United States nationality law

Adult citizens of the United States[2][3] who are residents of one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.) have the right to participate in the political system of the United States, as well as their state and local governments, (with most states having restrictions on voting by persons convicted of felonies, and a federal constitutional prohibition on naturalized persons running for President and Vice President of the United States), to be represented and protected abroad by the United States (through U.S. embassies and consulates), and to live in the United States[2][3] and certain territories without any immigration requirements. Felons can vote in over 40 states, and in at least 2 while incarcerated. Felons can also serve jury duty if approved.

Some[4] U.S. citizens have the obligation to serve in a jury, if selected and legally qualified. Citizens are also required (under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code) to pay taxes on their total income from all sources worldwide, including income earned abroad while living abroad. Under certain circumstances, however, U.S. citizens living and working abroad may be able to reduce or eliminate their U.S. federal income tax via the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion or the Foreign Tax Credit.[5] U.S. taxes payable may be alternatively reduced by credits for foreign income taxes regardless of the length of stay abroad. The United States Government also insists that U.S. citizens travel into and out of the United States[2][3] on a U.S. passport, regardless of any other nationality they may possess.[6]

Male U.S. citizens (including those living permanently abroad and those with multiple citizenships) from 18–25 years of age are required to register with the Selective Service System at age 18 for possible conscription into the armed forces. Although no one has been drafted in the U.S. since 1973, draft registration continues in the case of a possible reinstatement on some future date.[7]

In the Oath of Citizenship, immigrants becoming naturalized U.S. citizens swear that when required by law they will bear arms on behalf of the United States, will perform noncombatant service in the U.S. Armed Forces, and will perform work of national importance under civilian direction. In some cases, the USCIS allows the oath to be taken without the clauses regarding the first two of these three sworn commitments.[8]

Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."[10]

A Colorado birth certificate, which can be used to prove U.S. citizenship.

Because Native American tribes within the geographical boundaries of the U.S. held a special sovereignty status, the tribes were not "subject to the jurisdiction thereof" and thus Native Americans who were born into tribes were not considered citizens, even if they left the tribe and settled in white society, which the Supreme Court upheld in Elk v. Wilkins.[11] However, in 1924, Congress granted birthright citizenship to Native Americans through the Indian Citizenship Act.[12]^:1693 Furthermore, under the Insular Cases, unincorporated U.S. territories and commonwealths are appurtenant to the United States rather than part of the United States, which limits applicability of the U.S. Constitution.[2][3] Congress has conferred birthright citizenship, through legislation, to persons born in all inhabited territories except American Samoa and Swains Island, who are granted the status of U.S. Nationals.[12]^:1683 (See § Citizenship at birth on the U.S. territories and former U.S. territories.)

In the case of United States v. Wong Kim Ark,[13] the Supreme Court ruled that a person becomes a citizen of the United States at the time of birth, by virtue of the first clause of the 14th Amendment, if at a minimum that person:

• Is born in the United States[2][3]
• Has parents that are subjects of a foreign power, but not in any diplomatic or official capacity of that foreign power
• Has parents that have permanent domicile and residence in the United States[2][3]

The Supreme Court has not explicitly ruled whether children born in the United States to immigrants illegally present in the country are U.S. citizens from birth,[14] but it is generally presumed they are.[15] The constitutional provision reads in pertinent part, "All persons born...in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens...".

Birth certificates from U.S. jurisdictions are therefore proof of citizenship, except where specified otherwise.

A State Department certification of birth abroad, issued prior to 1990.

A child is automatically granted citizenship if:[2][3]

1. Both parents were U.S. citizens at the time of the child's birth;
2. The parents are married; and
3. At least one parent lived in the United States prior to the child's birth. INA 301(c) and INA 301(a)(3) state, "and one of whom has had a residence."

The FAM (Foreign Affairs Manual) states "no amount of time specified."

A State Department certification of report of birth, issued between 1990 and 2010.

A person born on or after November 14, 1986, is a U.S. citizen if all of the following are true:[16]

1. The person's parents were married at time of birth
2. One of the person's parents was a U.S. citizen when the person in question was born
3. The citizen parent lived at least five years in the United States before the child's birth
4. A minimum of two of these five years in the United States were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.

A State Department consular report of birth abroad, issued beginning 2011.

