File No. 137/91a
The Secretary of State to Diplomatic and Consular Officers ( including Consular Agents )
No 483
Washington
,
September 28, 1916
.
Gentlemen: Conditions which existed at the outbreak of the present war in Europe, and numerous cases which have been presented to the Department through the diplomatic and consular officers since that time have emphasized the importance of having all American citizens residing or sojourning abroad registered in American consulates, upon submission of proper proofs of citizenship. It is obvious that in cases of emergency protection may be extended more readily to persons who have been registered, after submitting the necessary proofs of their American citizenship and right to protection, than to those who have not
For some time the Department has contemplated a revision of the rules concerning registration and the forms used in connection therewith, and the present general instruction is to take the place of the circular instruction of April 19, 1907, entitled “Registration of American Citizens.”2 [Page 791]
- 1.
- Amendment of paragraph 172, Consular Regulations. Paragraph 172 of the Consular Regulations was amended by the President September 28, 1916, to take effect November 15, 1916, and a slip containing the amended paragraph is enclosed to be pasted in the volume of Consular Regulations in your office. The principal change made by the amendment is the provision that persons shall not be registered without the approval by the Department of their sworn applications, except in cases of unusual emergency, in which the American citizenship of the applicants has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.
- 2.
- Applications. The Department is sending consular officers under separate cover a supply of blank forms of application for registration (Nos. 225a, 225b, 225c), which contain the oath of allegiance, and are similar, as to the requirements concerning evidence of citizenship, to Forms Nos. 176, 177, and 178, consular, used in applications for passports. The application is to be signed and executed in duplicate by the applicant and the consular officer in charge, one copy to be sent to the Department and the other to be retained in the Consulate. It will be proper to fill in the application blanks with the typewriter and to make the copies by the carbon process.
- Persons desiring renewals of registrations heretofore approved should, whenever practicable, execute the applications for registration provided for in this general instruction. Exceptions to this rule may be made in the discretion of consular officers where it is impracticable for the applicants to reach the consulates (see Section 13).
- 3.
- Transmitting despatches. Consular officers are not to send transmitting despatches when forwarding to the Department applications for registration and the alphabetical lists of approved registrations (see Section 15), unless, of course, it is necessary to bring to the Department’s attention circumstances bearing upon the registrations. In cases where it is necessary to send a transmitting despatch with an application a separate despatch, in duplicate, should be prepared covering each individual case, and such despatch should be accompanied only by the application of the person whose case is referred to in the despatch.
- 4.
- Proof of birth in the United States. Persons who claim citizenship through their own or their fathers’ or husbands’ birth in the United States, but are not provided with certificates of birth and are unable to bring reliable witnesses who can testify thereto, should be required to give the names and addresses of two or more witnesses in the United States with whom the Department may communicate.
- 5.
- Women’s applications. A woman’s application should state whether she is married or single, and if married she should produce the necessary proof of her husband’s birth or naturalization in the United States.
- 6.
- Proof of marriage. A person desiring that his wife be included in his registration, and a woman applying for separate registration, should produce a marriage certificate or other satisfactory evidence of the marriage.
- 7.
- Presumption of expatriation—Loss of right to protection Naturalized citizens who have brought upon themselves the presumption of expatriation, under the provision of Section 2, act of March 2; 1907, and persons born in the United States or born abroad of [Page 792] American parents, the length and circumstances of whose foreign residence raise a doubt as to their right to American protection, should be required to fill in Form No. 213, and the officer who takes the application should be careful to state therein his opinion as to the applicant’s status (see Section 13).
- 8.
- Additional data In the space following the words “Additional data” the applicant may state, if he so desires, the location of his real and personal property and the place where his will is deposited, or any other pertinent information which may be deemed important.
- 9.
- Department’s approval, and completion of registration. The space headed, “Registration authorized by the Department of State,” etc., is to be filled in and signed by the consul upon receipt of the Department’s formal approval of the application, and not until then, as a rule, will it be considered that the registration has been completed so that a certificate of registration may be issued to the applicant (see Sections 10, 11, and 13).
- 10.
- Emergency registration. In an extraordinary case, when there is urgent need of a certificate of registration before a reply to the application can be received from the Department, the applicant may be granted a limited certificate of registration, provided his American citizenship and right to protection are proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Even in such a case as this it will be preferable to obtain the approval of the embassy or legation before a registration certificate is issued. These limited certificates of registration should state immediately above their dates the period for which they are valid. The statements provided in the forms that the certificates are good for “one year” and are issued by authority of the “Department of State at Washington” should be crossed out with red ink, and the certificate should be headed “Emergency registration certificate.”
- 11.
- Certificate of registration. The registration certificate, for which blanks, Form No. 225, will be provided, will state that the person named has been registered as an American citizen, will set forth his personal description, and will give the names of his wife and minor children who are residing with him. Certificates of registration will be given the same date as the application for registration and need not be numbered. A photograph of the person registered should be attached to the certificate, with an impression of the seal of the consulate, and a duplicate photograph should be filed with the copy of the application in the consulate. Certificates may be renewed once only, but new certificates may be issued upon the surrender of the old ones, when desired.
