US Laws, Codes, Statutes & Cases

From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
[wais.access.gpo.gov]
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 8USC1451]

 
                     TITLE 8--ALIENS AND NATIONALITY
 
                 CHAPTER 12--IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY
 
             SUBCHAPTER III--NATIONALITY AND NATURALIZATION
 
               Part II--Nationality Through Naturalization
 
Sec. 1451. Revocation of naturalization


(a) Concealment of material evidence; refusal to testify

    It shall be the duty of the United States attorneys for the 
respective districts, upon affidavit showing good cause therefor, to 
institute proceedings in any district court of the United States in the 
judicial district in which the naturalized citizen may reside at the 
time of bringing suit, for the purpose of revoking and setting aside the 
order admitting such person to citizenship and canceling the certificate 
of naturalization on the ground that such order and certificate of 
naturalization were illegally procured or were procured by concealment 
of a material fact or by willful misrepresentation, and such revocation 
and setting aside of the order admitting such person to citizenship and 
such canceling of certificate of naturalization shall be effective as of 
the original date of the order and certificate, respectively: Provided, 
That refusal on the part of a naturalized citizen within a period of ten 
years following his naturalization to testify as a witness in any 
proceeding before a congressional committee concerning his subversive 
activities, in a case where such person has been convicted of contempt 
for such refusal, shall be held to constitute a ground for revocation of 
such person's naturalization under this subsection as having been 
procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful 
misrepresentation. If the naturalized citizen does not reside in any 
judicial district in the United States at the time of bringing such 
suit, the proceedings may be instituted in the United States District 
Court for the District of Columbia or in the United States district 
court in the judicial district in which such person last had his 
residence.

(b) Notice to party

    The party to whom was granted the naturalization alleged to have 
been illegally procured or procured by concealment of a material fact or 
by willful misrepresentation shall, in any such proceedings under 
subsection (a) of this section, have sixty days' personal notice, unless 
waived by such party, in which to make answers to the petition of the 
United States; and if such naturalized person be absent from the United 
States or from the judicial district in which such person last had his 
residence, such notice shall be given either by personal service upon 
him or by publication in the manner provided for the service of summons 
by publication or upon absentees by the laws of the States or the place 
where such suit is brought.

(c) Membership in certain organizations; prima facie evidence

    If a person who shall have been naturalized after December 24, 1952 
shall within five years next following such naturalization become a 
member of or affiliated with any organization, membership in or 
affiliation with which at the time of naturalization would have 
precluded such person from naturalization under the provisions of 
section 1424 of this title, it shall be considered prima facie evidence 
that such person was not attached to the principles of the Constitution 
of the United States and was not well disposed to the good order and 
happiness of the United States at the time of naturalization, and, in 
the absence of countervailing evidence, it shall be sufficient in the 
proper proceeding to authorize the revocation and setting aside of the 
order admitting such person to citizenship and the cancellation of the 
certificate of naturalization as having been obtained by concealment of 
a material fact or by willful misrepresentation, and such revocation and 
setting aside of the order admitting such person to citizenship and such 
canceling of certificate of naturalization shall be effective as of the 
original date of the order and certificate, respectively.

(d) Applicability to citizenship through naturalization of parent or 
        spouse

    Any person who claims United States citizenship through the 
naturalization of a parent or spouse in whose case there is a revocation 
and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to 
citizenship under the provisions of subsection (a) of this section on 
the ground that the order and certificate of naturalization were 
procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful 
misrepresentation shall be deemed to have lost and to lose his 
citizenship and any right or privilege of citizenship which he may have, 
now has, or may hereafter acquire under and by virtue of such 
naturalization of such parent or spouse, regardless of whether such 
person is residing within or without the United States at the time of 
the revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or 
spouse to citizenship. Any person who claims United States citizenship 
through the naturalization of a parent or spouse in whose case there is 
a revocation and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or 
spouse to citizenship and the cancellation of the certificate of 
naturalization under the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, 
or under the provisions of section 1440(c) of this title on any ground 
other than that the order and certificate of naturalization were 
procured by concealment of a material fact or by willful 
misrepresentation, shall be deemed to have lost and to lose his 
citizenship and any right or privilege of citizenship which would have 
been enjoyed by such person had there not been a revocation and setting 
aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to citizenship and 
the cancellation of the certificate of naturalization, unless such 
person is residing in the United States at the time of the revocation 
and setting aside of the order admitting such parent or spouse to 
citizenship and the cancellation of the certificate of naturalization.

