Office of the Historian

File No. 1271.

[Untitled]

Department of State,
Washington, April 19, 1907.

To the diplomatic and consular officers of the United States.

Gentlemen: Paragraph 138 of the Instructions to Diplomatic Officers and of the Consular Regulations, as amended by the executive order of April 6, 1907, reads as follows:

138. Children of citizens born abroad.—All children born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States whose fathers were at the time of their birth citizens thereof are citizens of the United States; but the rights of citizenship do not descend to children whose fathers never resided in the United States. All children who are, in accordance with this paragraph, born citizens of the United States, and who continue to reside outside of the United States, are required, in order to receive the protection of this Government, upon reaching the age of 18 years to record at an American consulate their intention to become residents and remain citizens, and upon reaching their majority are further required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. (R. S., sec. 1993; act of Mar. 6, 1907, sec. 6.)

Appended is the text of section 1993 of the Revised Statutes and of section 6 of the act of March 2, 1907.

You are instructed that children born abroad whose parents were American citizens at the time of their birth should report to a convenient American consul upon reaching the age of 18 years and [Page 10] before they have reached the age of 19 years and make a solemn declaration in the following form:

I, A. B., born in _____ on ______ of parents who were at the time of my birth American citizens, do solemnly declare that it is my intention and desire to remain a citizen of the United States and to become a resident thereof. My father acquired citizenship through birth (or naturalization) ------ (if by birth state where the father was born; if by naturalization state when and where he was naturalized, as shown by record evidence of such naturalization).

This statement should be made in triplicate, one copy being sent forthwith to the embassy or legation in the country in which the consulate is situated, one to the department, and one to be retained and filed in the consulate.

Upon reaching the age of 21 years and before they have reached the age of 22 years, such children are required to take before a convenient consul the following oath (or affirmation):

I, A. B., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion: So help me God.

This oath or affirmation should be made in triplicate, one copy being sent forthwith to the embassy or legation in the country in which the consulate is situated, one to the department, and one to be retained and filed in the consulate.

Diplomatic and consular officers are instructed to make every effort necessary to bring the requirements of the law to which this instruction relates to the attention of those whom it will affect.

I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,

Elihu Root.
[Inclosure.]

Text of the laws.

Section 1993, Revised Statutes of the United States:

“All children heretofore born or hereafter born out of the limits and jurisdiction of the United States, whose fathers were or may be at the time of their birth citizens thereof, are declared to be citizens of the United States; but the rights of citizenship shall not descend to children whose fathers never resided in the United States.”

Section 6 of the act of March 2, 1907:

“That all children born outside the limits of the United States who are citizens thereof in accordance with the provisions of section nineteen hundred and ninety-three of the Revised Statutes of the United States and who continue to reside outside the United States shall, in order to receive the protection of this Government, be required upon reaching the age of eighteen years to record at an American consulate their intention to become residents and remain citizens of the United States and shall be further required to take the oath of allegiance to the United States upon attaining their majority.”