Sidney Hing Lowe v. United States

Sidney Hing Lowe, a citizen of China, filed a petition for naturalization on July 1, 1954 under 8 U.S.C.A. § 1427 , in the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii. Jurisdiction was based on 8 U.S.C.A. § 1421 . The petition for naturalization was denied on November 15, 1954, and this appeal followed.

There is no controversy as to the facts. The appellant arrived in the United States as a visitor at the Port of Honolulu on the S. S. Niagara on January 29, 1926, and in 1928 changed his status administratively from a visitor to a treaty merchant. The only question presented is whether Lowe was lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. When he changed his status from a visitor to a treaty merchant administratively, without leaving the country and making a new entry, did he acquire permanent residence for naturalization in compliance with the provisions of 8 U. S.C.A. § 1429?

The determination of whether the appellant was or was not lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence turns on whether or not he falls under the terms of Article II of the Treaty of Nov. 17, 1880 between the United States and China, 22 Stat. 827 . Article…