8 FAM 302.3
Acquisition by Birth in Guam on or After December 24, 1952
(CT:CITZ-35; 05-15-2020)
(Office of Origin: CA/PPT/S/A)
8 FAM 302.3-1 Current Law
(CT:CITZ-35; 05-15-2020)
a. Persons born in Guam on or after December 24, 1952, acquire U.S. citizenship at birth. Guam is listed as part of the geographical definition of the "United States" in section 101 (a)(38) Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). Section 301(a) INA provides that a person born in and subject to the jurisdiction of the United States shall be a U.S. citizen. Section 307(b) INA conferred U.S. citizenship upon anyone born in Guam after April 11, 1899. Only those who affirmed or acquired a foreign nationality before August 1, 1950 are not U.S. citizens.
b. The first law to confer U.S. citizenship on the inhabitants of Guam was the Organic Act of August 1, 1950 (64 Stat. 384)("the Organic Act"), which incorporated Guam into the United States. Section 4 of the Organic Act added section 206 to the Nationality Act of 1940 (NA). The provisions of section 206 NA for the citizenship of natives and inhabitants of Guam were the same as those in section 307 INA.
c. Section 307(c) INA protects the foreign nationality of the Guamanian inhabitants who had made timely declaration pursuant to the treaty of cession or to the Organic Act.
d. The phrase "subject to the jurisdiction of the United States" in Section 307(b) INA refers to a condition at the time of birth and does not require residence in Guam or other territory over which the United States had jurisdiction on August 1, 1950, when these provisions originally were enacted as part of the Organic Act. For more information on the meaning of "subject to the jurisdiction of the United States”, see 8 FAM 301.1.