Editing Naturalization (section)

===United States===
{{Further|United States nationality law|History of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United States}}
[[File:US Navy 090528-N-3207B-034 Sailors, Marines, Soldiers and Airmen recite the pledge of allegiance during a naturalization ceremony at the USS Midway Museum.jpg|thumb|upright|[[United States]] service members are sworn in as [[citizenship of the United States|citizens of the United States]] aboard the [[USS Midway (CV-41)|USS ''Midway'']] in 2009]]
Persons who are not US citizens may receive citizenship through the process of naturalization, following the Congressional requirements in the [[Immigration and Nationality Act]] (INA).<ref name="requirements of naturalization" /><ref name="Legal-Almanac">Margaret C. Jasper, ''Legal Almanac: The Law of Immigration'' § 9:3</ref> Naturalized citizens have the same rights as those who acquired citizenship at birth.<ref name="Legal-Almanac" />

The INA states the following:{{Blockquote|No person, except as otherwise provided in this [[title 8 of the United States Code#Subchapter III: Nationality and Naturalization|subchapter]], shall be naturalized unless such applicant, (1) immediately preceding the date of filing his [[Form N-400|application for naturalization]] has resided continuously, after being [[lawful permanent residents (United States)|lawfully admitted for permanent residence]], within the United States for at least five years and during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing his application has been physically present therein for periods totaling at least half of that time, and who has resided within the [[U.S. state|State]] or within the district of the [[United States Citizenship and Immigration Services|Service]] in the United States in which the applicant filed the application for at least three months, (2) has resided continuously within the United States from the date of the application up to the time of admission to citizenship, and (3) during all the periods referred to in this subsection has been and still is a person of good moral character, attached to the principles of the [[United States Constitution|Constitution of the United States]], and well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.<ref name="requirements of naturalization">{{uscsub|8|1427|a}} ("Requirements of naturalization"); see also {{USC|8|1429}} ("Prerequisite to naturalization; burden of proof"); {{USC|8|1452}} ("Certificates of citizenship or U.S. non-citizen national status; procedure"); {{USC|8|1503}} ("Denial of rights and privileges as national").</ref>}}

[[File:Usnaturalization.jpg|thumb|A man taking the required [[citizenship of the United States|citizenship]] [[oath of allegiance]] in front of [[Federal government of the United States|US government officials]] in [[New York City]] (1910).]]
[[File:Naturalization ceremony at Kennedy Space Center.jpg|thumb|New citizens at a naturalization ceremony at [[Kennedy Space Center]] in [[Florida]] (2010).]]

The [[Naturalization Act of 1795]] set the initial rules on naturalization: "free, White persons" who had been resident for five years or more.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.sunypress.edu/p-6435-race-nation-and-refuge.aspx|title=Race, Nation, and Refuge|publisher=[[SUNY Press]]}}</ref> An 1862 law allowed honorably discharged Army veterans of any war to petition for naturalization after only one year of residence in the United States.<ref>[https://www.loc.gov/law/help/statutes-at-large/37th-congress/session-2/c37s2ch200.pdf An Act to define the Pay and Emoluments of certain Officers of the Army, and for other purposes], 17 July 1862, §21.</ref> An 1894 law extended the same privilege to honorably discharged five-year veterans of the Navy or Marine Corps. Laws enacted in 1919, 1926, 1940, and 1952 continued preferential treatment provisions for veterans.<ref>Schulze, Lorine McGinnis (2003). [http://www.naturalizationrecords.com/usa/ Naturalization Records in the USA"], Retrieved April 23, 2005</ref>

Following the [[Spanish–American War]] in 1898, Philippine citizens were classified as US nationals, and the 1917 [[Jones–Shafroth Act]] granted US citizenship to natives of [[Puerto Rico]]. But the 1934 [[Tydings–McDuffie Act]] reclassified Filipinos as aliens, and set a quota of 50 immigrants per year, and otherwise applying the [[Immigration Act of 1924]] to them.

The [[Chinese Exclusion Repeal Act|Magnuson Act]] repealed the Chinese Exclusion Act. During the 1940s, 100 annual immigrants from [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|British India]] and the Philippines were allowed. The [[War Brides Act]] of 1945 permitted soldiers to bring back their foreign wives and established precedent in naturalization through [[marriage]]. The [[Immigration Act of 1965]] finally allowed people from all nations to be given equal access to immigration and naturalization.

[[Illegal immigration]] became a major issue in the United States at the end of the 20th century. The [[Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986]], while tightening border controls, also provided the opportunity of naturalization for illegal aliens who had been in the country for at least four years. Today, [[lawful permanent residents (United States)|lawful permanent residents]] of the United States are eligible to apply for US citizenship after five years,<ref name="1101(a)(23)">{{uscsub|8|1101|a|23}} ("The term 'naturalization' means the conferring of nationality of a state upon a person after birth, by any means whatsoever."); {{usc|8|1436}} ("A person not a citizen who owes permanent allegiance to the United States, and who is otherwise qualified, may, if he becomes a resident of any [[U.S. state|State]], '''''be naturalized''''' upon compliance with the applicable requirements of [[title 8 of the United States Code#Subchapter III: Nationality and Naturalization|this subchapter]]....") (emphasis added).</ref> unless they continue to be married to a US citizen, in which case they can apply after only three years of permanent residency.<ref>[http://www.immigrationamerica.org/citizenship/naturalization "Citizenship Through Naturalization"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824103202/http://www.immigrationamerica.org/citizenship/naturalization |date=2011-08-24 }}, ImmigrationAmerica</ref>

The [[Child Citizenship Act of 2000]] streamlined the naturalization process for children [[adoption in the United States|adopted]] [[international adoption|internationally]]. A child under age 18 who is adopted by at least one US citizen parent, and is in the custody of the citizen parent(s), is now automatically naturalized once admitted to the United States as an immigrant or when legally adopted in the United States, depending on the visa under which the child was admitted to the United States. The Act also provides that the non-citizen minor child of a newly naturalized US citizen, whether by birth or adoption, also automatically receives US citizenship.