INA 301(g) makes additional provisions to satisfy the physical-presence requirements for periods citizens spent abroad in "honorable service in the Armed Forces of the United States, or periods of employment with the United States Government or with an international organization." Additionally citizens, who spent time living abroad as the "dependent unmarried son or daughter and a member of the household of a person" in any of the previously mentioned organizations can also be counted.

A person's Consular Report of Birth Abroad issued by a U.S. consulate or embassy is proof of citizenship. They may also apply for a passport or a Certificate of Citizenship as proof of citizenship. Different rules apply for persons born abroad to one U.S. citizen before November 14, 1986. United States law on this subject changed multiple times throughout the twentieth century, and the law is applicable as it existed at the time of the individual's birth.

For persons born between December 24, 1952 and November 14, 1986, a person is a U.S. citizen if all of the following are true:[16]

1. The person's parents were married at the time of birth
2. One of the person's parents was a U.S. citizen when the person was born
3. The citizen parent lived at least ten years in the United States before the child's birth;
4. A minimum of 5 of these 10 years in the United States were after the citizen parent's 14th birthday.

For persons born to two people who are not married to each other, the person is a U.S. citizen if all the following apply:

1. the mother (or the father, if child was born on or after June 12, 2017[17][18]) was a U.S. citizen at the time of the person's birth, and
2. the mother was physically present in the United States or one of its outlying possessions for a continuous period of one year prior to the person's birth.[19] (For those born prior to June 11, 2017 to a U.S. father out of wedlock, see link.[16]

The Child Citizenship Act of 2000 (CCA), which went into effect on February 27, 2001, amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) to provide U.S. citizenship to certain foreign-born children—including adopted children—of U.S. citizens.[20]

A judge swears in a new citizen. New York, 1910

A person who was not born a U.S. citizen may acquire U.S. citizenship through a process known as naturalization.

To become a naturalized United States citizen, one must be at least eighteen years of age at the time of filing, a legal permanent resident (or non-citizen national) of the United States, and have had a status of a legal permanent resident in the United States for five years before they apply. (This 5-year requirement is reduced to three years if they (a) acquired legal permanent resident status, (b) have been married to and living with a citizen for the past three years and (c) the spouse has been a U.S. citizen for at least three years prior to the applicant applying for naturalization.) 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 legal permanent resident 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).[21]

The territory of the United States, for the purposes of determining one's period of residence, includes the fifty states, District Columbia, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands.[22] The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands has been added to this list effective November 28, 2009. Prior to that date, residence in the CNMI normally did not count as residence in the United States for naturalization purposes.[23] American Samoa is not included into the territory of the United States for the purposes of determining one's period of residence (unless the person being naturalized is a US national, rather than a permanent resident alien; see below).

A certificate of naturalization.

An applicant for citizenship must be a "person of good moral character", and must pass a test on United States history and government.[21][24] Most applicants must also have a working knowledge of the English language.[21] There are exceptions, introduced in 1990, for long-resident older applicants and those with mental or physical disabilities.[25]

Some exemptions from permanent residency exist for certain qualifying naturalization applicants. For example, an undocumented immigrant who served in the US military during a designated period of hostility may naturalize without having first been a permanent resident.[26] An immigrant who successfully completes the MAVNI program may naturalize in 10 weeks without first having been a permanent resident.[27] Similarly, an immigrant who has made extraordinary contributions can be exempted from residency as well as the physical presence requirement and prohibitions for support of totalitarianism and or communism.[28]

Before 1906, all municipal courts, county courts, state courts, and federal courts in the U.S. had the authority to grant U.S. citizenship to an individual.[29]

A non-citizen U.S. national (see below) is also eligible for naturalization after becoming a resident of any state. For such persons (unlike most other applicants for naturalization), time spent in American Samoa counts as time spent in the United States for the purposes of determining residence and physical presence.[30][31]

Questions and answers for the civics portion of the citizenship test

The entire citizenship test is in the form of a one-on-one interview. The citizenship test has four components: a speaking/comprehension test, a reading test, a writing test and a civics test.[32] For the civics test, applicants for citizenship are asked ten questions, and must answer at least six with the expected answers. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has published a list of 100 sample questions (with the answers that should be given when taking the test), from which the questions asked are always drawn. The full list of questions is in the document "A Guide to Naturalization", available for free from the USCIS.[33] The test examines the applicant's knowledge of American society and the English language. Sample questions and answers are published by the USCIS in English, Spanish, and Chinese.

