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Nationality law is the law of a sovereign state, and of each of its jurisdictions, that defines the legal manner in which a national identity is acquired and how it may be lost. In international law, the legal means to acquire nationality and formal membership in a nation are separated from the relationship between a national and the nation ...
The Naturalization Act of 1790 (1 Stat. 103, enacted March 26, 1790) was a law of the United States Congress that set the first uniform rules for the granting of United States citizenship by naturalization.
Nationality defines the legal relationship between a person and a state or nation, specifying who is a member or subject of a particular nation. [3] [4] [5] The rights and obligations of citizenship are defined by this relationship, as well as the protections to which nationals are entitled.
The 1795 Act continued the 1790 Act limitation of naturalization being available only to "free white person[s]." The main change was the increase in the period of required residence in the United States before an alien can be naturalized from two to five years, and the introduction of the Declaration of Intention requirement, or "first papers", which required to be filed at least three years ...
Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. [1] The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the United Nations excludes citizenship that is automatically acquired (e.g. at birth) or is acquired by declaration.
The rights and duties of nationals vary from state to state, [5] and are often complemented by citizenship law, in some contexts to the point where citizenship is synonymous with nationality. [6] However, nationality differs technically and legally from citizenship, which is a different legal relationship between a person and a country.
The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 marked a radical break from U.S. immigration policies of the past. Since Congress restricted naturalized citizenship to "white persons" in 1790, laws restricted immigration from Asia and Africa, and gave preference to Northern and Western Europeans over Southern and Eastern Europeans.
The law enabled those who had resided in the country for two years and had kept their current state of residence for a year to apply for citizenship. However, it restricted naturalization to "free white persons" of "good character". Oddly, the law authorized any "court of record" to perform naturalization.