8 FAM 308.4
Acquisition by Birth in Guam Before December 24, 1952
(CT:CITZ-35; 05-15-2020)
(Office of Origin: CA/PPT/S/A)
8 FAM 308.4-1 Status of Inhabitants After Annexation and Before August 1, 1950
(CT:CITZ-35; 05-15-2020)
a. Guam was acquired from Spain on December 10, 1898, as a result of the Spanish-American War. Article IX the Treaty of Paris (30 Stat. 1754), ratified on April 11, 1899, if the civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the ceded territory would be determined by Congress.
b. Until the Nationality Act of 1940 was amended by the Organic Act, on August 1, 1950, no law addressed the civil rights and political status of the inhabitants of Guam. The Department held that Spanish subjects, including natives of Guam and natives of the Spanish Peninsula (that is, persons born in Spain), who were residing in Guam at the time of its annexation became nationals, but not citizens, of the United States.
c. The only exceptions were Spanish subjects born in Spain who had kept their allegiance to Spain by making a declaration before October 11, 1900, as provided for in the Treaty of Paris.
8 FAM 308.4-2 Status Acquired by Birth In Guam After Annexation And Before August 1, 1950
(CT:CITZ-35; 05-15-2020)
a. Before August 1, 1950, the effective date of the Organic Act, it was held that:
(1) A person born in Guam on or after April 11, 1899, in wedlock to a U.S. national father or out of wedlock to a U.S. national mother became a non-citizen U.S. national at birth;
(2) Children born in Guam to U.S. citizens acquired U.S. citizenship under the conditions that applied to persons born abroad; and
(3) Persons born in Guam to aliens did not acquire U.S. nationality at birth.
b. The following provisions of the Nationality Act of 1940 were not retroactive:
(1) Section 201(e) NA set the terms under which U.S. citizenship could be acquired by birth in Guam from January 13, 1941, until Section 206 NA was added on August 1, 1950, pursuant to Section 4 of the Organic Act; and
(2) Section 204(a) NA governed the acquisition of non-citizen U.S. nationality by birth in Guam.
8 FAM 308.4-3 Status Acquired by Birth Abroad to Natives or Inhabitants of Guam Who Had Acquired Non-citizen U.S. Nationality
(CT:CITZ-35; 05-15-2020)
No special law was enacted to address the status of foreign‑born children of Guamanians who were not U.S. citizens. The considerations discussed in 8 FAM 308.9 apply.