In accordance with a recent law, no alien can now be naturalized without an ability to speak the English language, unless he has made entry upon the public lands of the United States. No person may be naturalized within thirty days preceding the holding of a general election in the territorial jurisdiction of the court. Chinese are not admissible to citizenship.
A woman who is married to a citizen of the United States is herself a citizen, provided she herself might be legally naturalized. This provision has been the subject of considerable attention lately on account of the practice of women engaged in the white slave traffic marrying a citizen in order to avoid deportation. The Commissioner General in his report for 1910 recommended that a more definite statement be made of this clause, admitting of no doubt as to its interpretation.
Children of naturalized citizens who were under the age of twenty-one at the time of the naturalization of their parents, if dwelling in the United States, are considered citizens, as are children of citizens, born outside of the United States.
If any alien who has received a certificate of citizenship shall, within five years thereafter, go to the land of his nativity or to any other foreign country, and take up permanent residence therein, it shall be deemed evidence of his lack of intention to become a permanent citizen of the United States at the time of filing his application, and warrants the canceling of his certificate.
According to the regulations of September 15, 1910, clerks of courts are instructed not to receive declarations of intention or file petitions for naturalization from other aliens than white persons, and persons of African nativity or of African descent.
Jurisdiction to naturalize aliens is conferred on the following courts: United States circuit and district courts in any state, United States district courts for the territories, the supreme court of the District of Columbia, and the United States courts for the Indian territory; also all courts of record in any state or territory, having a seal, a clerk, and jurisdiction in actions at law or equity, or law and equity, in which the amount in controversy is unlimited.
Since the establishment of the division of naturalization by the act of June 29, 1906, the business of naturalization has been in the hands of the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization.
The statistics of naturalization for the five years 1908–1912 are as follows:
| Year | Declarations filed | Petitions filed | Certificates granted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1908 | 137,229 | 44,029 | 25,963 |
| 1909 | 145,794 | 43,161 | 38,372 |
| 1910 | 167,226 | 55,038 | 39,206[[332]] |
| 1911 | 186,157 | 73,644 | 55,329 |
| 1912 | 169,142 | 95,627 | 69,965 |
[332]. Repts. Comm. Gen. of Imm.