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THE UNITED AMERICAN
SEPTEMBER 1925
Study of Naturalization Requirements
By J. A. BUCHANAN, Municipal Judge, Astoria, Oregon
ANSWER to many inquiries I have prepared a
I N short
synopsis of the requirements for naturalization.
The United States was the first nation to hold
that a man has a right to choose his citizenship.
We have consistently followed that doctrine by making
it possible for all aliens of Aryan and African origin to
become naturalized citizens of this country. Many
of the governments of Europe have not yet conceded
this right to their subjects, and on more than one
occasion this difference of opinion and practice has
been the cause of discussion and conflict.
From the foundation of the government until
within the last few years it was not at all difficult
to obtain citizenship, and no effort was made to
prepare aliens for citizenship. The law required that
the alien must be of good moral character, believing
in organized government, having no more than one
wife, having lived for five continuous years in the
country, pledging obedience to our laws, and being
able to speak English and sign his own name. That
was all. A few perfuntory questions were asked and
answered, and the alien became a citizen as a matter
of course.
The rapid growth of radicalism and I.W.W.
tendencies in this country, and particularly our
experience with many foreign born residents who were
not citizens during the World War, have taught the
nation a lesson, and now night schools and day schools
have been established in every state, and an effort
is really being made to make our foreign born residents
Americans at heart before they are admitted to citi
zenship. The old requirements are not only continued,
but now the alien is also required to have a fair idea
of our form of government, a general knowledge of
our institutions, and to make a careful study of our
Constitution, which he swears to support and defend,
and to be able to pass a creditable examination along
those lines.
. .
’
The Circuit Judge of Clatsop County was among
the first to take a more serious view of the require
ments for naturalization, and when women were
allowed the right of suffrage in the State of Oregon
he was one of the first to hold that the wife should
have like qualifications with her husband, and be able
at least to speak, read intelligently and write the
English language, since making her husband a citizen
made her also a citizen, giving her the right to vote.
The alien must get two “papers” before he becomes
a citizen of the United States. The first is secured
when he makes his declaration of intention to become
a citizen of this country, and may be made, if he so
desires, the day after his arrival, or at any time there
after. The first paper costs one dollar. At the expira
tion of two years, and not more than seven years
from the date of the first paper, he can apply for his
second, or final citizenship papers. Two witnesses
who are citizens of the United States, either naturalized
or native born, are required to testify to his good
moral character, and five years’ continuous residence.
If the alien came into the country after June 29,
1906, a certificate of arrival is also required. The
second papers, or final citizenship papers, cost four
dollars.
When the 19th Amendment to the Federal Constitu
tion was adopted in 1920, giving women the right to
vote in all states’of the union, it became necessary to
amend the naturalization laws. Formerly, if an Amer
ican born woman married an alien she automatically
lost her citizenship, and if an alien was made a citizen
his foreign born wife automatically become a citizen.
The new naturalization law was passed by the congress
September 22, 1922, and it would perhaps be well to
mention a few of the changes, particularly affecting
women.
If a foreign born woman married a citizen of the
United States, she does not automatically become a
citizen, as formerly, but she must take out her citi
zenship papers. She is not required to take out first
papers, that is, make a declaration of intention to
become a citizen; she asks only for full citizenship.
She must live for at least one year in the United States
before asking for citizenship. It is not necessary that
she live in one state during the entire time.
If a woman born in this country marries an alien
she does not automatically lose her citizenship, as
formerly, unless her husband belongs to the class of
persons that are not allowed to become citizens under
the law, or unless she goes before a court and declares
that she does not care to remain a citizen. If the
husband of a woman citizen dies or they are divorced,
she remains a citizen.
A woman who was born in the United States and
lost her citizenship before September 22, 1922, by
marrying an alien, must apply for second papers to
regain her citizenship under the new law. She does not
need to have a certificate of arrival, if during her
married period she lived in the United States.
A woman whose husband is not allowed by law to
become a citizen can not herself become a citizen while
married to him.
The new law does not handicap a woman whose
husband has not received his final or second papers.
If she desires to become a citizen she may do so,
regardless of whether he becomes a citizen or not,
by taking out her papers in the regular way fulfilling
all the requirements imposed by law, that is, declara
tion of intention, application of citizenship, five years
residence, two witnesses, examination in open court,
etc., just as she would if she were a man or a single
woman.
If other words, as women now have the right of
suffrage, the law makes no difference between women
and men, but all are treated alike. The woman must
make her own application for citizenship, do the
required study and pass the required examination in
open court. The husband’s application and the wife’s
application are separate and distinct, each standing
on its own merits and degree of qualification.
I want to mention again the need of education and
Americanization among our foreign born residents.
As a matter of fact, no person should be allowed to
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