22 C.F.R. § 72.7 Reports on deceased persons believed to be United States citizens.
Title 22 - Foreign Relations
(a) Verification of citizenship. As Form FS–192 may be accepted in courts of law, or considered elsewhere, as evidence of United States citizenship at the time of death, the consular officer should consult the regulations describing the evidence of citizenship which is acceptable for passport and registration purposes and should exercise due care in determining the citizenship status of the deceased. In doubtful cases he should transmit the Form FS–192 to the Department under cover of a despatch stating that the citizenship of the deceased has not been verified. The Department will then determine whether Form FS–192 may be released to the legal representative, next of kin, or other interested person, and will inform the consular officer of whatever action is taken. (b) Presumptions as to citizenship status. When the deceased was not currently documented at a Foreign Service office as a United States citizen, it must be assumed that, if the deceased was— (1) A native citizen, he had retained United States citizenship at the time of death, in the absence of evidence of an affirmative act of expatriation under paragraph 1, section 2 of the act of March 2, 1907, section 401 of the Nationality Act of 1940, or section 340 or 350 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; (2) A naturalized citizen, he had retained United States citizenship at the time of death, in the absence of evidence that he had lost nationality of the United States by having a continuous residence for three years in the territory of a foreign state as provided in section 352(a)(1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or by having a continuous residence for five years in any other foreign state or states as provided in section 352(a)(2) of the same act, unless there is evidence that his case comes within one of the exceptions established under section 353 or 354 of the act. Nationality may also have been lost under similar provisions contained in section 404 of the Nationality Act of 1940. The term residence as used herein means the place of general abode, and residence shall be considered continuous for the purpose of sections 350 and 352(a) (1) and (2) of the act where there is a continuity of stay but not necessarily an uninterrupted physical presence in a foreign state or states or outside the United States.
Title 22: Foreign Relations
PART 72—DEATHS AND ESTATES
Reporting Deaths of United States Citizens
§ 72.7 Reports on deceased persons believed to be United States citizens.
