Under existing law. when a child is born abroad to a couple. one of whom is a citizen of the United States and the other an alien. the child is born a United States citizen if the citizenparent had a total of 10 years residence in the United States. 5 years of which must have been after the parents sixteenth birthday. 91S1 In the present war we have drafted thousands of boys 18 years of age and it is only natural that in their foreign service a certain proportion will marry girls who are citizens of other countries and have children born to them. Since the boys left the United States when they were under 21 years of age and therefore cannot comply with the provision of the law to have spent 5 years in the United States after their sixteenth birthday. their children will not be considered United States citizens because these boys. not having spent 5 years after their sixteenth birthday in the United States are not able to transmit their citizenship to their children born abroad. In order to meet this problem faced by many of our boys who are now fighting abroad and who think they should have the right to have their children considered United States citizens. the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization. upon recommendation of the Attorney General. reported H. R. 5513. which provides for reduction of the required period of residence in the United States on the part of the citizenparent from 10 to 5 years and further provides that the 5 years residence shall take place subsequent to the parents twelfth birthday instead of his sixteenth.
Keywords matched
Naturalization Immigration