Aliens and Nationality - 8 USC Section 1481

01/03/05

Sec. 1481. Loss of nationality by native-born or naturalized
citizen; voluntary action; burden of proof; presumptions

(a) A person who is a national of the United States whether by
birth or naturalization, shall lose his nationality by voluntarily
performing any of the following acts with the intention of
relinquishing United States nationality -
(1) obtaining naturalization in a foreign state upon his own
application or upon an application filed by a duly authorized
agent, after having attained the age of eighteen years; or
(2) taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal
declaration of allegiance to a foreign state or a political
subdivision thereof, after having attained the age of eighteen
years; or
(3) entering, or serving in, the armed forces of a foreign
state if (A) such armed forces are engaged in hostilities against
the United States, or (B) such persons serve as a commissioned or
non-commissioned officer; or
(4)(A) accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any
office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign
state or a political subdivision thereof, after attaining the age
of eighteen years if he has or acquires the nationality of such
foreign state; or (B) accepting, serving in, or performing the
duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of
a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, after
attaining the age of eighteen years for which office, post, or
employment an oath, affirmation, or declaration of allegiance is
required; or
(5) making a formal renunciation of nationality before a
diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign
state, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of
State; or
(6) making in the United States a formal written renunciation
of nationality in such form as may be prescribed by, and before
such officer as may be designated by, the Attorney General,
whenever the United States shall be in a state of war and the
Attorney General shall approve such renunciation as not contrary
to the interests of national defense; or
(7) committing any act of treason against, or attempting by
force to overthrow, or bearing arms against, the United States,
violating or conspiring to violate any of the provisions of
section 2383 of title 18, or willfully performing any act in
violation of section 2385 of title 18, or violating section 2384
of title 18 by engaging in a conspiracy to overthrow, put down,
or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to
levy war against them, if and when he is convicted thereof by a
court martial or by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) Whenever the loss of United States nationality is put in
issue in any action or proceeding commenced on or after September
26, 1961 under, or by virtue of, the provisions of this chapter or
any other Act, the burden shall be upon the person or party
claiming that such loss occurred, to establish such claim by a
preponderance of the evidence. Any person who commits or performs,
or who has committed or performed, any act of expatriation under
the provisions of this chapter or any other Act shall be presumed
to have done so voluntarily, but such presumption may be rebutted
upon a showing, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the act or
acts committed or performed were not done voluntarily.

