Nationality Act of 1940

Nationality Act of 1940

Long title	An Act to revise and codify the nationality laws of the United States into a comprehensive nationality code.
Enacted by	the 76th United States Congress
Effective	October 14, 1940
Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 76–853
Statutes at Large	54 Stat. 1137, Chap. 876
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 9980 by Samuel Dickstein (D–NY) on June 5, 1940 Committee consideration by U.S. House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, U.S. Senate Committee on Immigration and Naturalization Passed the House on September 11, 1940 (Passed) Passed the Senate on September 30, 1940 (Passed) Reported by the joint conference committee on October 1, 1940; agreed to by the Senate on October 4, 1940 (Agreed) and by the House on October 4, 1940 (Agreed) Signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on October 14, 1940
United States Supreme Court cases
Perez v. Brownell, 356 U.S. 44 (1958) Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86 (1958) Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967)

The Nationality Act of 1940 (H.R. 9980; Pub.L. 76-853; 54 Stat. 1137) revised numerous provisions of law relating to American citizenship and naturalization. It was enacted by the 76th Congress of the United States and signed into law on October 14, 1940, a year after World War II had begun in Europe, but before the U.S. entered the war.

The law revised "the existing nationality laws of the U.S. into a more complete nationality code"; it defined those persons who were "eligible for citizenship through birth or naturalization" and clarified "the status of individuals and their children born or residing in the continental U.S., its territories such as Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Philippines, Panama and the Canal Zone, or abroad."^[1] The law furthermore defined who was not eligible for citizenship, and how citizenship could be lost or terminated. This legislation represents the first attempt ever made, since the founding of the United States, to codify and unify all of the U.S. laws relating to nationality and naturalization.^[2]

This act was superseded by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 and by later acts of Congress and executive orders.