(a) Application. (1) A person residing in the United States who desires to be documented as a United States citizen pursuant to section 301(h) of the Act may apply for a passport at a United States passport agency or may submit an application on Form N-600, Application for Certificate of Citizenship, to the Service, as provided in 8 CFR part 341. Such application shall be filed with the Service office having jurisdiction over the applicant's place of residence, or with such other Service office as the Commissioner may designate. It must be accompanied by the fee specified in 8 CFR 103.7(b)(1). The application also must be accompanied by supporting documentary and other evidence essential to establish the claimed citizenship, such as birth, marriage, death, and divorce certificates. The applicant will be notified in writing when and where to appear before a Service officer for examination of his or her application.

(2) A person residing outside of the United States who desires to be documented as a United States citizen under section 301(h) of the Act shall make his or her claim at a United States embassy or consulate, in accordance with such regulations as may be prescribed in the Secretary of State.

(b) Oath of allegiance; issuance of certificate. Upon determination by the district director that a person is a United States citizen pursuant to section 301(h) of the Act, the person shall take the oath of allegiance, prescribed in 8 CFR part 337, before an officer of the Service designated to administer the oath of allegiance within the United States, and a certificate of citizenship shall be issued. The person shall be

considered a United States citizen as of the date of his or her birth.

PART 306-SPECIAL CLASSES OF PERSONS WHO MAY BE NATURALIZED: VIRGIN ISLANDERS

Sec.

306.1 Persons eligible.

306.2 United States citizenship; when acquired.

306.11 Preliminary application form; filing; examination.

306.12 Renunciation forms; disposition.

AUTHORITY: Secs. 103, 306, 332, 66 Stat. 173, 237, 252; 8 U.S.C. 1103, 1406, 1443.

SOURCE: 22 FR 9812, Dec. 6, 1957, unless otherwise noted.

§306.1 Persons eligible.

Any Danish citizen who resided in the Virgin Islands of the United States on January 17, 1917, and in those Islands, Puerto Rico, or the United States on February 25, 1927, and who had preserved his Danish citizenship by making the declaration prescribed by Article VI of the treaty entered into between the United States and Denmark on August 4, 1916, and proclaimed January 25, 1917, may renounce his Danish citizenship before any court of record in the United States irrespective of his place of residence, in accordance with the provisions of this part.

§ 306.2 United States citizenship; when acquired.

Immediately upon making the declaration of renunciation as described in §306.12 the declarant shall be deemed to be a citizen of the United States. No certificate of naturalization or of citizenship shall be issued by the clerk of court to any person obtaining, or who has obtained citizenship solely under section 306(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act or under section 1 of the act of February 25, 1927.

§306.11 Preliminary application form; filing; examination.

A person of the class described in §306.1 shall submit to the Service on Form N-350 preliminary application to

renounce Danish citizenship, in accordance with the instructions contained therein. The applicant shall be notified in writing when and where to appear before a representative of the Service for examination as to his eligibility to renounce Danish citizenship and for assistance in filing the renunciation.

$306.12 Renunciation forms; disposition.

The renunciation shall be made and executed by the applicant under oath, in duplicate, on Form N-351 and filed in the office of the clerk of court. The usual procedural requirements of the Immigration and Nationality Act shall not apply to proceedings under this part. The fee shall be fixed by the court or the clerk thereof in accordance with the law and rules of the court, and no accounting therefor shall be required to be made to the Service. The clerk shall retain the original of Form N-351 as the court record and forward the duplicate to the district director exercising administrative naturalization jurisdiction over the area in which the court is located.

Service is authorized to perform such acts as are necessary and proper to implement the Attorney General's authority under the provisions of section 310 of the Act.

$310.2 Jurisdiction to accept applications for naturalization.

The Service shall accept an application for naturalization from an applicant who is subject to a continuous residence requirement under section 316(a) or 319(a) of the Act as much as three months before the date upon which the applicant would otherwise satisfy such continuous residence requirement in the State or Service district where residence is to be established for naturalization purposes. At the time of examination on the application, the applicant will be required to prove that he or she satisfies the residence requirements for the residence reflected in the application.

§310.3 Administration of the oath of

allegiance.

(a) An applicant for naturalization may elect, at the time of filing of, or at the examination on, the application, to have the oath of allegiance and renunciation under section 337(a) of the Act administered in a public ceremony conducted by the Service or by any court described in section 310(b) of the Act, subject to section 310(b)(1)(B) of the Act.