Besides passing the citizenship test, citizenship applicants must also satisfy other specific requirements of naturalization to successfully obtain U.S. citizenship.[34]

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 or Vice President of the United States, which would ordinarily be the case as established by the Presidential Succession Act. For example, though the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Labor are tenth and eleventh in the presidential line of succession, Elaine Chao and Carlos Gutierrez (respectively former U.S. Secretaries of Labor and Commerce under President George W. Bush) would have been unable to succeed to the presidency because they became U.S. citizens through naturalization. The highest-ranking naturalized citizens to have been excluded from the Presidential Line of Succession were Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, each of whom would have been fourth in line as Secretary of State had they been natural born citizens.

Whether this restriction applies to children born to non-U.S. citizens but adopted as minors by U.S. citizens is a matter of some debate, since the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 is ambiguous as to whether acquisition of citizenship by that route is to be regarded as naturalized or natural-born. Those who argue that the restriction does not apply point out that the child automatically becomes a citizen even though violating every single requirement of eligibility for naturalization, and thus the case falls closer to the situation of birth abroad to U.S. citizens than to naturalization.

Some argue that the phrase "natural born citizen" describes a category of citizenship distinct from that described by the phrase "U.S. Citizen" in Article Two of the United States Constitution, and this was discussed during the constitutional convention of 1787.[35] While it is true that "natural born citizen" is not defined anywhere within the text of the Constitution and that the Constitution makes use of the phrase "citizen" and "natural born citizen", Supreme Court decisions from United States v. Wong Kim Ark to the present have considered the distinction to be between natural-born and naturalized citizenship.

In her 1988 article in the Yale Law Journal, Jill Pryor wrote, "It is well settled that 'native-born' citizens, those born in the United States, qualify as natural born. It is also clear that persons born abroad of alien parents, who later become citizens by naturalization, do not. But whether a person born abroad of American parents, or of one American and one alien parent, qualifies as natural born has never been resolved."[36]

An April 2000 CRS report by the Congressional Research Service, asserts that most constitutional scholars interpret the phrase "natural born citizen" as including citizens born outside the United States to parents who are U.S. citizens under the "natural born" requirement.[37]

Several holders of the offices of President and Vice President have touched on questions of whether they were natural-born:

• Chester A. Arthur, President from 1881 to 1885, was born in the U.S. state of Vermont of an American mother and Irish father. His status as a natural-born citizen was challenged by a political opponent during the 1880 campaign, who claimed Arthur had been born in Canada or Ireland.
• Charles Curtis, Vice President from 1929 to 1933, was born in Kansas Territory, which was not a US state.
• Presidential candidates George W. Romney (born in Mexico), Ted Cruz (born in Canada), Barry Goldwater, and John McCain (born in U.S. territories), were not born within a US state but were born to US citizens. Their natural-born status was never seriously challenged.
• Barack Obama, President from 2009 to 2017, was born in the U.S. state of Hawaii of an American mother and Kenyan father. He was the subject of several conspiracy theories that claimed he had been born in Kenya and was thus not natural-born.

During the naturalization ceremony, the applications are required to swear the following Oath of Allegiance[38]

I hereby declare, on oath,

that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;
that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law;
that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law;
that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law;
and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;

so help me God.

A person holding up their certificate of derivative citizenship.

Effective February 27, 2001, the Child Citizenship Act of 2000 provided that 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. The grandparent should have spent five years in the U.S., at least two of which were 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.[39]

Effective February 27, 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 while resident in the United States, automatically acquired U.S. citizenship. To be eligible, a child must meet the definition of "child" for naturalization purposes under immigration law, and must also meet the following requirements:

• The child has at least one United States citizen parent (by birth or naturalization)
• The child is under 18 years of age
• The child is currently residing permanently in the United States in the legal and physical custody of the United States citizen parent
• The child has been admitted to the United States as a lawful permanent resident or has been adjusted to this status
• An adopted child must also meet the requirements applicable to the particular provision under which they qualified for admission as an adopted child under immigration law