§ 336.11

Notice to Service; personal representation of Government at naturalization proceedings.

At least 30 days prior to the holding of any naturalization proceedings referred to in section 336(d) of the act, the clerk of the naturalization court shall give written notice to the appropriate district director of the time, date, and place of such proceedings. Such notice may be waived by the district director. Final naturalization hearings or other naturalization proceedings shall, whenever practicable, be attended personally by naturalization examiners or other members of the Service, who shall present to the court the views and recommendations of the designated examiner and the regional commissioner as appropriate. A Service officer shall personally attend every final hearing at which a petition or formal application for naturalization is to be recommended for denial. If the recommendation of the regional commissioner does not agree with that of the designated examiner, a member of the Service other than the person who conducted the preliminary examination shall, wherever practicable, represent the Service before the court. Such representative may cross-examine the petitioner and his witnesses and may call other witnesses and produce evidence concerning any matter affecting the petitioner's eligibility for naturalization.

When necessary, the representative in attendance shall have a stenographic report made of the testimony. [23 F.R. 5820, Aug. 1, 1958]

§ 336.12 Written report in lieu of personal representation.

If a preliminary examination has been conducted pursuant to Part 335 of this chapter, and it is impracticable thereafter for a Service representative to be present at the final naturalization hearing, written notice of that fact shall be given by the Service to the court. The petitions set down for hearing shall be listed on the appropriate forms prescribed by § 336.13. If continuance of the petition is desired, the basis therefor shall be set forth. The forms and memoranda shall be transmitted to the clerk of court, who shall submit the appropriate lists and orders to the court in accordance with the procedure described in § 336.13.

[23 F.R. 5821, Aug. 1, 1958, as amended at 30 F.R. 13005, Oct. 13, 1965]

§ 336.13 Preparation of lists and orders of court for presentation at final hearing.

(a) At or prior to the final naturalization hearing the representative attending the hearing shall submit to the court lists and orders of court, in duplicate, on Forms N-480, N-481, or N-485, as appropriate, for petitions recommended to be granted, and on Form N-484 for petitions recommended to be denied; except that all grant and denial lists and orders of the regional commissioner, and denial lists and orders relating to petitions filed under section 322 and section 323 of the Act shall not be on any prescribed published form, but shall be properly drawn as needed on an individual basis. Lists and orders for petitions recommended to be continued also shall not be on any prescribed published form, but shall be drawn as needed on an individual basis. The regional commissioner's lists shall be signed by the district director. After the final hearing, and after any required amendments therein have been made, the presiding judge shall sign the orders of the court.

(b) In any case in which a petitioner is not permitted to take the oath of allegiance until a fixed date following a general election, the order of court granting the petition shall be amended by striking therefrom the words "and each having taken the oath of allegiance required by the naturalization laws and regulations" and inserting immediately following the word "America" the words "as of the date of and upon the taking of the oath of allegiance required by the naturalization laws and regulations at a date subsequent to 19__." Following the taking of the oath of allegiance after a general election, pursuant to such amended order, the clerk of court shall prepare a list, in duplicate, certifying that such oath was taken.

(c) When the court does not waive the taking of the oath of allegiance in the case of a child, the order of court granting the petition shall be amended by changing the word "waived" to "taken”.

(d) The originals of all court orders and lists specified in this section shall be filed permanently in the court, and the duplicates forwarded by the clerk of court to the appropriate field office of the Service for retention by such office. The same disposition shall be made of any

list presented to, but not approved by, the court.

[22 F.R. 9823, Dec. 6, 1957; 22 F.R. 9520, Nov. 28, 1957, as amended at 30 F.R. 6940, May 22, 1965; 32 F.R. 13756, Oct. 3, 1967]

§ 336.14 Presentation of recommendations of designated examiner and the regional commissioner at final hearing.

At the final hearing or prior thereto, in addition to the lists prepared under § 336.13, there shall be presented to the court and made a part of the record in the case, the memoranda of the designated examiner and the regional commissioner prepared pursuant to the provisions of Part 335 of this chapter. [30 F.R. 13005, Oct. 13, 1965]

§ 336.15 Final hearing: sickness or disability of petitioner; investigation. Whenever it appears that a petitioner for naturalization may be unable, because of sickness or other disability, to appear in open court for final hearing upon his petition for naturalization, the district director shall cause an investigation to be conducted to determine the circumstances and shall report the condition of the petitioner to the clerk of court for the purpose of aiding the court to determine whether another place for the final hearing shall be designated. The report shall show whether the sickness or other disability is of a nature which so incapacitates the person as to prevent him from appearing in open court.

