Title 8, Aliens and NationalityRelease 119-102

§1489 Application of Treaties; Exceptions

Title 8 › CHAPTER 12 — IMMIGRATION AND NATIONALITY › SUBCHAPTER III — NATIONALITY AND NATURALIZATION › Part III — Loss of Nationality › § 1489

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Do not apply these rules if they would conflict with any treaty or convention the United States ratified before December 25, 1952. Also, no woman who was a United States national may be made to lose her nationality just because she married a noncitizen on or after September 22, 1922, or married a noncitizen who was racially ineligible for citizenship on or after March 3, 1931, and a woman born a U.S. citizen does not lose citizenship by living abroad after such a marriage, even if a treaty says otherwise.

Full Legal Text

Title 8, §1489

Aliens and Nationality, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

Nothing in this subchapter shall be applied in contravention of the provisions of any treaty or convention to which the United States is a party and which has been ratified by the Senate before December 25, 1952: Provided, however, That no woman who was a national of the United States shall be deemed to have lost her nationality solely by reason of her marriage to an alien on or after September 22, 1922, or to an alien racially ineligible to citizenship on or after March 3, 1931, or, in the case of a woman who was a United States citizen at birth, through residence abroad following such marriage, notwithstanding the provisions of any existing treaty or convention.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1988—Pub. L. 100–525 substituted “before December 25, 1952” for “upon the

Effective Date

of this subchapter”.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

8 U.S.C. § 1489

Title 8, Aliens and Nationality

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102