8 U.S.C. § 1408
Section 1408 · Nationals but not citizens of the United States at birth
This is § 308 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter)
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 27 court decisions — leading case United States v. Odeh (2008)
Most recently applied in Ilai Koonwaiyou v. Antony Blinken (June 2023)
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.
Unless otherwise provided in section 1401 of this title, the following shall be nationals, but not citizens, of the United States at birth:
(1) A person born in an outlying possession of the United States on or after the date of formal acquisition of such possession;
(2) A person born outside the United States and its outlying possessions of parents both of whom are nationals, but not citizens, of the United States, and have had a residence in the United States, or one of its outlying possessions prior to the birth of such person;
(3) A person of unknown parentage found in an outlying possession of the United States while under the age of five years, until shown, prior to his attaining the age of twenty-one years, not to have been born in such outlying possession; and
(4) A person born outside the United States and its outlying possessions of parents one of whom is an alien, and the other a national, but not a citizen, of the United States who, prior to the birth of such person, was physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for a period or periods totaling not less than seven years in any continuous period of ten years—
(A) during which the national parent was not outside the United States or its outlying possessions for a continuous period of more than one year, and
(B) at least five years of which were after attaining the age of fourteen years.
The proviso of section 1401(g) of this title shall apply to the national parent under this paragraph in the same manner as it applies to the citizen parent under that section.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1988—Par. (4). Pub. L. 100–525 amended Pub. L. 99–396. See 1986 Amendment note below.
1986—Par. (4). Pub. L. 99–396, as amended by Pub. L. 100–525, added par. (4).
Effective Date of 1988 Amendment
Section 3 of Pub. L. 100–525 provided that the amendment made by that section is effective as if included in the enactment of Pub. L. 99–396.
Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Section 15(b) of Pub. L. 99–396 provided that: “The amendment made by subsection (a) [amending this section] shall apply to persons born before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Aug. 27, 1986]. In the case of a person born before the date of the enactment of this Act—
“(1) the status of a national of the United States shall not be considered to be conferred upon the person until the date the person establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary of State that the person meets the requirements of section 308(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act [par. (4) of this section], and
“(2) the person shall not be eligible to vote in any general election in American Samoa earlier than January 1, 1987.”
Cross References
Definition of the term—
National of the United States, see section 1101(a)(22) of this title.
Parent, as used in subchapters I and II of this chapter, see section 1101(b)(2) of this title.
Parent, as used in this subchapter, see section 1101(c)(2) of this title.
Residence, see section 1101(a)(33) of this title.
United States, see section 1101(a)(38) of this title.