Acquisition of Citizenship

Acquisition of U.S. Citizenship by Birth Abroad to Parents, one of whom is a U.S Citizen, and the other a non-U.S Citizen.

Two requirements exist for transmitting U.S. citizenship to children born abroad. This applies when one parent is a U.S. citizen and the other is not. The law applicable was the law in effect when the child was born.

• One natural parent must have been a U.S. citizen when the child was born.
• The U.S. citizen parent must have resided or been physically present in the United States for the time required by the law, in effect, when the child was born.

The Immigration Act of 1952 required a U.S. citizen married to a non-U.S Citizen to have been physically present in the United States for ten years, including five years after reaching the age of fourteen, to transmit citizenship to foreign-born children. The ten-year transmission requirement remained in effect from December 24, 1952, through November 13, 1986, and still applies to persons born during that period.

The Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1986 changed the parental citizenship transmission requirements. Previously, a parent needed ten years of physical presence in the United States, five of which had to be after age 14. Now, the requirement is five years of physical presence, with two years after age 14. These provisions apply to persons born on or after November 14, 1986. This is the current law today.

Evidence must be sufficient to show that the foreign-born U.S citizen parent was in the United States for the required period, for a foreign-born child to obtain or derive U.S citizenship at birth.