22 U.S.C. § 2705
Section 2705 · Documentation of citizenship
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 26 court decisions — leading case Zivotofsky v. Kerry (2015)
Most recently applied in Hadwan v. US Dep't of State (June 2025)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The following documents shall have the same force and effect as proof of United States citizenship as certificates of naturalization or of citizenship issued by the Attorney General or by a court having naturalization jurisdiction:
(1) A passport, during its period of validity (if such period is the maximum period authorized by law), issued by the Secretary of State to a citizen of the United States.
(2) The report, designated as a “Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States”, issued by a consular officer to document a citizen born abroad. For purposes of this paragraph, the term “consular officer” includes any United States citizen employee of the Department of State who is designated by the Secretary of State to adjudicate nationality abroad pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Prior Provisions
A prior section 33 of act Aug. 1, 1956, was renumbered section 34 by section 117 of Pub. L. 97–241, and subsequently renumbered, and set out as a Short Title of 1956 Amendment note under section 2651 of this title, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 102–138, title I, §111(1), Oct. 28, 1991, 105 Stat. 654.
Amendments
1998—Par. (2). Pub. L. 105–277 inserted at end “For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘consular officer’ includes any United States citizen employee of the Department of State who is designated by the Secretary of State to adjudicate nationality abroad pursuant to such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe.”
Record of Place of Birth for Taiwanese-Americans
Pub. L. 103–236, title I, §132, Apr. 30, 1994, 108 Stat. 395, as amended by Pub. L. 103–415, §1(r), Oct. 25, 1994, 108 Stat. 4302, provided that: “For purposes of the registration of birth or certification of nationality or issuance of a passport of a United States citizen born in Taiwan, the Secretary of State shall permit the place of birth to be recorded as Taiwan.”