8 FAM 302.3
Acquisition by Birth in the U.S. Virgin Islands
(CT:CITZ-1; 06-27-2018)
(Office of Origin: CA/PPT/S/A)
8 FAM 302.3-1 Current Law
(CT:CITZ-1; 06-27-2018)
a. The Virgin Islands of the United States come within
the definition of "United States" given in section 101(a)(38) Immigration
and Nationality Act (INA). A person born there now acquires U.S. citizenship in the same way as one born in any of the 50 States. Section 301(a) INA
applies.
b. Section 306 INA (8 U.S.C. 1406) pertains
specifically to the Virgin Islands
SEC 306. (a) The following persons and their
children born subsequent to January 17, 1917, and prior to February 25, 1927,
are declared to be citizens of the United States as of February 25, 1927
c. All former Danish citizens who, on January 17,
1917, resided in the Virgin Islands of the United States, and were residing in
those islands or in the United States or Puerto Rico on February 25, 1927, and
who did not make the declaration required to preserve their Danish citizenship
by article 6 of the treaty entered into on August 4, 1916, between the United
States and Denmark, or who, having made such a declaration have heretofore
renounced or may hereafter renounce it by a declaration before a court of
record;
d. All natives of the Virgin Islands of the United
States who, on January 17, 1917, resided in those islands, and were residing in
those islands or in the United States or Puerto Rico on February 25, 1927, and
who were not on February 25, 1927, citizens or subjects of any foreign country;
e. All natives of the Virgin Islands of the United
States who, on January 17, 1917, resided in the United States, and were
residing in those islands on February 25, 1927, and who were not on February
25, 1927, citizens or subjects of any foreign country; and
f. All natives of the Virgin Islands of the United
States who, on June 28, 1932, were residing in continental United States, the
Virgin Islands of the United States, Puerto Rico, the Canal Zone, or any other
insular possession or territory of the United States, and who, on June 28,
1932, were not citizens or subjects of any foreign country, regardless of their
place of residence on January 17, 1917.
g. All persons born in the Virgin Islands of the United
States on or after January 17, 1917, and prior to February 25, 1927, and
subject to the jurisdiction of the United States are declared to be citizens of
the United States as of February 25, 1927; and all persons born in those
islands on or after February 25, 1927, and subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States, are declared to be citizens of the United States at birth.
8 FAM 302.3-2 Nationality Status
Before December 24, 1952
8 FAM 302.3-2(A) Status of Inhabitants
After Transfer to U.S. Sovereignty
(CT:CITZ-1; 06-27-2018)
a. The Virgin Islands of the United States, formerly
the Danish West Indies, were purchased from Denmark on August 4, 1916. The
convention making effective such purchase was ratified and came into force on
January 17, 1917.
b. Article 6 of the convention states that:
Danish citizens who remain in the islands may
preserve their citizenship in Denmark by making before a court of record,
within one year from the date of the exchange of ratifications in this
convention, a declaration of their decision to preserve such citizenship; in
default of which declaration they shall be held to have renounced it, and to
have accepted citizenship in the United States; for children under the age of eighteen
years the declaration may be made by their parents or guardians. Such election
of Danish citizenship shall however not, after the lapse of the said term of
one year, be a bar to their renunciation of their preserved Danish citizenship
and their election of citizenship in the United States and admission to the
nationality thereof on the same terms as may be provided according to the laws
of the United States, for other inhabitants of the islands
The civil rights and the political status of the
inhabitants of the islands shall be determined by Congress, subject to the
stipulations contained in the present Convention
c. Even though the convention referred to
"citizenship in the United States" rather than U.S. nationality, it
was administratively held that, consistent with the rulings of the Supreme
Court in the "Insular Cases" on the status of inhabitants of
territories acquired by treaty, Danish citizens residing in the U.S. Virgin
Islands on January 17, 1917, who did not elect to preserve their Danish citizenship
became non-citizen U.S. nationals (3 Hackworth, Digest of International Law
147; 38 Op Atty. Gen. 525 (1936); 3 I. & N. 870 (1950); 6 I. & N. 226
(1954)).
d. Temporary absence from the Virgin Islands at the
time of cession did not preclude acquisition of U.S. nationality if the person
was otherwise qualified. For instance:
(1) The Department construed "residence" to
mean a permanent dwelling place to which the person, when absent, intended to
return;
(2) In determining whether someone could be considered
an inhabitant of the islands within the meaning of the treaty, the Department
required the person to provide proof of being a bona fide resident of the
islands before annexation and of having had a definite intention to return; and
(3) The Department considered such factors as the
temporary nature of the absence (schooling, business trip, and so forth);
evidence of a permanent connection to the islands (such as ownership of
property, payment of taxes, and/or the presence of family in the islands), and
the lack of fixed abode elsewhere.
e. The nationality of the non-Danish residents of the Virgin Islands was not affected by the convention.
f. The acts of February 25, 1927 (44 Stat. 1234) and
June 28, 1932 (47 Stat. 336) granted U.S. citizenship to Virgin Island natives
born prior to annexation if they met certain criteria, now codified in section
306, INA (quoted in 8 FAM 302.3-1).
8 FAM 302.3-2(B) Status
Acquired by Birth in the Islands After Annexation but Before February 25, 1927
(CT:CITZ-1; 06-27-2018)
a. After annexation and before February 25, 1927
persons born to two U.S. nationals in the Virgin Islands acquired non-citizen U.S. nationality.
b. A child born there to two aliens did not acquire U.S. nationality at birth.
c. The status of persons born there, subject to U.S.
jurisdiction, on or after January 17, 1917, was altered by the act of February
25, 1927 as quoted in 8 FAM
302.3-2(C).
8 FAM 302.3-2(C) Laws Granting
U.S. Citizenship to Persons Born in the Virgin Islands
(CT:CITZ-1; 06-27-2018)
a. The first law to govern acquisition of U.S.
citizenship by birth in the Virgin Islands was the act of February 25, 1927 (44
Stat. 1234), which became effective from the date of enactment.
b. Section 3 of that law stated that:
All persons born in the Virgin Islands on or after
January 17, 1917 (whether before or after the effective date of this act), and
subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, are hereby declared citizens
of the United States.
c. The Virgin Islands came within the definition of
"United States" given in the Nationality Act of 1940, and section
201(a) NA applied to persons born in the Virgin islands. For the current law,
see 8 FAM
302.3-1.
8 FAM 302.3-2(D) Status
Acquired by Birth Outside the Islands to Former Danish Residents or Natives of
the Islands
(CT:CITZ-1; 06-27-2018)
a. Children born between January 17, 1917 and February
25, 1927 to someone who became a U.S. citizen under section 1 of the act of
February 1, 1927, were declared U.S. citizens as of February 25, 1927,
regardless of their birthplace.
b. The provisions of Section 1 were the same as those
of section 306(a)(1)‑(3) INA (quoted in 8 FAM 302.3-1).