Wong Kam Wo and Wong Kam Yin v. John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State of the United States of America

Plaintiffs brought this action to obtain a declaratory judgment of United States citizenship. Natives of China, they claim to have acquired citizenship at the time of their births, under § 1993 of the Revised Statutes, *which was then in effect.

Holding that the father of plaintiffs had never resided within the United States, within the meaning of § 1993, the district court entered judgment adverse to plaintiffs. The correctness of this ruling, based upon the following undisputed facts, presents the only issue on this appeal.

The father, Wong Tin, was born in Honolulu, Republic of Hawaii, on November 25, 1893. He went to China four years later. On April 30, 1900, he acquired United States citizenship by virtue of § 4 of the Hawaii Organic Act. Wong Tin remained in China twenty-six years. While there, he married a national of China. Several children were born of this marriage, including Wong Kam Wo, born in 1920, and Wong Kam Yin, born in 1922.

The father returned to Honolulu in 1923. He has never been within the boundaries of continental United States. The children remained in China. On July 10, 1950, they filed with the American Consulate General, at Hongkong, the applications…