Sessions v. Morales-Santana
Supreme Court of the United States · No. 15-1191, 582 U.S. 47 (2017)
The Supreme Court held that the INA's gender-based distinction for transmitting citizenship to a child born abroad to unmarried parents — a much shorter U.S.
Decided
2017-06-12
Summary
The Supreme Court held that the INA's gender-based distinction for transmitting citizenship to a child born abroad to unmarried parents — a much shorter U.S. physical-presence requirement for an unwed citizen mother than for an unwed citizen father — violated the Fifth Amendment's equal protection guarantee. Rather than extend the shorter period to fathers, the Court's remedy applied the (then-)longer period to both, pending Congress addressing the disparity directly.
Current status
This ruling governs how physical-presence requirements are applied for acquisition-of-citizenship cases involving unmarried parents where one parent's citizenship is the basis for the claim. Whether and how it applies to a specific N-600 case's own facts is exactly the kind of individualized question this app can't assess — that's an attorney question.
Source: Justia: Sessions v. Morales-Santana, 582 U.S. 47 (2017)
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