US Citizenship for Father

T

Tartarugacc

New Member
Hi,
My question is regarding my Father's (74 yrs of age), Aunt's (71), and Uncle's (60+) chances of citizenship. Their grandparents were Bermudians (British Overseas Territories) who emigrated to the US (New York) in the early 1900s. Their mother, my grandmother, was born to them in 1912, however, her mother became sick, and 3-4 years later, she, her mother and sister, emigrated back to Bermuda for her health (her father and brother stayed in NYC). Her mother died in Bermuda, so my grandmother and her sister were raised by family there. She married and had 3 children - my father in 1940, my aunt in 1943, and my uncle later. My father travelled to NYC in the 60s and lived with his Grandfather (he was naturalised around 1953), but I think he stayed less than a year. According to him, most Bermudians of that time weren't really thinking of getting US citizenship even if they had the capability. My Grandmother passed in the early 2000s...since she was a US citizen by birth, I was curious what my dad's et. al. chances of US Citizenship were...

Thank You.
 
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Further Query

Thanks Jack...
I have read that before, but I have heard and read reports of people in their 90s getting citizenship (One 94 yr old woman in Canada was an example) - and that site doesn't collectively admit or dismiss the notion. Through other comments you and other people have made on different threads I was wondering if what I was more or less searching for first was Official Recognition of Citizenship for my Dad, Aunt and Uncle - if that was possible, and if so, what steps to take. They were born in the 40s and 50s, but because of Segregation at the time, as well as the fact that my Grandmother had lived here the majority of her life - I don't know if she ever registered them...I guess I'm looking for a more clear direction.

Thanks.
 
Tartarugacc said:
Thanks Jack...
I have read that before, but I have heard and read reports of people in their 90s getting citizenship (One 94 yr old woman in Canada was an example) - and that site doesn't collectively admit or dismiss the notion. Through other comments you and other people have made on different threads I was wondering if what I was more or less searching for first was Official Recognition of Citizenship for my Dad, Aunt and Uncle - if that was possible, and if so, what steps to take. They were born in the 40s and 50s, but because of Segregation at the time, as well as the fact that my Grandmother had lived here the majority of her life - I don't know if she ever registered them...I guess I'm looking for a more clear direction.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

The link provided above by Jacklantern does not appear relevant to your situation, since it deals with people born after 1952 and after 1986. Your father was born in 1940, which is well before 1952. The nationality laws were different at the time, and they changed several times since then.

It is now pretty hard to track exactly what the relevant laws were prior to 1952, and the effect of the subsequent changes (which sometimes were, in some respects, retroactive).
Here are two links to some State Department documents that provide some relevant info:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/86757.pdf
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153156.pdf

Much of this stuff is pretty obscure and you may need to hire a lawyer and maybe even a historian to sort out what's what.
The best I can tell from your first post in this thread, your paternal grandmother was born in the U.S. in 1912, so, presumably, she was a natural born U.S. citizen.

At the time your father was born in Bermuda in 1940, your grandmother was married to your grandfather who, at the time, was not a U.S. citizen.

The nationality law changed in 1940, with the new law going into effect on January 13, 1941.
Since your father was born in 1940, he would have been covered by the previous law, in effect from 1934 to Jan 13, 1941.

The relevant section of that 1934 law (see p. 51 in the first link above) said:
"The amended Section 1993 (48 Stat. 797), went into effect on May 24, 1934, at noon Eastern Standard Time. It stated that: Any child hereafter born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, whose father or mother or both at the time of the birth of such child is a citizen of the United States, is declared to be a citizen of the United States; but the rights of citizenship shall not descend to any such child unless the citizen father or citizen mother, as the case may be, has resided in the United States previous to the birth of such child. In cases where one of the parents is an alien, the right of citizenship shall not descend unless the child comes to the United States and resides therein for at least five years continuously immediately previous to his eighteenth birthday, and unless, within six months after the child's twenty-first birthday, he or she shall take an oath of allegiance to the United States of America as prescribed by the Bureau of Naturalization."

This appears to indicate that your father did derive a conditional U.S. citizenship at the time of his birth in 1940 (since, presumably, his mother, your maternal grandmother, was a natural born U.S. citizen by virtue of being born in the U.S. in 1912).
However, that 1934 law, and the amended 1940 law, required your father to take certain affirmative steps
("the right of citizenship shall not descend unless the child comes to the United States and resides therein for at least five years continuously immediately previous to his eighteenth birthday, and unless, within six months after the child's twenty-first birthday, he or she shall take an oath of allegiance to the United States of America as prescribed by the Bureau of Naturalization.")

As I understand it, a change in law in 1995 made it possible for people who gained citizenship by birth abroad to a U.S. citizen parent but then lost the citizenship because they did not take the affirmative steps mentioned above, to regain their citizenship again. That's what the second link, http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/153156.pdf, deals with.

So it could be that your father does have a shot for claiming U.S. citizenship.

However, there are many ifs and buts here and things that I don't really understand and that you'd need to research further.
E.g. it may be that your grandmother actually lost her U.S. citizenship prior to 1940 by moving abroad, marrying a foreigner and taking up residence there. So basically you'll need to do quite a bit of digging, and I do think that you need to get some professional legal advice here, and not simply rely on what you read here in this forum.
 
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I'm assuming their father (your grandfather) was not a U.S. citizen or national? I am also assuming their parents (your grandparents) were married when they were born?

They likely do not have U.S. citizenship. However, your father might have a way to get it.

Your aunt, and likely uncle (unless he was born December 24, 1952 or after), would be under the Nationality Act of 1940 (which took effect in January 31, 1941). That means their U.S. citizen parent (their mother) must have been present in the U.S. for 10 years, including 5 years after the 16th birthday, before they were born. This your grandmother does not meet. Plus, they would be subject to citizenship retention requirements. (In the chance that your uncle was born after 1952, he would be under the Nationality Act of 1952; the difference being that the residency requirement is 10 years, including 5 after the 14th birthday. However, this your grandmother also does not meet.)

Your father would be under the previous law (called Section 1993 of the Revised Statutes of 1878). It was amended in May 24, 1934 to permit U.S. citizen women to pass on citizenship. Under this act, your grandmother could have resided in the U.S. for any length of time before he was born (which she was) and still passed on citizenship. So he was likely born a U.S. citizen.

However, people born abroad as U.S. citizens to only one U.S. citizen parent between 1934 and 1952 are subject to citizenship retention requirements. He needed to have resided in the U.S. for 5 years continuously before he was 18, and have taken an oath within 6 months of turning 21. Since he did not do that, he would have lost his U.S. citizenship. However, a law effective 1995 (INA 324(d)(1)) allows him to apply to regain U.S. citizenship. He simply needs to apply for a U.S. passport at a U.S. consulate if he is outside the U.S., complete a passport application (DS-11) and also DS-4079, a questionnaire about possible loss of U.S. citizenship, plus his birth certificate, evidence of his mother's U.S. citizenship and that she was present in the U.S. (her birth certificate), and evidence of his parents' marriage, etc. They will ask him to take an oath to become a citizen.

Edit: I just noticed that someone above also said the same things.
 
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