You don’t apply to become an American national in the non-citizen sense. Learning how to become an American national really means learning who already qualifies at birth, because federal law grants non-citizen U.S. national status automatically to a narrow group of people tied to American Samoa or Swains Island. There is no petition, no interview, and no process that turns an outsider into a national. Either you were born into the status or you were not.
Every U.S. citizen is also a U.S. national, but the reverse isn’t true. Non-citizen nationals owe permanent allegiance to the United States, can live and work anywhere in the country, and carry a U.S. passport, yet they cannot vote in federal elections or sit on federal juries. The rules below explain who acquires that status and how to prove it.
Birth in American Samoa or Swains Island
Federal law defines “outlying possessions of the United States” as American Samoa and Swains Island, and no other territory.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1101 – Definitions A person born in either place on or after the date the United States acquired it is a non-citizen national at birth.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1408 – Nationals but Not Citizens of the United States at Birth No filing is required. The status attaches at birth, is permanent, and does not expire.
The statute also covers a foundling scenario: a child under five years old found in an outlying possession, whose parents are unknown, is presumed to be a non-citizen national. That presumption stands unless someone shows the child was not actually born there, and the challenge must come before the child turns twenty-one.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1408 – Nationals but Not Citizens of the United States at Birth
Born Abroad to a Non-Citizen National Parent
A child born outside the United States can also acquire non-citizen national status at birth, but the requirements shift depending on whether one or both parents hold the status.
When both parents are non-citizen nationals, the child qualifies if at least one parent had resided in the United States or an outlying possession at some point before the child’s birth. The statute sets no minimum length for that residence.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1408 – Nationals but Not Citizens of the United States at Birth
When only one parent is a non-citizen national and the other is a foreign citizen, the bar rises sharply. The national parent must have been physically present in the United States or its outlying possessions for at least seven years within a continuous ten-year period before the child’s birth, without any single absence longer than one year, and at least five of those seven years must have fallen after the parent turned fourteen.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1408 – Nationals but Not Citizens of the United States at Birth
The math trips people up. A parent who left American Samoa at seventeen and had a child abroad at twenty-two could not qualify, because they could not accumulate five years of physical presence after age fourteen inside a compliant ten-year window.
How to Document Your Status
Having the status and proving it are different problems. Employers, airlines, and government agencies will want a document. Two options exist.
U.S. Passport With Non-Citizen National Endorsement
The practical route is a U.S. passport. The State Department has determined that non-citizen nationals may apply for a passport that certifies their status as a national but not a citizen.4U.S. Department of State. Certificates of Non Citizen Nationality You use Form DS-11, the standard first-time passport application, filed at any Passport Agency or acceptance facility in the United States. Bring documentary proof of your status, such as an American Samoa birth certificate, together with identity documents.
The passport is issued with endorsement code 09, which flags the holder as a non-citizen U.S. national. It serves as both proof of status and a travel document, which is why most non-citizen nationals rely on it as their single piece of documentation.
Certificate of Non-Citizen National Status
Federal law also allows someone claiming to be a national but not a citizen to apply directly to the Secretary of State for a certificate of non-citizen national status.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1452 – Certificates of Citizenship or U.S. Non-Citizen National Status; Procedure The applicant must prove the status to the Secretary’s satisfaction. Anyone born outside the United States or its outlying possessions must also take an oath of allegiance before an immigration officer while physically present in the United States or an outlying possession.
A common point of confusion: older guidance sometimes points to USCIS Form N-600 for this purpose. That form is the Application for Certificate of Citizenship, and its instructions describe it as a request for a certificate recognizing that someone became a citizen on a specific date.6U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Form N-600, Instructions for Application for Certificate of Citizenship The statute routes non-citizen national certificate applications to the Secretary of State, not USCIS. If you specifically want a certificate documenting non-citizen national status, contact the State Department rather than filing an N-600.
If You Want Full Citizenship: Naturalization
Non-citizen national status cannot be acquired later in life, but full U.S. citizenship can. Non-citizen nationals who want the rights citizenship adds, notably the right to vote, can naturalize with a meaningful advantage: under 8 U.S.C. ยง 1436, time spent living in an outlying possession counts toward the residency and physical presence requirements that would normally require time in a U.S. state.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1436 – Nationals but Not Citizens; Residence Within Outlying Possessions
The general naturalization rules still apply. You must have lived continuously in the United States or an outlying possession for at least five years after becoming a resident of a state, been physically present for at least 30 months of those five years, and lived in the state where you file for at least three months.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 8 USC 1427 – Requirements of Naturalization Someone who lived in American Samoa for years and then moved to Hawaii could count those American Samoa years toward the five-year clock.
The application uses Form N-400, filed with USCIS. You must pass the civics and English exams, show good moral character, and take the Oath of Allegiance. Filing fees change; as of early 2025 the N-400 fee was approximately $760, but confirm the current amount before filing.9U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Filing Fees Once naturalized, you gain the right to vote, serve on juries, hold federal offices restricted to citizens, and carry a standard passport without the non-citizen national endorsement.