248 F. 990 | E.D.N.Y | 1918
Application for order amending petition for citizenship and proceedings had thereon.
Examination of the naturalization statute shows plainly that the certificate given to the person naturalized is nothing more than a certified record of the proceedings, made by the clerk of the court. Under the present law, the form of this certificate is set forth in the statute, and requires the addition of certain facts, including the age, weight, height, etc., together with the names of minor children.
If the father omitted the name of one minor child from his papers, and if, therefore, the certificate of naturalization did not show the name of this child, the rights of the child would nevertheless be established by the law granting it citizenship upon the naturalization
The present naturalization law allows the issuance of a new certificate in the case of loss or destruction of the original. This court can allow the filing of any additional paper or testimony, upon satisfactory proof that' it -should be added to the record, and may then issue a certificate setting forth the correct facts as shown by the entire record. No change in the judgment allowing the father to become a citizen would thus be effected or could be made. The granting of such an application would not be limited to the power of the court to open or change its previous judgment, and could be predicated only on a surrender of the certificate previously granted, or proof of its destruction or loss.
In the case at bar, the son, Karl Paul Henry Hennig, is already a citizen of the United States and could by proof establish that status whenever it might be called in question. The prima facie evidence, the certificate, is not correct, but is nowhere in the laws of the United States made conclusive. Unless his father’s papers are invalidated, this son is entitled to have the certificate changed so as to show the fact, when a proper record is presented.
Upon the present application the court will allow the affidavits and exhibits to be filed with the papers already on file in the father’s application, and will direct the issuance of a new naturalization certificate showing the name of the additional child, upon surrender of the old certificate.