United States Nationality Law - Nationals Who Are Not Citizens

Nationals Who Are Not Citizens

This article is about United States nationality law. For information regarding United States citizenship, see Citizenship in the United States.

Although all U.S. citizens are also U.S. nationals, the reverse is not true. As specified in 8 U.S.C. § 1408, a person whose only connection to the U.S. is through birth in an outlying possession (which as of 2005 is limited to American Samoa, Swains Island, and the unincorporated US Minor Outlying Islands), or through descent from a person so born, acquires U.S. nationality but not U.S. citizenship. This was formerly the case in only four other current or former U.S. overseas possessions

• Guam (1898–1950) (Citizenship granted by an Act of Congress through the Guam Organic Act of 1950).
• the Philippines (1898–1935) (Granted independence in 1946; National status rescinded in 1935; Citizenship never accorded)
• Puerto Rico (1898–1917) (Citizenship granted by an Act of Congress through the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917).
• the U.S. Virgin Islands (1917–1927) (Citizenship granted by an Act of Congress in 1927).

The U.S. passport issued to non-citizen nationals contains the endorsement code 9 which states: "THE BEARER IS A UNITED STATES NATIONAL AND NOT A UNITED STATES CITIZEN." on the annotations page.

Non-citizen U.S. nationals may reside and work in the United States without restrictions, and may apply for citizenship under the same rules as resident aliens. Like resident aliens, they are not presently allowed by any U.S. state to vote in federal or state elections, although, as with resident aliens, there is no constitutional prohibition against them doing so.