Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, 1918, Supplement 2, The World War

File No. 136/109

The Acting Secretary of State to the Diplomatic and Consular Officers

No. 628
General Instruction
Consular

Washington, September 26, 1918.

Gentlemen: The twelfth section of the Naturalization Act of June 29, 1906, has been amended by the act of May 9, 1918, so that it reads as follows:

That any person who, while a citizen of the United States and during the existing war in Europe, entered the military or naval service of any country at war with a country with which the United States is now at war, who shall be deemed to have lost his citizenship by reason of any oath or obligation taken by him for the purpose of entering such service, may resume his citizenship by taking the oath of allegiance to the United States prescribed by the naturalization law and regulations, and such oath may be taken before any court of the United States or of any State authorized by law to naturalize aliens or before any consul of the United States, and certified copies thereof shall be sent by such court or consul to the Department of State and the Bureau of Naturalization, and the Act (Public fifty-five, Sixty-fifth Congress, approved October fifth, nineteen hundred and seventeen), is hereby repealed.

To comply with this act, the Bureau of Naturalization, Department of Labor, has adopted the following regulation:

regulation governing the administration of subdivision 12 of section 4, act of june 29, 1906, as amended by act of may 9, 1918, public no. 144, 65th congress.¹

Section 2 of the act of March 2, 1907, provides that an American citizen shall be deemed to have expatriated himself when he has taken an oath of allegiance to any foreign state. The last proviso of that section is as follows:

And provided also, That no American citizen shall be allowed to expatriate himself when this country is at war.

In view of the” foregoing, the oath of allegiance will not be required of American citizens who have subscribed to an oath of allegiance after April 5, 1917, for the purpose of entering the military or naval service of any country associated with the United States in the present war, since by this last proviso they are not allowed to expatriate themselves except during time of peace.

An American citizen who took an oath or obligation prior to April 6, 1917, to enable him to serve in the military or naval forces of a country which is at war with a country with which the United States is at war and thereby expatriated himself, may have his American citizenship restored by complying with the terms of subdivision 12 of section 4 of the act of June 29, 1906, as amended by the act of May 9, 1918, Public No. 144, 65th Congress.

The following oath of allegiance has been adopted for all who come within the provisions of subdivision 12:

I hereby declare on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

Any one who is deemed to have expatriated himself and to whom the provisions of subdivision 12 are applicable, should appear before the appropriate clerk or court, or if abroad, American consular representative, and take this oath of allegiance. If the applicant be a naturalized citizen, he should give the date, place and court in which his naturalization took place. The forms should be executed in duplicate and forwarded to the Department of State. It is desirable that an American passport should be issued to the person upon taking the oath of allegiance to enable him to re-enter the United States and thus avoid any difficulties at the port of entry into this country.¹

Consular officers will observe this regulation and forward certified copies of the oaths of allegiance in duplicate, as required, to this Department. It will be noted that the law requires that the applicant for repatriation subscribe to only one oath and that the copies of the oath required for the files of this Department and the Department of Labor be certified to by the consular officers. Applicants will, however, probably not object to filling out the three copies. This course is preferable. However, it is very necessary that the consular officers take pains to see that the certified copies are distinctly written.

If the persons concerned apply for passports or registration, the usual proofs of birth or naturalization in the United States should be required.

A supply of the blank oaths will be sent for your use.

I am [etc.]

Frank L. Polk

1. The text which follows is not a verbatim quotation of the Bureau of Naturalization regulation.

1. On the printed instruction sent to diplomatic and consular officers this paragraph appears as follows:

   Anyone who is deemed to have expatriated himself and to whom the provisions of subdivision 12 are applicable should, if abroad, take the oath of allegiance before an American consular representative. If the applicant be a naturalized citizen, he should give the date, place, and court in which his naturalization took place. It is desirable that a person taking the oath of allegiance should, if about to return to the United States, apply for and obtain a passport in order to avoid unnecessary difficulties at the port of entry into this country. Such passports are, under the provisions of section 2 of the act of May 22, 1918, and the President’s proclamation of August 8, 1918, issued in pursuance of the act, required during the continuance of the present war.