711.534/3a
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Portugal ( Dearing )
Sir: The Department has in recent years received many complaints from naturalized American citizens of Portuguese origin against their being required to perform military service in Portugal or against the payment of a military tax by such persons or their relatives for failure to comply with the military laws of Portugal. From time to time it has communicated with you and the American consular officers in the Azores concerning the matter, but its efforts in behalf of these persons have, with few exceptions, been unsuccessful. At the suggestion of your office, consular officers in the Azores were instructed to take up with the local Portuguese officials each case of a naturalized American citizen of Portuguese origin who had been impressed or was about to be impressed into the Portuguese Army or against whom a tax was being assessed for failure to perform military service. The procedure suggested by you, however, proved to be unsuccessful except in a few isolated cases. With respect to naturalized American citizens of Portuguese origin who were residing in the United States and against whom a military tax was being assessed, the American Consul at St. Michael’s Azores in a despatch of May 4, 1928,50 stated that the proper procedure for such a person to follow would be to make an affidavit before a Portuguese Consul in the United States setting forth the basis for his claim to American citizenship, the exact period of his residence within the United States and the period of his service, if any, in the army of this country during the World War, and have this affidavit witnessed before the Portuguese Consul by two persons having knowledge of the facts, after which the affidavit and a translation of the naturalization certificate of the person concerned should be forwarded by the Portuguese Consul directly to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at Lisbon for legalization of the seal and signature of the Portuguese consular officer and submitted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to [Page 478] the Civil Governor at Angra, Terceira, Azores, for reference to the High Military Authorities there. This procedure has been suggested to a number of naturalized American citizens of Portuguese origin and in almost every case the Department has subsequently been advised that when the naturalized citizen concerned consulted a Portuguese consular officer in the United States he was advised that the Portuguese consular officer knew nothing of this procedure and was of no assistance to the naturalized citizen.
The Department is being requested with considerable frequency to take some action in behalf of these persons. It is, of course, desirous of being of as much assistance as possible to them and with that end in view, it suggests that you take up with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs at Lisbon the matter of obtaining a precise statement of the Portuguese law under which naturalized American citizens of Portuguese origin are forced into the military service of Portugal or are taxed for failure to perform such service. If the law provides for the exemption of such a person from compulsory military service or from the payment of a tax in lieu of service in the Portuguese Army, it is suggested that you obtain a precise statement as to the kind of evidence required under such law.
In connection with this matter you should not fail to call the attention of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to the provisions of Article I of the Naturalization Treaty between the United States and Portugal, signed May 7, 1908,53 which, for your convenience, is quoted:
“Subjects of Portugal who become naturalized citizens of the United States of America and shall have resided uninterruptedly within the United States five years shall be held by Portugal to be American citizens and shall be treated as such. Reciprocally, citizens of the United States of America who become naturalized subjects of Portugal and shall have resided uninterruptedly within Portuguese territory five years shall be held by the United States to be Portuguese subjects and shall be treated as such.”
You will observe from this provision of the Treaty that Portugal agreed to recognize the naturalization of Portuguese nationals in the United States if they resided uninterruptedly in this country for a period of five years. As certificates of naturalization issued prior to two or three years ago set forth the fact that the person naturalized as a citizen of the United States had resided in this country for a period of five years, it would seem that in most cases the certificate itself should be sufficient under the provisions of the Treaty of Naturalization between the United States and Portugal to warrant the exemption of the bearer from the performance of military service or from being taxed for failure to perform such service. In the case [Page 479] where a certificate of naturalization does not set forth the fact that the person naturalized resided in the United States for a period of five years the Portuguese authorities would, nevertheless, seem to be warranted in accepting the certificate as evidence that the holder comes within the scope of the provision of the Treaty quoted above, since, with few exceptions, an alien desiring to become naturalized as an American citizen must submit proof that he comes within the scope of the fourth subdivision of Section 4 of the Naturalization Act of June 29, 1906,54 or Section 6 (b) of the Act of March 2, 1929,55 which provides that, before an alien can become naturalized, he must have resided in the United States continuously for a period of at least five years immediately preceding his naturalization. The exception to the rule that an alien must submit proof that he has resided in the United States for a period of at least five years immediately preceding his naturalization, relates principally to aliens who served in the military or naval forces of the United States during the World War. This class of persons are merely not required to submit proof of their having resided in the United States for a period of five years continuously immediately preceding their naturalization. In the case of persons who, while minors, were naturalized through the naturalization of their parents as citizens of the United States, there is no requirement in the naturalization laws of this country that they must have resided in the United States for a particular period. The law merely requires that the minor reside in the United States at the time of the parent’s naturalization or that he come to the United States to reside subsequent to the naturalization of the parent and prior to attaining the age of twenty-one years. It would seem reasonable for the Portuguese Government to accept in this type of case a document of nationality issued by this Government, such as a passport, the naturalization certificate of the parent, a certificate of registration or a special certificate of citizenship, accompanied, when necessary, by an affidavit or other evidence that the person concerned had resided in the United States for a period of five years.
In view of the large number of cases which have been called to the attention of the Department, you are directed to take up this matter with the Portuguese Ministry for Foreign Affairs as soon as possible and endeavor to have some simple and definite procedure adopted by the Portuguese authorities which would carry out the provisions of the Treaty above quoted.
I am [etc.]
- Not printed.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1908, p. 700.↩
- 34 Stat. 596, 598.↩
- 45 Stat. 1512, 1513.↩