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One other consideration is that those born to United States citizen men, who were not married to the foreign mother bear, a serious burden of additional hurdles to “transmitting” citizenship to the child.  That is, under Immigration and Nationality Act 309:  the father (unless deceased) must have agreed in writing to provide financial support for the person until the person reaches the age of 18 years, and while the person is under the age of 18 years the person is legitimated under the law of the person's residence or domicile, the father acknowledges paternity of the person in writing under oath, or the paternity of the person is established by adjudication of a competent court.

For women, between 1855 and 1922, the laws of the United States declared that whenever a woman married, she took the citizenship of her husband. That means that if she were a citizen of the U.S., and she married a foreigner, she would take on the citizenship of that foreigner. Similarly, if she were a foreigner and married a citizen, she would become a citizen automatically, without all the petitions, applications, fees, etc. that are required today.

Because of these complex citizenship laws, which alter citizenship as of the date of birth of the child even if no one knows about it until later in life, it’s important to consider these situations for anyone born abroad to at least one U.S. citizen parent. I have had a number of clients where these issues come up in removal proceedings, that is, where the person born abroad now faces deportation, only to find out that he or she is in fact a citizen of the United States, since the date of their birth.