(e) Citizenship unlawfully procured

    When a person shall be convicted under section 1425 of title 18 of 
knowingly procuring naturalization in violation of law, the court in 
which such conviction is had shall thereupon revoke, set aside, and 
declare void the final order admitting such person to citizenship, and 
shall declare the certificate of naturalization of such person to be 
canceled. Jurisdiction is conferred on the courts having jurisdiction of 
the trial of such offense to make such adjudication.

(f) Cancellation of certificate of naturalization

    Whenever an order admitting an alien to citizenship shall be revoked 
and set aside or a certificate of naturalization shall be canceled, or 
both, as provided in this section, the court in which such judgment or 
decree is rendered shall make an order canceling such certificate and 
shall send a certified copy of such order to the Attorney General. The 
clerk of court shall transmit a copy of such order and judgment to the 
Attorney General. A person holding a certificate of naturalization or 
citizenship which has been canceled as provided by this section shall 
upon notice by the court by which the decree of cancellation was made, 
or by the Attorney General, surrender the same to the Attorney General.

(g) Applicability to certificates of naturalization and citizenship

    The provisions of this section shall apply not only to any 
naturalization granted and to certificates of naturalization and 
citizenship issued under the provisions of this subchapter, but to any 
naturalization heretofore granted by any court, and to all certificates 
of naturalization and citizenship which may have been issued heretofore 
by any court or by the Commissioner based upon naturalization granted by 
any court, or by a designated representative of the Commissioner under 
the provisions of section 702 of the Nationality Act of 1940, as 
amended, or by such designated representative under any other act.

(h) Power to correct, reopen, alter, modify, or vacate order

    Nothing contained in this section shall be regarded as limiting, 
denying, or restricting the power of the Attorney General to correct, 
reopen, alter, modify, or vacate an order naturalizing the person.

(June 27, 1952, ch. 477, title III, ch. 2, Sec. 340, 66 Stat. 260; Sept. 
3, 1954, ch. 1263, Sec. 18, 68 Stat. 1232; Pub. L. 87-301, Sec. 18, 
Sept. 26, 1961, 75 Stat. 656; Pub. L. 99-653, Sec. 17, Nov. 14, 1986, 
100 Stat. 3658; Pub. L. 100-525, Sec. 9(dd), Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 
2621; Pub. L. 101-649, title IV, Sec. 407(d)(18), Nov. 29, 1990, 104 
Stat. 5046; Pub. L. 102-232, title III, Sec. 305(k), Dec. 12, 1991, 105 
Stat. 1750; Pub. L. 103-416, title I, Sec. 104(b), (c), Oct. 25, 1994, 
108 Stat. 4308.)

                       References In Text

    Section 702 of the Nationality Act of 1940, as amended, referred to 
in subsec. (g), which was classified to section 1002 of this title, was 
repealed by section 403(a)(42) of act June 27, 1952. See section 1440 of 
this title.