[22 F.R. 9824, Dec. 6, 1957]

§ 336.16 Final hearing: waiver of 30day period.

A petitioner for naturalization may request the district director, in writing, to waive the thirty-day period following the filing of the petition referred to in section 336 (c) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The waiver request shall set forth all the facts and circumstances which the petitioner believes will be in the public interest and will promote the security of the United States. Such request may be made at any time after an application to file a petition for naturalization has been filed with the Service. The district director shall cause a full and complete investigation to be conducted and if such investigation satisfactorily establishes that such waiver will be in the public interest and will promote the security of the United

States, he may, in his discretion, grant the waiver.

[22 F.R. 9824, Dec. 6, 1957, as amended at 24 F.R. 2584, Apr. 3, 1959; 32 F.R. 5620, Apr. 6, 1967]

§ 336.16a Final hearing; execution of questionnaire.

Immediately prior to the commencement of the final hearing, each person filing a petition for naturalization in his own behalf, or in behalf of a child pursuant to section 322 or 323 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, said child being 13 years of age or older on the date of the final hearing, shall execute the questionnaire on Form N-445 or Form N-445A.

[32 F.R. 7205, May 13, 1967] § 336.17

Substitution of witnesses. See § 335b.2 of this chapter. [23 F.R. 5821, Aug. 1, 1958]

(a) Form of oath. Except as otherwise provided in the Immigration and Nationality Act, a petitioner or applicant for naturalization shall, before being admitted to citizenship, take in open court the following oath of allegiance, to which he shall affix his signature on his petition or application for naturalization:

I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on

behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.

(b) Alteration of form of oath; affirmation in lieu of oath. In those cases in which a petitioner or applicant for naturalization is exempt from taking the oath prescribed in paragraph (a) of this section in its entirety, the inapplicable clauses shall be deleted and the oath shall be taken in such altered form. When a petitioner or applicant for naturalization, by reason of religious training and belief (or individual interpretation thereof), or for other reasons of good conscience, cannot take the oath prescribed in paragraph (a) of this section with the words 'on oath' and 'so help me God' included, the words 'and solemnly affirm' shall be substituted for the words 'on oath,' the words 'so help me God' shall be deleted, and the oath shall be taken in such modified form.

(c) Obligations of oath. A petitioner or applicant for naturalization shall, before being naturalized, establish that it is his intention, in good faith, to assume and discharge the obligations of the oath of allegiance, and that his attitude toward the Constitution and laws of the United States renders him capable of fulfilling the obligations of such oath. [22 F.R. 9824, Dec. 6, 1957, as amended at 24 F.R. 2584, Apr. 3, 1959; 3 2F.R. 13756, Oct. 3, 1967]

§ 337.2 Persons naturalized by judicial action; effective date.

Any person who was or shall hereafter be admitted to citizenship by the written order of a naturalization court, shall be deemed to be a citizen of the United States as of the date of taking the prescribed oath of allegiance. Whenever a waiver of such oath is granted by the court in the case of a child naturalized under section 322 or 323 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, the child shall become a citizen of the United States as of the date of such waiver.

§ 337.11

Oath of renunciation and allegiance; sickness or disability of petitioner.

Whenever it appears that a petitioner for naturalization may be unable because of sickness or other disability to take the oath of allegiance in open court, the district director shall cause an investigation to be conducted to determine the circumstances, and shall report the condition of the petitioner to the naturalization court for the purpose of aiding the court to determine whether the oath may be taken at another place. The report shall show whether the sickness or other disability is of a nature which so incapacitates the person as to prevent him from appearing in open court.

Spoiled certificate.

338.13

338.14 Delivery of certificates. Sec.

338.15 Signing of certificate. 338.16

Correction of certificates.

AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 338 issued under secs. 103, 322, 323, 332, 333, 336, 338, 339, 66 Stat. 173, 246, 252, 253, 257, 259; 8 U.S.C. 1103, 1433, 1434, 1443, 1444, 1447, 1449, 1450.

SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 338 appear at 22 F.R. 9824, Dec. 6, 1957, unless otherwise noted.

§ 338.11 Exception and issuance.

