May 9, 1918, 40 Stat. 542548 [PUBLIC LAW 144-65TH CONGRESS] [CHAPTER 69-2D SESSION] [H. R. 3132] AN ACT To amend the naturalization laws and to repeal certain sections of the Revised Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the "Seventh. Any native-born Filipino of the age of twenty-one years and upward who has declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States and who has enlisted or may hereafter enlist in the United States Navy or Marine Corps or the Naval Auxiliary Service, and who, after service of not less than three years, may be honorably discharged therefrom, or who may receive an ordinary discharge with recommendation for reenlistment; or any alien, or any Porto Rican not a citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years and upward, who has enlisted or entered or may hereafter enlist in or enter the armies of the United States, either the Regular or the Volunteer Forces, or the National Army, the National Guard or Naval Militia of any State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, or the State militia in Federal service, or in the United States Navy or Marine Corps, or in the United States Coast Guard, or who has served for three years on board of any vessel of the United States Government, or for three years on board of merchant or fishing vessels of the United States of more than twenty tons burden, and while still in the service on a reenlistment or reappointment, or within six months after an honorable discharge or separation therefrom, or while on furlough to the Army Reserve or Regular Army Reserve after honorable service, may, on presentation of the required declaration of intention. petition for naturalization without proof of the required five years' residence within the United States if upon examination by the representative of the Bureau of Naturalization, in accordance with the requirements of this subdivision it is shown that such residence can not be established; any alien serving in the military or naval service of the United States during the time this country is engaged in the present war may file his petition for naturalization without making the preliminary declaration of intention and without proof of the required five years' residence within the United States; any alien declarant who has served in the United States Army or Navy, or the Philippine Constabulary, and has been honorably discharged therefrom, and has been accepted for service in either the military or naval service of the United States on the condition that he becomes a citizen of the United States, may file his petition for naturalization upon proof of continuous residence within the United States for the three years immediately preceding his petition, by two witnesses, citizens of the United States, and in these cases only residence in the Philippine Islands and the Panama Canal Zone by aliens may be considered residence within the United States, and the place of such military service shall be construed as the place of residence required to be established for purposes of naturalization; and any alien, or any person owing permanent allegiance to the United States embraced within this subdivision, may file his petition for naturalization in the most convenient court without proof of residence within its jurisdiction, notwithstanding the limitation upon the jurisdiction of the courts specified in section three of the Act of June twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and six, provided he appears with his two witnesses before the appropriate representative of the Bureau of Naturalization and passes the preliminary examination hereby required before filing his petition for naturalization in the office of the clerk of the court, and in each case the record of this examination shall be offered in evidence by the representative of the Government from the Bureau of Naturalization and made a part of the record at the original and any subsequent hearings; and, except as otherwise herein provided, the honorable discharge certificate of such alien, or person owing permanent allegiance to the United States, or the certificate of service showing good conduct, signed by a duly authorized officer, or by the masters of said vessels, shall be deemed prima facie evidence to satisfy all of the requirements of residence within the United States and within the State, Territory, or the District of Columbia, and good moral character required by law, when supported by the affidavits of two witnesses, citizens of the United States, identifying the applicant as the person named in the certificate or honorable discharge, and in those cases only where the alien is actually in the military or naval service of the United States, the certificate of arrival shall not be filed with the petition for naturalization in the manner prescribed; and any petition for naturalization filed under the provisions of this subdivision may be heard immediately, notwithstanding the law prohibits the hearing of a petition for naturalization during thirty days preceding any election in the jurisdiction of the court. Any alien, who, at the time of the passage of this Act, is in the military service of the United States, who may not be within the jurisdiction of any court authorized to naturalize aliens, may file his petition for naturalization without appearing in person in the office of the clerk of the court and shall not be required to take the prescribed oath of allegiance in open court. The petition shall be verified by the affidavits of at least two credible witnesses who are citizens of the United States, and who shall prove in their affidavits the portion of the residence that they have personally known the applicant to have resided within the United States. The time of military service may be established by the affidavits of at least two other citizens of the United States, which, together with the oath of allegiance, may be taken in accordance with the terms of section seventeen hundred and fifty of the Revised Statutes of the United States after notice from and under regulations of the Bureau of Naturalization. Such affidavits and oath of allegiance shall be admitted in evidence in any original or appellate naturalization proceeding without proof of the genuineness of the seal or signature or of the official character of the officer before whom the affidavits and oath of allegiance were taken, and shall be filed by the representative of the Government from the Bureau of Naturalization at the hearing as provided by section eleven of the Act of June twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and six. Members of the Naturalization Bureau and Service may be designated by the Secretary of Labor to administer oaths relating to the administration of the naturalization law; and the requirement of section ten of notice to take depositions to the United States attorneys is repealed, and the duty they perform under section fifteen of the Act of June twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and six (Thirty-fourth Statutes at Large, part one, page five hundred and ninety-six), may also be performed by the Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner of Naturalization: Provided, That it shall not be lawful to make a declaration of intention before the clerk of any court on election day or during the period of thirty days preceding the day of holding any election in the jurisdiction of the court: Provided further, That service by aliens upon vessels other than of American registry, whether continuous or broken, shall not be considered as residence for naturalization purposes within the jurisdiction of the United States, and such aliens can not secure residence for naturalization purposes during service upon vessels of foreign registry. During the time when the United States is at war no clerk of a United States court shall charge or collect a naturalization fee from an alien in the military service of the United States for filing his petition or issuing the certificate of naturalization upon admission to citizenship, and no clerk of any State court shall charge or collect any fee for this service unless the laws of the State require such charge to be made, in which case nothing more than the portion of the fee required to be paid to the State shall be charged or collected. A full accounting for all of these transactions shall be made to the Bureau of Naturalization in the manner provided by section thirteen of the Act of June twenty-ninth, nineteen hundred and six. "Eighth. That every seaman, being an alien, shall, after his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States, and after he shall have served three years upon such merchant or fishing vessels of the United States, be deemed a citizen of the United States for the purpose of serving on board any such merchant or fishing vessel of the United States, anything to the contrary in any Act of Congress notwithstanding; but such seaman shall, for all purposes of protection as an American citizen, be deemed such after the filing of his declaration of intention to become such citizen: Provided, That nothing contained in this Act shall be taken or construed to repeal or modify any portion of the Act approved March fourth, nineteen hundred and fifteen (Thirty-eighth Statutes at Large, part one, page eleven hundred and sixty-four, chapter one hundred and fifty-three), being an Act to promote the welfare of American seamen. "Ninth. That for the purpose of carrying on the work of the Bureau of Naturalization of sending the names of the candidates for citizenship to the public schools and otherwise promoting instruction and training in citizenship responsibilities of applicants for naturalization, as provided in this subdivision, authority is hereby given for the reimbursement of the printing and binding appropriation of the Department of Labor upon the records of the Treasury Department from the naturalization fees deposited in the Treasury through the |