Reading Room Document

Eligibility of Unlegitimated Children for Derivative Citizenship

An alien child who was born out of wedlock and whose paternity has not been established by legitimation is eligible for derivative citizenship under section 320 of the Immigration and Naturalization Act at the time the child's mother becomes a naturalized citizen. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/18966/download.

July 24, 2003