II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 783

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

NOVEMBER 20 (legislative day, NOVEMBER 2), 1993

Received

AN ACT

To amend title III of the Immigration and Nationality Act

to make changes in the laws relating to nationality and

naturalization.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Nationality and Natu5 ralization Amendments of 1993’’.
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1 SEC. 2. EQUAL TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN CONFERRING

2 CITIZENSHIP FOR CHILDREN BORN ABROAD.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301 of the Immigration

4 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1401) is amended—

5 (1) by striking the period at the end of para6 graph (g) and inserting ‘‘; and’’, and

7 (2) by adding at the end the following new

8 paragraph:

9 ‘‘(h) a person born before noon (Eastern Stand10 ard Time) May 24, 1934, outside the limits and ju11 risdiction of the United States of an alien father and

12 a mother who is a citizen of the United States who,

13 prior to the birth of such person, had resided in the

14 United States.’’.

15 (b) WAIVER OF RETENTION REQUIREMENTS.—Any

16 provision of law (including section 301(b) of the Immigra17 tion and Nationality Act (as in effect before October 10,

18 1978), and the provisos of section 201(g) of the National19 ity Act of 1940) that provided for a person’s loss of citi20 zenship or nationality if the person failed to come to, or

21 reside or be physically present in, the United States shall

22 not apply in the case of a person claiming United States

23 citizenship based on such person’s descent from an indi24 vidual described in section 301(h) of the Immigration and

25 Nationality Act (as added by subsection (a)).
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1 (c) RETROACTIVE APPLICATION.—The immigration

2 and nationality laws of the United States shall be applied

3 (to persons born before, on, or after the date of the enact4 ment of this Act) as though such amendment and such

5 subsection had been in effect as of the date of their birth.

6 However, the retroactive application of the amendment

7 and provision shall not affect the validity of citizenship

8 of anyone who has obtained citizenship under section 1993

9 of the Revised Statutes (as in effect before the enactment

10 of the Act of May 24, 1934, 48 Stat. 797).

11 SEC. 3. EXPANDING WAIVER OF THE GOVERNMENT KNOWL12 EDGE, UNITED STATES HISTORY, AND ENG13 LISH LANGUAGE REQUIREMENTS FOR NATU14 RALIZATION.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 312 of the Immigration

16 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1423) is amended—

17 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a)’’ after ‘‘312.’’,

18 (2) by striking ‘‘this requirement’’ and all that

19 follows through ‘‘That’’ the second place it appears,

20 (3) by striking ‘‘this section’’ and inserting

21 ‘‘this paragraph’’, and

22 (4) by adding at the end the following new sub23 section:

24 ‘‘(b)(1) The requirements of subsection (a) shall not

25 apply to any person who is unable because of physical or
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1 developmental disability or mental impairment to comply

2 therewith.

3 ‘‘(2) The requirement of subsection (a)(1) shall not

4 apply to any person who, on the date of the filing of the

5 person’s application for naturalization as provided in sec6 tion 334, either—

7 ‘‘(A) is over fifty years of age and has been liv8 ing in the United States for periods totaling at least

9 twenty years subsequent to a lawful admission for

10 permanent residence, or

11 ‘‘(B) is over fifty-five years of age and has been

12 living in the United States for periods totaling at

13 least fifteen years subsequent to a lawful admission

14 for permanent residence.

15 ‘‘(3) The requirement of subsection (a)(2) shall not

16 apply to any person who, on the date of the filing of the

17 person’s application for naturalization as provided in sec18 tion 334, is over sixty-five years of age and has been living

19 in the United States for periods totaling at least twenty

20 years subsequent to a lawful admission for permanent res21 idence.’’.

22 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section

23 245A(b)(1)(D) of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1254a(b)(1)(D)) is

24 amended by striking ‘‘312’’ each place it appears and in25 serting ‘‘312(a)’’.
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1 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

2 subsection (a) shall take effect on the date of the enact3 ment of this Act and shall apply to applications for natu4 ralization filed on or after such date and to such applica5 tions pending on such date.