(b) The jurisdiction of all such courts specified to administer the oath of allegiance shall extend only to those persons who are resident within the respective jurisdictional limits of such courts, except as otherwise provided in section 316(f)(2) of the Act. Persons who temporarily reside within the jurisdictional limits of a court in order to pursue an application properly filed pursuant to section 319(b), 322(c), 328(a), or 329 of the Act or section 405 of the Immigration Act of 1990 are not subject to the exclusive jurisdiction provisions of section 310(b)(1)(B) of the Act.

(c)(1) A court that wishes to exercise exclusive jurisdiction to administer the oath of allegiance for the 45-day period specified in section 310(b)(1)(B) of the Act shall notify, in writing, the district director of the Service office having jurisdiction over the place in

which the court is located, of the court's intent to exercise such exclusive jurisdiction.

(2) At least 60 days prior to the holding of any oath administration ceremony referred to in §337.8 of this chapter, the clerk of court shall give written notice to the appropriate district director of the time, date, and place of such ceremony and of the number of persons who may be accommodated.

(d) A court that has notified the Service pursuant to paragraph (c)(1) of this section shall have exclusive authority to administer the oath of allegiance to persons residing within its jurisdiction for a period of 45 days beginning on the date that the Service notifies the clerk of court of the applicant's eligibility for naturalization. Such exclusive authority shall be effective only if on the date the Service notifies the clerk of court of the applicant's eligibility, the court has notified the Service of the day or days during such 45-day period on which the court has scheduled oath administration ceremonies available to the applicant. The Service must submit the notification of the applicant's eligibility to the clerk of court within 10 days of the approval of the application pursuant to §337.8 of this chapter.

(e) Waiver of exclusive authority. A court exercising exclusive authority to administer the oath of allegiance pursuant to paragraph (c) of this section may waive such exclusive authority when it is determined by the court that the Service failed to notify the court within a reasonable time prior to a scheduled oath ceremony of the applicant's eligibility such that it is impractical for the applicant to appear at that ceremony. The court shall notify the district director in writing of the waiver of exclusive authority as it relates to a specific applicant, and the Service shall promptly notify the applicant. The Service shall then arrange for the administration of the oath of allegiance pursuant to §337.2 of this chapter.

[58 FR 49911, Sept. 24, 1993]

$310.4 Judicial naturalization authority and withdrawal of petitions. (a) Jurisdiction. No court shall have jurisdiction under section 310(a) of the

Act, to naturalize a person unless a petition for naturalization with respect to that person was filed with the naturalization court before October 1, 1991.

(b) Withdrawal of petitions. (1) In the case of any petition for naturalization which was pending in any court as of November 29, 1990, the petitioner may elect to withdraw such petition, and have the application for naturalization considered under the administrative naturalization process. Such petition must be withdrawn after October 1, 1991, but not later than December 31, 1991.

(2) Except as provided in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, the petitioner shall not be permitted to withdraw his or her petition for naturalization, unless the Attorney General consents to the withdrawal.

(c) Judicial proceedings. (1) All pending petitions not withdrawn in the manner and terms described in paragraph (b) of this section, shall be decided, on the merits, by the naturalization court, in conformity with the applicable provisions of the judicial naturalization authority of the prior statute. The reviewing court shall enter a final order.

(2) In cases where the petitioner fails to prosecute his or her petition, the court shall decide the petition upon its merits unless the Attorney General moves that the petition be dismissed for lack of prosecution.

$310.5 Judicial review.

(a) After 120 days following examination. An applicant for naturalization may seek judicial review of a pending application for naturalization in those instances where the Service fails to make a determination under section 335 of the Act within 120 days after an examination is conducted under part 335 of this chapter. An applicant shall make a proper application for relief to the United States District Court having jurisdiction over the district in which the applicant resides. The court may either determine the issues brought before it on their merits, or remand the matter to the Service with appropriate instructions.

§ 312.1 Literacy requirements.

(a) General. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of this section, no person shall be naturalized as a citizen of the United States upon his or her own application unless that person can demonstrate an understanding of the English language, including an ability to read, write, and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language.