When a petitioner for naturalization has duly taken and subscribed to the oath of allegiance and a final order admitting petitioner to citizenship has been duly signed by the court, a certificate of naturalization shall be issued by the clerk of the court on Form N-550, in duplicate. The certificates and the stub of the original thereof shall be signed by the petitioner. The certificate shall show under "former nationality" the name of the country of which the petitioner was last a citizen, as shown in the petition, even though petitioner may have been stateless at the time of admission to citizenship. The clerk or his deputy shall endorse the alien registration number on the stubs of the certificates, shall sign the certificates in his own handwriting, and enter on the stubs all the essential facts set forth in the certificates. Both copies of the certificate, including the stubs shall be prepared in one operation on a typewriter with the use of carbon paper. Photographs shall be affixed to the original and duplicate certificates in the manner provided by Part 333 of this chapter. The stub of the original shall be removed and retained by the clerk of court and filed in an upright card file, or in a three by five inch card drawer. The original certificate shall be delivered to the petitioner. The duplicate copies of the certificates shall not be separated from their stubs and shall be forwarded to the appropriate office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service with all other duplicate papers in accordance with Part 339 of this chapter.

Whenever the name of a petitioner has been changed by order of court as a part of a naturalization, the clerk of court shall make, date, and sign the following endorsement on the reverse side of the original and duplicate of the certificate of naturalization: “Name changed by decree of court from as a part of the naturalization," inserting in full the original name of the petitioner. A similar notation shall be made on the stubs of the original and duplicate certificate. The certificate of naturalization shall be issued and the stub of the original thereof signed by the petitioner in the name as changed.

§ 338.15

Signing of certificate.

If a child who has been admitted to citizenship under section 322 or section 323 of the Act is unable to sign his name, the certificate of naturalization shall be signed by a petitioning parent, whether natural or adoptive, as may be appropriate, and the signature shall read “(name of naturalized child) by (name of petitioning parent signing)". A naturalized person whose petition was signed by him in a foreign language may sign his certificate of naturalization in the same manner.

[22 F.R. 9825, Dec. 6, 1957, as amended at 25 F.R. 10495, Nov. 2, 1960]

§ 338.16 Correction of certificates.

Whenever a certificate of naturalization has been delivered which does not conform to the facts shown on the petition for naturalization, or a clerical error was made in preparing the certificate, an application on Form N-458 may be made by the naturalized person to the district director exercising jurisdiction over the place in which the court is located to authorize the correction of the certificate. If the district director finds that a correction is justified and can be made without mutilating the certificate, he shall authorize the clerk of the issuing court on Form N-459, in duplicate, to make the necessary correction and to place a dated endorsement on the reverse of the

certificate, over his signature and the seal of the court, explaining the correction. The authorization shall be filed with naturalization record, the corrected certificate returned to the naturalized person and the duplicate Form N-459 shall be endorsed to show the date and nature of the correction and endorsement made, and returned to the district director. No fee shall be charged the naturalized person for the correction. The district director shall forward such duplicate to the official Service file. When a correction would or does result in mutilation of a certificate, the district director may authorize the clerk of court, with the consent of the naturalized person, to issue without fee a new certificate from his supply, upon surrender of the incorrect certificate and submission of photographs. The surrendered certificate shall be marked "Spoiled" and transmitted to the district director with the duplicate copy of the new certificate attached to the monthly report of the clerk on Form N-4. The original of the new certificate shall be delivered to the naturalized person.

[22 F.R. 9825, Dec. 6, 1957, as amended at 24 F.R. 2584, Apr. 3, 1959]

such petitioner and witnesses have executed the petition before a designated examiner.

§ 339.2 Monthly reports.

Clerks of court shall on the first day of each month submit to the district director having administrative jurisdiction over the place in which the court is located, a report on Form N-4, in duplicate, listing all declarations of intention and petitions for naturalization filed and all certificates of naturalization issued or spoiled during the preceding month, in accordance with the instructions contained in Form N-4. When at any time during the month the aggregate number of petitions and declarations filed reaches 100 the clerk shall on request of the district director forthwith forward such reports in accordance with the provisions of this section. The report shall be accompanied by all duplicate copies of declarations of intention and applications therefor on Forms N-300; by all duplicates of petitions for naturalization not previously delivered to a representative of the Service, and all duplicates of certificates of naturalization with stubs intact. The clerk of court shall show opposite the number of each petition in which the petitioner is exempt from payment of a naturalization fee under section 344 (h) of the Immigration and Nationality Act the letter "M". Opposite the name of each such case and at the bottom of the petition, the notation "No fee" shall be inserted. Void petitions shall be listed separately on Form N-4 and on Form N-7 and so indicated on such forms. The clerk of court shall show on Form N-4 the inclusive numbers of all petitions filed, and list individually by name and number in the spaces provided therein all petitions filed during the month. In lieu of forwarding duplicate petitions to the Service with his report on Form N-4, the clerk may deliver the petitions to the examiner immediately after filing.