130 Ng Ming
The Secretary of State to the Minister in China ( MacMurray )
Sir: With reference to the Department’s instruction of February 20, 1926, concerning the procedure which should be followed in the cases of children of native born American citizens of Chinese descent who are residing in China and who may claim American citizenship under the provisions of Section 1993 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and with which was transmitted a copy of the Department’s instruction of January 5, 1925, concerning the case of Wong Chong Sing, you are informed that the Department, after carefully considering the cases of persons coming within the class above mentioned, has reached the conclusion that all persons of the Chinese race who claim to be American citizens and who are eighteen years of age or more should be required to apply for passports in the usual manner. The applications of such persons should be accompanied by all available evidence to establish the applicant’s identity and claim to American citizenship and a report by the officer before whom the application is executed, setting forth in detail the result of such investigation as he may make concerning the case. Special care should be exercised in definitely establishing the applicant’s identity. In the cases of persons who claim American citizenship under the provisions of Section 1993 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, the officer taking the application should report whether the applicant had evinced a desire to retain his American citizenship upon reaching eighteen years of age, as provided by the Act of March 2, 1907,5 and whether during his foreign residence he has committed any act which resulted in his expatriation or which indicated a desire to elect Chinese rather than American nationality.
You are requested to circularize this instruction to all consular officers in China, as supplementing the previous instruction dealing with this question.
I am [etc.]
- 34 Stat. 1228.↩