1600-93510.
Decided by Central Office December 11, 1951.
Filipino — Citizenship — Acquisition — Section 201 (e) of the Nationality Act of 1940.
(1) Until July 4, 1946, the date on which the independence of the Philippine Islands was recognized, the Philippine Islands were outlying possessions of the United States within the meaning of section 201 (e) of the Nationality Act of 1940, as amended.
(2) A child born in the Philippine Islands in 1942 of a native Filipino father and of a native Filipino mother, the latter having acquired United States citizenship under section 1993 of the Revised Statutes, is deemed to have acquired United States citizenship at birth pursuant to the provisions of section 201 (e) of the Nationality Act of 1940, as amended.
BEFORE THE CENTRAL OFFICE
Discussion: The above-named subject claims that he acquired citizenship of the United States at birth in the Philippine Islands through his mother, E---- C---- S----. The District Director at Los Angeles, Calif., has denied the subject's application for a certificate of citizenship on the ground that the subject's mother did not reside in the United States prior to the subject's birth and therefore she could not meet the residence requirements of section 201 (g) of the Nationality Act of 1940. The subject's mother has appealed from said denial order.
The question presented is whether the subject acquired United States citizenship under section 201 (g) of the Nationality Act of 1940, or under any other applicable provision of law.
The record shows that the subject was born in the Philippines on April 28, 1942. His father, F---- D---- S----, a native and subject of the Philippines, is deceased. His mother, E---- C---- S----, who was born in the Philippines on July 15, 1915, acquired United States citizenship under section 1993, Revised Statutes, by reason of the birth of her father, T---- A---- C----, in New York. The subject's parents were married in Manila, Philippines, on June 29, 1941, and the subject's mother resided continuously in the Philippines from the time of her birth until June 9, 1949, when she was admitted to the United States at the port of San Francisco, Calif. She was admitted as a United States citizen and the subject, who accompanied her, was also admitted as a United States citizen.
The denial of the subject's application under section 201 (g) of the Nationality Act of 1940, was based on the fact that the subject's mother had never resided in the United States. It is evident therefrom that no consideration was given to the question of the mother's residence in an outlying possession of the United States or to the status of the Philippine Islands as an outlying possession of the United States prior to July 4, 1946, on which date the Independence of the Philippine Islands was recognized and on which date the United States relinquished all rights of possession, supervision, control, or sovereignty over the territory and people of the Philippine Islands.
Section 201 (e) of the Nationality Act of 1940 provides that a person born in an outlying possession of the United States of parents, one of whom is a citizen of the United States who resided in the United States or one of its outlying possessions prior to the birth of such person, is a citizen of the United States at birth.
Section 201 (g) of said act provides that a person born outside the United States and its outlying possessions of parents, one of whom is a citizen of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, has had 10 years' residence in the United States or one of its outlying possessions, at least 5 of which were after attaining the age of 16 years, the other being an alien, is a citizen of the United States at birth, with certain provisions dealing with retention of said citizenship.
Section 101 (d) of the Nationality Act of 1940 defines the term United States when used in a geographical sense means the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands of the United States. Section 101 (e) of said act defines the term "outlying possessions" as meaning all territory, other than specified in section 101 (d) over which the United States exercises rights of sovereignty, except the Canal Zone.
There appears to be no necessity to review the history of the acquisition of the Philippine Islands in order to show that they come directly within the meaning of "outlying possessions" of the United States as used in the Nationality Act of 1940, and that such status existed until July 4, 1946, when their independence was proclaimed. For the purposes of the pertinent sections of the Nationality Act of 1940 it may be accepted as common knowledge that until July 4, 1946, the Philippine Islands were outlying possessions of the United States. The legislative history of the Nationality Act of 1940 shows that the Philippine Islands were so considered. (See pp. 39, 398, and 412 of the hearings before the Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, 76th Cong., 1st sess.)
Since the subject was born on April 30, 1942, in the Philippine Islands at a time when those islands were considered to be an outlying possession of the United States, and since one of his parents, his mother, was then a citizen of the United States who resided in said Philippine Islands, an outlying possession, prior to the birth of the subject, it appears that he became a citizen of the United States at birth under section 201 (e) of the Nationality Act of 1940. Furthermore, in view of the foregoing, it appears that section 201 (g) would have no applicability under the facts presented in this case. Section 201 (e) applies and the subject is entitled to a certificate of citizenship under that section and section 339 of the Nationality Act of 1940.
Order: It is ordered that the appeal from the denial by the district director be sustained and that the subject's application for a certificate of citizenship be granted.