- A person holding a passport who desires to receive a certificate of registration should be required either to surrender the passport or to have it canceled by the consulate.
- 12.
- Translations of registration certificates. In countries in which the English language is not familiar to the officials, a translation of the certificate in the foreign language may be written or printed on the back. Such translations should not be issued, however, until they have been submitted to the Department through the embassy or legation in the country in which the consulate is situated, and have received the Department’s approval.
- 13.
- Reregistration. An applicant for reregistration, who has been previously registered in accordance with this instruction, will not be required to submit a new sworn application as in the case of the [Page 793] original registration; but if subsequently thereto he shall have brought upon himself the presumption of expatriation by his protracted foreign residence, or if, having previously brought upon himself such presumption and overcome it to the satisfaction of the Department, the cause and the circumstances of his foreign residence have materially changed, the registration shall not be renewed without the express approval of the Department, after the submission of an affidavit containing an explicit statement of the cause of the continuance of the foreign residence, supported by such corroboratory evidence as the circumstances of the case may demand. In all cases in which the presumption of expatriation has arisen the consul should be careful to state whether in his opinion the evidence to overcome the presumption is sufficient, and if he does not consider it sufficient he should state precisely why. For this purpose Form No. 213 should be used.
- If the person registered lives in a remote place and can not conveniently come to the consulate, he may be reregistered upon his written request, but the original registration record should not be sent from the consulate, as it forms a part of the permanent records thereof.
- 14.
- Reports of reregistrations. When the applicant has been reregistered a notation to that effect should be made in the appropriate space on the sheet containing the original application, which the applicant should sign, if possible, and the fact of the reregistration should be reported to the Department. Forms (No. 225d) for these reports will be furnished by the Department.
- 15.
- Alphabetical lists. At the end of each quarter consular officers will send to the Department and to the embassy or legation in the country in which their offices are situated or, in cases of consulates in an outlying possession, to the consular office at the capital city, alphabetical lists of the persons whose registrations have been approved during the quarter, underscoring the names of those to whom certificates have been issued. Form No. 225e should be used for these reports.
- 16.
- Reports of refusals. The consular officers should also inform the embassy, legation, or consular offices mentioned in the preceding section, of cases in which registration has been finally refused by the Department, specifying the reasons for the refusal. For this purpose blank cards to be furnished by the Department (Form No. 225f) should be used.
- The names of persons to whom certificates are issued during a quarter subsequent to that in which the approvals of their registrations were received will be reported in separate alphabetical lists at the end of the current quarterly reports.
- 17.
- Books for registration no longer used. The books containing Forms Nos. 210, 211, 211a, and 212 will no longer be used.
- 18.
- Widows and divorced women—Children born abroad. Forms Nos. 211 and 211a for declarations of intention of widows and divorced women to resume or conserve American citizenship, under the provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Citizenship Act of March 2, 1907, will continue to be used, duplicates of the declarations being sent to the Department as heretofore with the regular applications [Page 794] for registration. When the registrations of such persons have been authorized by the Department, they may be furnished with the regular certificates of registration, if they apply therefor. Form 212 is discarded, since the minor’s statement required by Section 6 of the act of March 2, 1907, is provided for in the regular application for registration.
- 19.
- Filing of approved and disapproved applications. Consular officers will number consecutively and file the approved applications for registrations. The approved and numbered applications should be kept in a loose-leaf binder, such as the one usually furnished by the Department upon application. From time to time, as a sufficient number accumulates, they should be permanently bound, and each volume numbered or lettered consecutively in continuation of the present series in each office.
- Applications for registration which are disapproved will be filed with the correspondence.
- 20.
- Card index. A card index will be kept in each consular office consisting of the cards of acknowledgment (Forms Nos. 225g and 225h), which will express either approval or disapproval by the Department of the applications for registration. These cards will be filed alphabetically.
- 21.
- Letters inviting registration and reregistration. Attached to this instruction are form letters for inviting American citizens to register (Appendix A) and to reregister (Appendix B),1 Consular officers are authorized, where the number of persons to be addressed justifies the expenditure, to have a sufficient supply printed for the use of their offices.
- The second section of Appendix B is the blank form for replies of persons, already registered, who can not conveniently come to the consulate for reregistration. When the reregistrations have been effected in this way the forms, properly filled in, should be attached to the original applications. However, in all expatriation cases care should be taken to comply with the requirements of Section 13 (supra).
- 22.
- Fees. No fee shall be charged for registration nor for any service connected therewith, except for the issuance of a certificate of registration, for which a fee of $1 shall be required (Tariff of Consular Fees, No. 47). A canceled fee stamp should be attached to the certificate and the fee accounted for in the quarterly returns. The renewal of a certificate of registration shall be gratis.
- 23.
- References. References to this general instruction may be made by section, as follows: General Instruction No. 483, Section —.
I am [etc.]
Robert Lansing