28 U.S.C. § 1653
Section 1653 · Amendment of pleadings to show jurisdiction
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 742 court decisions — leading case Newman-Green, Inc. v. Alfonzo-Larrain (1989)
Most recently applied in Jeremy Allen v. Charles Brooks (March 2025)
Applied most in the Ninth Circuit Circuit (41 decisions)
Cases citing this section usually also cite 28 U.S.C. § 1332 · 28 U.S.C. § 1441 · 28 U.S.C. § 1446
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.
Defective allegations of jurisdiction may be amended, upon terms, in the trial or appellate courts.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §399 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231, §274c, as added Mar. 3, 1915, ch. 90, 38 Stat. 956).
Section was extended to permit amendment of all jurisdictional allegations instead of merely allegations of diversity of citizenship as provided by section 399 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed.
Changes were made in phraseology.
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
Amended and supplemental pleadings, see rules 12 and 15, Appendix to this title.