(b) Exceptions. The following persons need not demonstrate an ability to read, write and speak words in ordinary usage in the English language:

(1) A person who, on the date of filing of his or her application for naturalization, is over 50 years of age and has been living in the United States for periods totalling at least 20 years subsequent to a lawful admission for permanent residence;

(2) A person who, on the date of filing his or her application for naturalization, is over 55 years of age and has been living in the United States for periods totalling at least 15 years subsequent to a lawful admission for permanent residence; or

(3) The requirements of paragraph(a) of this section shall not apply to any person who is unable, because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment or combination of

impairments which has lasted or is expected to last at least 12 months, to demonstrate an understanding of the English language as noted in paragraph (a) of this section. The loss of any cognitive abilities based on the direct effects of the illegal use of drugs will not be considered in determining whether a person is unable to demonstrate an understanding of the English language. For purposes of this paragraph, the term medically determinable means an impairment that results from anatomical, physiological, or psychological abnormalities which can be shown by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnostic techniques to have resulted in functioning so impaired as to render an individual unable to demonstrate an understanding of the English language as required by this section, or that renders the individual unable to fulfill the requirements for English proficiency, even with reasonable modifications to the methods of determining English proficiency, as outlined in paragraph(c) of this section.

(c) Literacy examination (1) Verbal skills. The ability of an applicant to speak English shall be determined by a designated examiner from the applicant's answers to questions normally asked in the course of the examination.

(2) Reading and writing skills. Except as noted in §312.3, an applicant's ability to read and write English shall be tested using excerpts from one or more parts of the Service authorized Federal Textbooks on Citizenship written at the elementary literacy level, Service publications M-289 and M-291. These textbooks may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, and are available at certain public educational institutions. An applicant's writing sample shall be retained in the applicant's Service file.

[56 FR 50481, Oct. 7, 1991, as amended at 62 FR 12923, Mar. 19, 1997; 62 FR 15751, Apr. 2, 1997]

§ 312.2 Knowledge of history and gov. ernment of the United States.

(a) General. No person shall be naturalized as a citizen of the United States upon his or her own application unless

that person can demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government, of the United States. A person who is exempt from the literacy requirement under §312.1(b) (1) and (2) must still satisfy this requirement.

(b) Exceptions. (1) The requirements of paragraph(a) of this section shall not apply to any person who is unable to demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the fundamentals of the history, and of the principles and form of government of the United States because of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment, that already has or is expected to last at least 12 months. The loss of any cognitive skills based on the direct effects of the illegal use of drugs will not be considered in determining whether an individual may be exempted. For the purposes of this paragraph the term medically determinable means an impairment that results from anatomical, physiological, or psychological abnormalities which can be shown by medically acceptable clinical and laboratory diagnosis techniques to have resulted in functioning so impaired as to render an individual to be unable to demonstrate the knowledge required by this section or that renders the individuals unable to participate in the testing procedures for naturalization, even with reasonable modifications.

(2) Medical certification. All persons applying for naturalization and seeking an exception from the requirements of §312.1(a) and paragraph(a) of this section based on the disability exceptions must submit Form N-648, Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions, to be completed by a medical doctor licensed to practice medicine in the United States or a clinical psychologist licensed to practice psychology in the United States (including the United States territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands). Form N648 must be submitted as an attachment to the applicant's Form N-400, Application for Naturalization. These medical professionals shall be experienced in diagnosing those with physical or mental medically determinable impairments and shall be able to attest to the origin, nature, and extent of the

medical condition as it relates to the disability exceptions noted under §312.1(b)(3) and paragraph(b)(1) of this section. In addition, the medical professionals making the disability determination must sign a statement on the Form N-648 that they have answered all the questions in a complete and truthful manner, that they (and the applicant) agree to the release of all medical records relating to the applicant that may be requested by the Service and that they attest that any knowingly false or misleading statements may subject the medical professional to the penalties for perjury pursuant to title 18, United Stated Code, Section 1546 and to civil penalties under section 274C of the Act. The Service also reserves the right to refer the applicant to another authorized medical source for a supplemental disability determination. This option shall be invoked when the Service has credible doubts about the veracity of a medical certification that has been presented by the applicant. An affidavit or attestation by the applicant, his or her relatives, or guardian on his or her medical condition is not a a sufficient medical attestation for purposes of satisfying this requirement.

(c) History and government examination (1) Procedure. The examination of an applicant's knowledge of the history and form of government of the United States shall be given orally by a designated examiner in the English language unless:

(i) The applicant is exempt from the English literacy requirement under §312.1(b), in which case the examination may be conducted in the applicant's native language with the assistance of an interpreter selected in accordance with §312.4 of this part, but only if the applicant's command of spoken English is insufficient to conduct a valid examination in English;

(ii) The applicant is required to satisfy and has satisfied the English literacy requirement under §312.1(a), but the officer conducting the examination determines that an inaccurate or incomplete record of the examination would result if the examination on technical or complex issues were conducted in English. In such a case the examination may be conducted in the