                               Amendments

    1994--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 103-416 redesignated subsec. (e) as (d) 
and substituted ``subsection (c)'' for ``subsections (c) or (d)'', and 
struck out former subsec. (d) which related to revocation of 
naturalization of persons who, within one year of naturalization, have 
taken permanent residence in country of their nativity or in any other 
foreign country.
    Subsecs. (e) to (i). Pub. L. 103-416, Sec. 104(c)(1), redesignated 
subsecs. (f) to (i) as (e) to (h), respectively. Former subsec. (e) 
redesignated (d).
    1991--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102-232, Sec. 305(k)(1), substituted 
``district court'' for ``District Court'' in first sentence.
    Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 102-232, Sec. 305(k)(2), substituted ``clerk of 
court'' for ``clerk of the court'' in second sentence.
    1990--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101-649, Sec. 407(d)(18)(A), substituted 
``in any District Court of the United States'' for ``in any court 
specified in subsection (a) of section 1421 of this title''.
    Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 101-649, Sec. 407(d)(18)(B), (C), amended 
second sentence generally and struck out third sentence. Prior to 
amendment, second and third sentences read as follows: ``In case such 
certificate was not originally issued by the court making such order, it 
shall direct the clerk of court in which the order is revoked and set 
aside to transmit a copy of such order and judgment to the court out of 
which such certificate of naturalization shall have been originally 
issued. It shall thereupon be the duty of the clerk of the court 
receiving such certified copy of the order and judgment of the court to 
enter the same of record and to cancel such original certificate of 
naturalization, if there be any, upon the records and to notify the 
Attorney General of the entry of such order and of such cancellation.''
    Subsec. (i). Pub. L. 101-649, Sec. 407(d)(18)(D), substituted ``the 
Attorney General to correct, reopen, alter, modify, or vacate an order 
naturalizing the person'' for ``any naturalization court, by or in which 
a person has been naturalized, to correct, reopen, alter, modify, or 
vacate its judgment or decree naturalizing such person, during the term 
of such court or within the time prescribed by the rules of procedure or 
statutes governing the jurisdiction of the court to take such action''.
    1988--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 100-525, Sec. 9(dd)(1), substituted 
``December 24, 1952'' for ``the effective date of this chapter''.
    Subsecs. (e) to (j). Pub. L. 100-525, Sec. 9(dd)(2), (3), 
redesignated former subsecs. (f) to (j) as (e) to (i), respectively, and 
struck out former subsec. (e) which read as follows: ``The revocation 
and setting aside of the order admitting any person to citizenship and 
canceling his certificate of naturalization under the provisions of 
subsection (a) of section 338 of the Nationality Act of 1940 shall not, 
where such action takes place after the effective date of this chapter, 
result in the loss of citizenship or any right or privilege of 
citizenship which would have been derived by or been available to a wife 
or minor child of the naturalized person had such naturalization not 
been revoked: Provided, That this subsection shall not apply in any case 
in which the revocation and setting aside of the order was the result of 
actual fraud.''
    1986--Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 99-653 substituted ``one year'' for 
``five years''.
    1961--Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 87-301, Sec. 18(a), inserted ``were 
illegally procured or'' after ``that such order and certificate of 
naturalization''.
    Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 87-301, Sec. 18(b), inserted ``illegally 
procured or'' before ``procured by concealment''.
    1954--Subsec. (a). Act Sept. 3, 1954, substituted ``United States 
attorneys'' for ``United States district attorneys''.


                    Effective Date of 1991 Amendment

    Amendment by Pub. L. 102-232 effective as if included in the 
enactment of the Immigration Act of 1990, Pub. L. 101-649, see section 
310(1) of Pub. L. 102-232, set out as a note under section 1101 of this 
title.


                    Effective Date of 1986 Amendment

    Section 23(f) of Pub. L. 99-653, as added by Pub. L. 100-525, 
Sec. 8(r), Oct. 24, 1988, 102 Stat. 2619, provided that: ``The amendment 
made by section 17 [amending this section] shall not apply to 
individuals who have taken up permanent residence outside the United 
States before November 14, 1986.''

  Abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service and Transfer of 
                                Functions

    For abolition of Immigration and Naturalization Service, transfer of 
functions, and treatment of related references, see note set out under 
section 1551 of this title.

                  Section Referred to in Other Sections

    This section is referred to in sections 1256, 1440 of this title.