Fraternity-Testvériség, 1959 (37. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1959-12-01 / 12. szám
12 FRATERNITY IMMIGRATION AND NATURALIZATION IMMIGRATION Question: My cousin came to the United States two years ago as a student. She went to school for one year, ran out of funds and started to work. Now she has been told by the Immigration Service that this was in violation of her student status and that she will have to leave. Meanwhile, she has decided she likes it so well in the United States that she wants to stay here permanently. Is there anything she can do to remain? Answer: The answer depends chiefly on whether your cousin comes from a country with an open quota or whether she has close relatives in this country who would enable her to obtain a quota preference. Before August 21, 1958, an alien who had violated his temporary status could not adjust his status without leaving the country. Since August 21, 1958, however, a new law permits persons who have a quota or nonquota visa immediately available to them, both at the time of application for adjustment of status and at the time when their application is acted upon, to adjust their status if they were bona fide non-immigrants at the time of entry, even if in the meanwhile they have violated their status. Whether your cousin, therefore, can adjust her status depends chiefly on the question to which quota she is chargeable. CITIZENSHIP Question: I am an American citizen, having been born in the United States, but intend to marry an alien and thereafter live in my husband’s country. Will I lose my American citizenship by doing this? Answer: No, you will not lose your American citizenship by marrying an alien, or by living abroad. If you wish to retain your American citizenship, however, you must be careful not to commit any of the acts which would result in its loss, such as voting in a political election in a foreign state, taking an oath of allegiance to a foreign state, or being naturalized in a foreign state. No American citizen loses his or her citizenship by marrying an alien. Living abroad, however, is a different matter. Here a different rule applies to native born and naturalized citizens. Prolonged residence abroad does not affect the citizenship of a native born citizen. You are consequently in no danger of losing your American citizenship by residence abroad. This is not true, however, of a naturalized citizen. With some exceptions for special circumstances, if a naturalized citizen resides continuously for five years in any foreign country or for three years in the foreign country in which he was born, or of which he was formerly a national, fee will lose his American citizenship.
