The Secretary of the Home and Territories Department has forwarded the following memorandum asking for advice:

Mr A.B. of Melbourne saw me in March last regarding his nationality and subse-quently wrote the letter of 8 March herein, forwarding the statutory declaration of the same date. On the facts therein stated I advised Mr B.that his claim to be regarded as a British subject was admitted by this Department. Mr B. did not mention that while in the United States in January of this year he obtained a United States passport on an application, copy of which is herein.It will be observed that in that application he described himself as a native and loyal citizen of the United States and further that he took an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

Attention is invited to the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914. Section 13 does not apply inasmuch as Mr B. did not become naturalized in the United States. Section 14 states that a natural-born British subject born out of His Majesty's dominions may make a declaration of alienage and on making that declaration shall cease to be a British subject.

The Regulations dated 30 December 1914, No. 1861, regulation 6, state that a declaration of alienage shall be in the following form:

I..................................................................................................................................

of.......................................................................................................... . . . , being

a natural-born British subject, who was born out of His Majesty's Dominions and being of full age and not under disability, do hereby renounce my nationality as a British subject.

It is observed that the regulation says that the declaration shall be in that form. The point is whether by his application and oath in the United States Mr B. has renounced his British nationality.

The statutory declaration referred to sets out, inter alia, the following facts: that Mr 5.'s father was born in Scotland in April 1839; that he migrated to Virginia, U.S.A., and resided there for about 60 years, and died in 1916; and that he never became an American citizen, always remaining a British subject. It appears that Mr B. himself was born at Petersburg, Virginia, in 1868.

In the application for a passport of the United States Mr B. stated that he was a native and loyal citizen of the United States and he took the oath of allegiance of that country swearing that he would support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that he would bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that he took that obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.

Sections 13 and 14 (2) of the British Nationality and Status of Aliens Act 1914 are as follows:

13. A British subject who, when in any foreign state and not under disability, by obtaining a certificate of naturalization, or by any other voluntary and formal act, becomes naturalized therein, shall thenceforth be deemed to have ceased to be a British subject.

14.(2) Any person who though born out of His Majesty's dominions is a natural-born British subject may, if of full age and not under disability, make a declaration of alienage, and on making the declaration shall cease to be a British subject.

As regards section 13, seeing that Mr B. has apparently not become naturalized in the United States that section I think has no application to his case.

As regards section 14 (2), the question arises whether the oath which Mr B. has taken is a declaration of alienage within the meaning of that section. Section 19 of the Act gives the Secretary of State power, inter alia, to make regulations with respect to declarations of alienage. In pursuance of that power the Secretary of State has made a regulation in the following form:

6. A declaration of alienage shall be in the following form:

I........................................................... of.......................................................... , being a natural-born British subject, who was born out of His Majesty's Dominions and being of full age and not under disability, do hereby renounce my nationality as a British subject.

The oath taken by Mr B. not being in the form of the declaration of alienage prescribed by the regulation and that form of declaration of alienage being the only method prescribed by the Act by which a person may renounce his British nation-ality, I do not think that Mr B. has on the facts stated renounced his British nationality. It appears, therefore, that he is still a British subject and is possibly also under the law of the United States a subject of the United States.⁽¹⁾

^{[Vol. 15, p. 358]}

(1)A subsequent opinion dated l9 August I921 lVol. I8, p. 1], by Sir Robert Garran, discloses that.following the passing of the Nationality Aer I920, the Mr /1.8. referred to herein applied for a special certificate of naturalization under section 9 of that Act.