent, automatically acquired U.S. citizenship:

on that date, if admitted to the U.S. as a permanent resident
immediately upon subsequent admission to the U.S. as a permanent resident, if still aged under 18. [Details]

Dual citizenship

Based on the U.S. Department of State regulation on dual citizenship (7 FAM 1162), the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that dual citizenship is a “status long recognized in the law” and that “a person may have and exercise rights of nationality in two countries and be subject to the responsibilities of both. The mere fact he asserts the rights of one citizenship does not without more mean that he renounces the other,” (Kawakita v. U.S., 343 U.S. 717) (1952).

The Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) does not define dual citizenship or take a position for it or against it. There has been no prohibition against dual citizenship, but some provisions of the INA and earlier U.S. nationality laws were designed to reduce situations in which dual citizenship exists.

While recognizing the existence of dual citizenship and permitting Americans to have other citizenships, the U.S. Government does not endorse dual citizenship as a matter of policy because of the problems that it may cause. Claims of other countries on dual-national U.S. citizens often place them in situations where their obligations to one country are in conflict with the laws of the other.

Nationals who are not citizens

According to 8 U.S.C. §1408 it is possible to be a U.S. national without being a U.S. citizen. A person whose only connection to the U.S. is through birth in an outlying possession, (which as of 2005 is limited to American Samoa and Swains Island), or through descent from a person so born acquires U.S. nationality but not U.S. citizenship. Nationals who are not citizens cannot vote or hold elected office. However, they may reside and work in the United States without restrictions and apply for citizenship under the same rules as other resident aliens.

Not all U.S. nationals are U.S. citizens; however, all U.S. citizens are U.S. nationals. Indeed, U.S. passports normally make no distinction between the two, mentioning only the bearer's nationality, not his/her citizenship.

Loss of citizenship

As a historical matter, U.S. citizenship could be forfeited upon the undertaking of various acts, including naturalization in a foreign state, service in foreign armed forces, and voting in a foreign political election. However, a line of U.S. Supreme Court decisions beginning with Afroyim v. Rusk (1967) constitutionally limited the government's capacity to terminate citizenship to those cases in which an individual engaged in conduct with an intention of abandoning their citizenship. In the wake of administrative practice changes adopted by the U.S. Department of State during the mid 1990s, it is now virtually impossible to lose one's citizenship without expressly renouncing it before a U.S. consular officer.

There are also special provisions for persons who are deemed to have renounced citizenship for purposes of avoiding U.S. taxation (which is, in theory, applicable up to ten years after the official loss of citizenship), which can result in loss of right to entry into the United States. While in practice there is little to stop a foreign citizen who has performed a said act from entering the U.S., the U.S. State Department "requires" that a Certificate of Loss of Citizenship be obtained at a U.S. embassy or consulate (though this is generally treated as a gray area, judged on a case by case basis).

External links

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