Gualco

Petitioners, a brother and sister who have resided in Italy since early childhood, seek, pursuant to Section 503 of the Nationality Act of 1940, 54 Stats. 1171, 8 U.S.C.A. § 903 , a judgment declaring them to be United States citizens. Their petition is prompted by the refusal of the Department of State to issue them passports for their return to the United States upon the ground that they have forfeited the United States citizenship acquired by birth in this country.

The difficult questions presented by this petition result from the somewhat halting efforts of the Congress to cope with the vexatious problems of dual nationality. Many persons possess so-called dual nationality; that is, they are simultaneously claimed as citizens by two-nations. This status most frequently occurs because most countries bestow citizenship both upon persons born within their boundaries and upon persons born to their citizens abroad. Dual nationality also occurs because some nations do not consider their citizens expatriated by naturalization in another country.

This so-called dual nationality is a cause of international difficulty and-dispute. One of the principal areas of friction exists because…