[The National Archives is still closed because of COVID-19. This file was copied before the closure in March 2020. I will let you know when the Archives reopens. THN]

Rose Chin had never been out of the United States and in 1927 she and her husband wanted to make a trip to Canada.  Rose applied with immigration services to make a temporary visit abroad.

In her application, Rose Chin Kee testified that she was born on 15 April 1911 to Mr. and Mrs. Chin Kee of 219 Washington Street in Seattle. Rose’s  father, Chin Kee, was a merchant and interpreter at Immigration Service at Seattle. He died in China about 1920.  Her mother was born in San Francisco and had been to China sometime before Rose was born in 1911. Rose’s birth certificate says her mother was born in China, but the interviewer did not ask her about the discrepancy. Evidently Rose was comfortable with the English language; she approved of her interview being conducted in English. Rose had five brothers and four sisters who were all born in Seattle, and one adopted sister. Her oldest brother, Tom Chin Kee, was the only one of her siblings to visit China. He left and returned when Rose was a small child.

Rose married Pong Mon on 15 May 1927 at home in Seattle. They obtained their license from the county clerk and a white man performed the ceremony.  Mr. Lysons helped them get their license.

Rose Chin lived in Seattle all her life and knew Inspector Mangels, Interpreter Quan Foy and Mr. Monroe from Immigration Service. She attended Main Street and Pacific public schools. She provided her birth certificate for inspection.

Although the inspectors verified Rose’s birth certificate, knew her family, and knew her since she was a small girl, they could not approve her application. Her husband, a Chinese native, could not prove that he was a U.S. citizen. According to the 1922 Cable Act, Rose Chin lost her U.S. citizenship when she married a Chinese native.

Rose Chin’s application was disapproved.

Additional information not included in the file:
The Expatriation Act of 1907 stated that women assumed the citizenship of their husbands.  U.S.-born women lost their citizenship when they married non-citizen immigrant men.

The Cable Act of 1922 said that an American woman who married a non-U.S. citizen would no longer lose her citizenship if her husband was eligible to become a citizen. However, if she married a Chinese ineligible for citizenship, she would lose her U.S. citizenship.

The 1931 amendment to the Cable Act allowed women to retain their American citizenship even if they married a person ineligible for naturalization.

For more information about the Cable Act go to:

Meg Hacker, “When Saying ‘I Do’ Meant Giving Up Your U.S. Citizenship,” Prologue, National Archives and Records Administration, Spring 2014, p.56-61.

Donald A. Watt, “Cable Act of 1922,” Immigration to the United States, Citizenship and Naturalization, Laws, Cable Act of 1922