AMENDMENTS
1988 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100-525, Sec. 9(hh), substituted "A
person" for "From and after the effective date of this chapter a
person".
Subsecs. (a) to (c). Pub. L. 100-525, Sec. 8(m), (n), amended
Pub. L. 99-653. See 1986 Amendment notes below.
1986 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 99-653, Sec. 18(a), as amended by
Pub. L. 100-525, Sec. 8(m)(1), inserted "voluntarily performing any
of the following acts with the intention of relinquishing United
States nationality" after "his nationality by".
Subsec. (a)(1). Pub. L. 99-653, Sec. 18(b), substituted "or upon
an application filed by a duly authorized agent, after having
attained the age of eighteen years" for "upon an application filed
in his behalf by a parent, guardian, or duly authorized agent, or
through the naturalization of a parent having legal custody of such
person: Provided That nationality shall not be lost by any person
under this section as the result of the naturalization of a parent
or parents while such person is under the age of twenty-one years,
or as the result of a naturalization obtained on behalf of a person
under twenty-one years of age by a parent, guardian, or duly
authorized agent, unless such person shall fail to enter the United
States to establish a permanent residence prior to his twenty-fifth
birthday: And provided further, That a person who shall have lost
nationality prior to January 1, 1948, through the naturalization in
a foreign state of a parent or parents, may, within one year from
the effective date of this chapter, apply for a visa and for
admission to the United States as a special immigrant under the
provisions of section 1101(a)(27)(E) of this title".
Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 99-653, Sec. 18(c), inserted ", after
having attained the age of eighteen years" after "political
subdivision thereof".
Subsec. (a)(3). Pub. L. 99-653, Sec. 18(d), as amended by Pub. L.
100-525, Sec. 8(m)(2), substituted "if (A) such armed forces are
engaged in hostilities against the United States, or (B) such
persons serve as a commissioned or non-commissioned officer; or"
for "unless, prior to such entry or service, such entry or service
is specifically authorized in writing by the Secretary of State and
the Secretary of Defense: Provided, That the entry into such
service by a person prior to the attainment of his eighteenth
birthday shall serve to expatriate such person only if there exists
an option to secure a release from such service and such person
fails to exercise such option at the attainment of his eighteenth
birthday; or".
Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 99-653, Sec. 18(e), (f), as amended by
Pub. L. 100-525, Sec. 8(m)(3), inserted "after attaining the age of
eighteen years" after "political subdivision thereof," in subpars.
(A) and (B).
Subsecs. (b), (c). Pub. L. 99-653, Sec. 19, as amended by Pub. L.
100-525, Sec. 8(n), redesignated former subsec. (c) as (b) and
substituted "Any" for "Except as provided in subsection (b) of this
section, any", and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as
follows: "Any person who commits or performs any act specified in
subsection (a) of this section shall be conclusively presumed to
have done so voluntarily and without having been subjected to
duress of any kind, if such person at the time of the act was a
national of the state in which the act was performed and had been
physically present in such state for a period or periods totaling
ten years or more immediately prior to such act."
1981 - Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 97-116 struck out "(a)" designation
as added by section 4 of Pub. L. 95-432, which was not executed
since it would have resulted in a subsec. (a) designation of
"(a)(a)", and substituted in par. (1) "special immigrant" for
"nonquota immigrant".
1978 - Subsec. (a)(5). Pub. L. 95-432, Secs. 2, 4, redesignated
par. (6) as (5). Former par. (5), which dealt with expatriation of
persons who voted in a political election in a foreign state or
participated in an election or plebiscite to determine sovereignty
over foreign territory, was struck out.
Subsec. (a)(6), (7). Pub. L. 95-432, Sec. 4, redesignated pars.
(7) and (9) as (6) and (7), respectively. Former pars. (6) and (7)
redesignated (5) and (6), respectively.
Subsec. (a)(8). Pub. L. 95-432, Sec. 2, struck out par. (8) which
dealt with expatriation of persons who were dismissed or
dishonorably discharged as result of deserting the military, air,
or naval forces of the United States in time of war.
Subsec. (a)(9). Pub. L. 95-432, Sec. 4, redesignated par. (9) as
(7).
1976 - Subsec. (a)(10). Pub. L. 94-412 struck out par. (10) which
dealt with the expatriation of persons who remained outside of the
jurisdiction of the United States in time of war or national
emergency to avoid service in the military.
1961 - Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 87-301 added subsec. (c).
1954 - Subsec. (a)(9). Act Sept. 3, 1954, provided for forfeiture
of citizenship of persons advocating the overthrow of the
Government by force or violence.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1988 AMENDMENT
Amendment by section 8(m), (n) of Pub. L. 100-525 effective as if
included in the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act
Amendments of 1986, Pub. L. 99-653, see section 309(b)(15) of Pub.
L. 102-232, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 1988
Amendments note under section 1101 of this title.
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1986 AMENDMENT
Section 23(g) of Pub. L. 99-653, as added by Pub. L. 100-525,
Sec. 8(r), Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2619, provided that: "The
amendments made by sections 18, 19, and 20 [amending this section
and section 1483 of this title] shall apply to actions taken
before, on, or after November 14, 1986."
EFFECTIVE DATE OF 1981 AMENDMENT
Amendment by Pub. L. 97-116 effective Dec. 29, 1981, see section
21(a) of Pub. L. 97-116, set out as a note under section 1101 of
this title.
SHORT TITLE
Section 1 of act Sept. 3, 1954, provided: "That this Act
[amending this section] may be cited as the 'Expatriation Act of
1954'."
SAVINGS PROVISION
Amendment by Pub. L. 94-412 not to affect any action taken or
proceeding pending at the time of amendment, see section 501(h) of
Pub. L. 94-412, set out as a note under section 1601 of Title 50,
War and National Defense.

RIGHT OF EXPATRIATION
R.S. Sec. 1999 provided that: "Whereas the right of expatriation
is a natural and inherent right of all people, indispensable to the
enjoyment of the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness; and whereas in the recognition of this principle this
Government has freely received emigrants from all nations, and
invested them with the rights of citizenship; and whereas it is
claimed that such American citizens, with their descendants, are
subjects of foreign states, owing allegiance to the governments
thereof; and whereas it is necessary to the maintenance of public
peace that this claim of foreign allegiance should be promptly and
finally disavowed: Therefore any declaration, instruction, opinion,
order, or decision of any officer of the United States which
denies, restricts, impairs, or questions the right of expatriation,
is declared inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the
Republic."

Last modified: June 14, 2006