A derivative citizenship is one that is derived from the citizenship of the parent, usually the father. In the easiest of cases, foreign born children under the age of majority when their father naturalized would be considered naturalized themselves and would not have to go through the process themselves.
If your ancestor immigrated as a child, indicates he is naturalized but you cannot find any papers in his name, then consider the possibility that he had derivative citizenship through a father’s naturalization.
3 Responses
I believe my grandmother, born in Nova Scotia, fell into this category as well when she married my American grandfather in 1903 and raised their family in Massachusetts. Or was this called something else?
When did Derivative Citizenship begin? My G-Grandfather became a citizen about 1870 when the records were held in the states. Unfortunately his final papers are no where to be found in the county where it took place. Would his wife have been granted citizenship during this time period?
The problem with 1870 and women is that at that point, women really didn’t have a citizenship separate from their husband. Single women did have their own status, but before women’s suffrage there were not really benefits of a woman becoming a citizen. In 1922, with the passage of the Cable Act, the citizenship status of a woman became separate from that of her husband.