6 SEC. 4. NATURALIZATION OF CHILDREN ON APPLICATION

7 OF CITIZEN PARENT.

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 322 of the Immigration

9 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1433) is amended to read

10 as follows:

11 ‘‘CHILD BORN OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; APPLICA12 TION FOR CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP REQUIRE13 MENTS

14 ‘‘SEC. 322. (a) A parent who is a citizen of the Unit15 ed States may apply to the Attorney General for a certifi16 cate of citizenship on behalf of a child born outside the

17 United States. The Attorney General shall issue such a

18 certificate of citizenship upon proof to the satisfaction of

19 the Attorney General that the following conditions have

20 been fulfilled:

21 ‘‘(1) At least one parent is a citizen of the

22 United States, whether by birth or naturalization.

23 ‘‘(2) The child is physically present in the

24 United States pursuant to a lawful admission.

25 ‘‘(3) The child is under the age of 18 years and

26 in the legal custody of the citizen parent.
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1 ‘‘(4) If the citizen parent is an adoptive parent

2 of the child, the child was adopted by the parent be3 fore the child reached the age of 16 years and the

4 child meets the requirements for being a child under

5 subparagraph (E) or (F) of section 101(b)(1).

6 ‘‘(5) If the citizen parent has not been phys7 ically present in the United States or its outlying

8 possessions for a period or periods totaling not less

9 than five years, at least two of which were after at10 taining the age of fourteen years—

11 ‘‘(A) the child is residing permanently in

12 the United States with the citizen parent, pur13 suant to a lawful admission for permanent resi14 dence, or

15 ‘‘(B) a citizen parent of the citizen parent

16 has been physically present in the United States

17 or its outlying possessions for a period or peri18 ods totaling not less than five years, at least

19 two of which were after attaining the age of

20 fourteen years.

21 ‘‘(b) Upon approval of the application (which may be

22 filed abroad) and, except as provided in the last sentence

23 of section 337(a), upon taking and subscribing before an

24 officer of the Service within the United States to the oath

25 of allegiance required by this Act of an applicant for natu-
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1 ralization, the child shall become a citizen of the United

2 States and shall be furnished by the Attorney General with

3 a certificate of citizenship.

4 ‘‘(c) Subsection (a) of this section shall apply to the

5 adopted child of a United States citizen adoptive parent

6 if the conditions specified in such subsection have been

7 fulfilled.’’.

8 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Subsection (c) of

9 section 341 of such Act (8 U.S.C. 1452) is repealed.

10 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item in the table

11 of contents of such Act relating to section 322 is amended

12 to read as follows:

‘‘Sec. 322. Child born outside the United States; application for certificate of

citizenship requirements.’’.

13 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by

14 this section shall take effect on the first day of the first

15 month beginning more than one hundred twenty days

16 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

17 SEC. 5. FORMER CITIZENS OF UNITED STATES REGAINING

18 UNITED STATES CITIZENSHIP.

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 324 of the Immigration

20 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1435) is amended by add21 ing at the end the following new subsection:

22 ‘‘(d)(1) A person who was a citizen of the United

23 States at birth and lost such citizenship for failure to meet

24 the physical presence retention requirements under section
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1 301(b) (as in effect before October 10, 1978), shall, from

2 and after taking the oath of allegiance required by section

3 337 be a citizen of the United States and have the status

4 of a citizen of the United States by birth, without filing

5 an application for naturalization, and notwithstanding any

6 of the other provisions of this title except the provisions

7 of section 313. Nothing in this subsection or any other

8 provision of law shall be construed as conferring United

9 States citizenship retroactively upon such person during

10 any period in which such person was not a citizen.

11 ‘‘(2) The provisions of paragraphs (2) and (3) of sub12 section (c) shall apply to a person regaining citizenship

13 under paragraph (1) in the same manner as they apply

14 under subsection (c)(1).’’.

15 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by

16 subsection (a) shall take effect on the first day of the first

17 month beginning more than one hundred twenty days

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act.

19 SEC. 6. REPORT ON CITIZENSHIP OF CERTAIN LEGALIZED

20 ALIENS.

21 Not later than June 30, 1996, the Commissioner of

22 the Immigration and Naturalization Service shall prepare

23 and submit to the Congress a report concerning the citi24 zenship status of aliens legalized under section 245A and

25 section 210 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Such
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1 report shall include the following information by district

2 office for each national origin group:

3 (1) The number of applications for citizenship

4 filed.

5 (2) The number of applications approved.

6 (3) The number of applications denied.

7 (4) The number of applications pending.

Passed the House of Representatives, November 20,

1993.

Attest: DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

Clerk.