8 U.S.C. § 1301
Section 1301 · Alien seeking entry; contents
This is § 261 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter)
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 5 court decisions — leading case United States v. Witkovich (1957)
Most recently applied in 380 F. Supp. 1210 - Akins v. Saxbe (June 1974)
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.
No visa shall be issued to any alien seeking to enter the United States until such alien has been registered in accordance with section 1201(b) of this title.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1988—Pub. L. 100–525 made technical correction to Pub. L. 99–653. See 1986 Amendment note below.
1986—Pub. L. 99–653, as amended by Pub. L. 100–525, amended section generally, striking out “and fingerprinted” after “has been registered” and substituting “section 1201(b) of this title” for “section 1201(b) of this title, unless such alien has been exempted from being fingerprinted as provided in that section”.
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 100–525 effective as if included in the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1986, Pub. L. 99–653, see section 309(b)(15) of Pub. L. 102–232, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 1988 Amendments note under section 1101 of this title.
Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 99–653 applicable to applications for immigrant visas made, and visas issued, on or after Nov. 14, 1986, see section 23(b) of Pub. L. 99–653, set out as a note under section 1201 of this title.
Cross References
Definition of alien, entry, and United States, see section 1101 of this title.