* * * making a formal renunciation of nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States in a foreign state, in such form as may be prescribed by the Secretary of State.[A15-130]
In accordance with this statute, the Secretary has promulgated regulations prescribing the manner in which renunciation is to be effected.[A15-131] The regulations provide, among other things, that 4 copies of the renunciation form are to be executed and the original and one copy sent to the Department. The Department must then approve the form and advise the appropriate consular official, who may then furnish a copy of the form to the person to whom it relates. The form itself requires the person to subscribe it in the presence of a consular official, and it must also be signed by this official.[A15-132]
Though in 1959 Oswald clearly stated to officials at the American Embassy, both orally and in writing, that he desired to renounce his U.S. citizenship, he at no time took the steps required by the statute and regulations to effect his renunciation. Oswald did not execute the proper forms, he did not sign his letter of October 31 or November 3, 1959, in the presence of a consular official, and neither letter was signed by such an official.[A15-133] Because section 349(a)(6) in terms requires compliance with the form prescribed by the Secretary of State, Oswald did not expatriate himself under that section.
Oath of allegiance to a foreign state.—Section 349(a)(2) of the act provides that a U.S. citizen shall lose his nationality by:
* * * taking an oath or making an affirmation or other formal declaration of allegiance to a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof.[A15-134]
In his letter of October 31, 1959, Oswald wrote: “I affirm that my allegiance is to the union of Soviet Socialist Republics.”[A15-135] Both in this letter and in his letter of November 3, 1959, he stated that his application for citizenship in the Soviet Union was pending before the Supreme Soviet of the U.S.S.R.[A15-136]
Oswald’s letters no doubt were intended to express allegiance to the Soviet Union in a manner inconsistent with continued allegiance to the United States, as the statute has been held to require.[A15-137] However, since 1940, it has been well established that in order for an oath of allegiance to a foreign state to work an expatriation from the United States, it must be given to an official of the foreign state, and not to a party unconnected with the foreign state.[A15-138] This requirement can be viewed as a necessary corollary of the broader, but less clearly established, principle that the oath must be taken in accord with the requirements of the foreign state.[A15-139] Although Lee Harvey Oswald wrote that his allegiance was to the Soviet Union,[A15-140] there is no indication that he had ever actually taken an oath or declaration or that any such oath was taken before an official of the Soviet Government. He, therefore, did not expatriate himself under section 349(a)(2).
Employment under the government of a foreign state.—Section 349(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 provides that a U.S. citizen shall lose his nationality by:
(a) accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post, or employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, if he has or acquires the nationality of such foreign state; or (b) accepting, serving in, or performing the duties of any office, post of employment under the government of a foreign state or a political subdivision thereof, for which office, post, or employment an oath, affirmation, or declaration of allegiance is required. * * *[A15-141]
While Oswald was employed in a state-owned factory in Minsk, he did not acquire Russian nationality, and there is no indication that he had to take any oath when he obtained this employment.[A15-142] Furthermore, prior judicial decisions indicate that merely working in a government-owned factory does not result in expatriation even if an oath was required to be taken in connection with such employment.[A15-143] Several cases decided under an earlier but similar statutory provision held that where a person took a government job in order to subsist, such employment was considered involuntary since it was based on economic duress, and thus it did not result in expatriation.[A15-144] Thus, Oswald did not expatriate himself under section 349(a)(4).