US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

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[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 8USC1441]

 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
                 CHAPTER 12--IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY
 
             SUBCHAPTER III--NATIONALITY AND NATURALIZATION
 
               Part II--Nationality Through Naturalization
 
Sec. 1441. Constructive residence through service on certain 
        United States vessels
        
    Any periods of time during all of which a person who was previously 
lawfully admitted for permanent residence has served honorably or with 
good conduct, in any capacity other than as a member of the Armed Forces 
of the United States, (A) on board a vessel operated by the United 
States, or an agency thereof, the full legal and equitable title to 
which is in the United States; or (B) on board a vessel whose home port 
is in the United States, and (i) which is registered under the laws of 
the United States, or (ii) the full legal and equitable title to which 
is in a citizen of the United States, or a corporation organized under 
the laws of any of the several States of the United States, shall be 
deemed residence and physical presence within the United States within 
the meaning of section 1427(a) of this title, if such service occurred 
within five years immediately preceding the date such person shall file 
an application for naturalization. Service on vessels described in 
clause (A) of this section shall be proved by duly authenticated copies 
of the records of the executive departments or agency having custody of 
the records of such service. Service on vessels described in clause (B) 
of this section may be proved by certificates from the masters of such 
vessels.

(June 27, 1952, ch. 477, title III, ch. 2, Sec. 330, 66 Stat. 251; Pub. 
L. 100-525, Sec. 9(z), Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2621; Pub. L. 101-649, 
title IV, Sec. 407(c)(12), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 Stat. 5041; Pub. L. 102-
232, title III, Sec. 305(m)(5), Dec. 12, 1991, 105 Stat. 1750.)


                               Amendments

    1991--Pub. L. 102-232 substituted ``of this section'' for ``of this 
subsection'' in two places.
    1990--Pub. L. 101-649 substituted ``an application'' for ``a 
petition''.
    1988--Pub. L. 100-525 designated provisions of former par. (1) of 
subsec. (a) as entire section, and struck out former pars. (2) and (3) 
and subsec. (b) which read as follows:
    ``(2) For the purposes of this subsection, any periods of time prior 
to September 23, 1950, during all of which any person had served 
honorably or with good conduct for an aggregate period of five years on 
any vessel described in section 325(a) of the Nationality Act of 1940 
prior to its amendment by the Act of September 23, 1950, shall be deemed 
residence and physical presence within the United States within the 
meaning of section 1427(a) of this title, if such petition is filed 
within one year from the effective date of this chapter. Notwithstanding 
the provisions of section 1429 of this title, a person entitled to claim 
the exemptions contained in this paragraph shall not be required to 
establish a lawful admission for permanent residence.
    ``(3) For the purposes of this subsection, any periods of time prior 
to September 23, 1950, during all of which any person not within the 
provisions of paragraph (2) of this subsection had, prior to September 
23, 1950, served honorably or with good conduct on any vessel described 
in section 325(a) of the Nationality Act of 1940 prior to its amendment 
by the Act of September 23, 1950, and was so serving on September 23, 
1950, shall be deemed residence and physical presence within the United 
States within the meaning of section 1427(a) of this title, if such 
person at any time prior to filing his petition for naturalization shall 
have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent 
residence, and if such petition is filed on or before September 23, 
1955.
    ``(b) Any person who was excepted from certain requirements of the 
naturalization laws under section 325 of the Nationality Act of 1940 
prior to its amendment by the Act of September 23, 1950, and had filed a 
petition for naturalization under section 325 of the Nationality Act of 
1940, may, if such petition was pending on September 23, 1950, and is 
still pending on the effective date of this chapter, be naturalized upon 
compliance with the applicable provisions of the naturalization laws in 
effect upon the date such petition was filed: Provided, That any such 
person shall be subject to the provisions of section 1424 of this title 
and to those provisions of section 1429 of this title which relate to 
the prohibition against the naturalization of a person against whom 
there is outstanding a final finding of deportability pursuant to a 
warrant of arrest issued under the provisions of this chapter or any 
other Act, or which relate to the prohibition against the final hearing 
on a petition for naturalization if there is pending against the 
petitioner a deportation proceeding pursuant to a warrant of arrest 
issued under the provisions of this chapter or any other Act.''


                    Effective Date of 1991 Amendment

    Section 305(m) of Pub. L. 102-232 provided that the amendment made 
by that section is effective as if included in section 407(d) of the 
Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-649.