PETITION FOR NATURALIZATION OF BRUCE

• Decision Date: 30 June 1958
• Citation: 163 F. Supp. 493
• Parties: Petition for NATURALIZATION of Frank Max BRUCE.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of New York

163 F. Supp. 493

Petition for NATURALIZATION of Frank Max BRUCE.

United States District Court S. D. New York.

June 30, 1958.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges, New York City, for petitioner.

David N. Ilchert, for Immigration and Naturalization Service.

EDELSTEIN, District Judge.

This is a petition for naturalization by a Swiss national who had requested and received exemption from military service on the ground of alienage, under Section 3(a) of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, as amended.^* Petitioner had registered under the Selective Service Act but made his request for exemption from service on DSS Form 301, which he signed on October 29, 1942. He asserts that he signed the form on the advice of a representative of the Swiss Consulate in New York to the effect that he would not thereby forfeit his eligibility to become an American citizen. The question presented is whether the petitioner is ineligible for citizenship by reason of the provisions of Section 315(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, 8 U.S.C. § 1426(a), 8 U.S.C.A. § 1426(a), which permanently debars from citizenship an alien who has requested and received exemption from military service.

Petitioner cites Moser v. United States, 341 U.S. 41, 71 S.Ct. 553, 95 L. Ed. 729, as indistinguishable from his case. There the petitioner, also a Swiss national, had asserted a right to exemption without debarment from citizenship and turned for advice and guidance to the Swiss Legation, "the highest authority to which he could turn." 341 U.S. at page 46, 71 S.Ct. at page 556. The Legation undertook negotiations with the State Department involving provisions of a treaty between the United States and Switzerland, 11 Stat. 587, and apparently the State Department acquiesced in the alien's claim of a right to unconditional exemption. The Swiss Legation then wrote him advising him to execute DSS Form 301, revised, and telling him that in filing this form he would not waive his "right to apply" for American citizenship. The unrevised form contained, above the signature line, the statement in reference to the proviso of § 3(a) of the Selective Training and Service Act: "I understand that the making of this application to be relieved from such liability will debar me from becoming a citizen of the United States." But the revised form, which that petitioner signed on the advice of his Legation, omitted the quoted waiver, stating: "I hereby apply for relief from liability for training and service in the land and naval forces of the United States." A footnote of the revised form quoted pertinent parts of § 3(a). The Supreme Court said that in these circumstances it was not made clear to the petitioner that the claim of exemption would result in disqualification for citizenship. There was a finding that if such a result had been made clear he would not have claimed...