## Facts

- Juana Mabel Clavijo De Bellis petitioned to become a naturalized citizen of the United States in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
- The Immigration and Nationality Act required naturalization applicants to take the oath of allegiance in the form prescribed by INA § 337(a), 8 U.S.C. § 1448(a), and the oath must be taken “freely without any mental reservation” under 8 C.F.R. § 337.1.
- Clause (5) of the statutory oath required the applicant to promise that, when required by law, she would either (a) bear arms, (b) perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces, or (c) perform “work of national importance under civilian direction.”
- De Bellis was a Jehovah’s Witness. Because of her religious beliefs, she refused to swear that she would bear arms or perform noncombatant military service.
- The statutory scheme permitted a modified oath for applicants whose religious beliefs prevented them from promising to bear arms or perform noncombatant service, substituting a commitment to perform “work of national importance under civilian direction” when required by law.
- De Bellis refused to take the modified oath in its stated form. She proposed to swear to perform work of national importance only if, in her own judgment, it would not amount to substitute military service.
- A naturalization examiner recommended denial on the ground that De Bellis would not take the prescribed oath of allegiance without mental reservation.
- The district court considered the petition and the examiner’s recommendation in deciding whether De Bellis satisfied the statutory requirements for naturalization.

## Issues

1. Whether a naturalization petitioner who is unwilling to take the statutory oath of allegiance (including the clause (5) service commitment or its authorized modification) “freely without any mental reservation” has met the requirements for naturalization under 8 U.S.C. § 1448(a) and 8 C.F.R. § 337.1.
2. Whether a court may grant naturalization when the petitioner seeks to add a personal condition to the modified oath’s promise to perform “work of national importance under civilian direction when required by law.”

## Decision

- The court denied De Bellis’s petition for naturalization.
- The court agreed with the naturalization examiner that De Bellis’s proposed conditional version of the modified oath showed a mental reservation inconsistent with the statutory and regulatory oath requirement.

## Legal Principles

- A naturalization applicant bears the burden to prove eligibility and compliance with all statutory prerequisites; doubts are resolved against the applicant and in favor of the United States. *See* *Berenyi v. District Director*, 385 U.S. 630 (1967).
- Taking the oath prescribed by 8 U.S.C. § 1448(a) is a substantive requirement for naturalization, not a technical formality.
- The oath must be taken “freely without any mental reservation” as required by 8 C.F.R. § 337.1.
- Congress provided limited alternatives within clause (5) of the oath (bearing arms, noncombatant service, or civilian work of national importance). Courts may not grant naturalization based on an oath materially different from what the statute permits.
- A petitioner’s attempt to qualify the clause (5) obligation by reserving the right to decide, case by case, whether required civilian work is an unacceptable substitute for military service can constitute a disqualifying mental reservation.

## Conclusion

The court denied naturalization because De Bellis would not take the statutory oath—either in its standard form or the authorized modified form—without adding a personal condition to the clause (5) commitment, and that condition amounted to a mental reservation barred by 8 C.F.R. § 337.1 and inconsistent with 8 U.S.C. § 1448(a).


In re De Bellis, 493 F. Supp. 534 (1980)