## Facts

- Konrad Garstka was a Polish national who immigrated to the United States and later sought to become a naturalized U.S. citizen.
- Garstka was a widower and practiced medicine in the United States.
- From about July 1963 to February 1965, Garstka worked as a physician at Memorial Hospital in Elmhurst, Illinois.
- While at the hospital, Garstka began dating Linda Altendorf, a 19-year-old nurse’s aide; they were both unmarried at the time.
- During the relationship, they engaged in consensual sexual relations.
- Altendorf became pregnant and gave birth to a child on June 7, 1964.
- Altendorf brought child-support proceedings in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois.
- Garstka admitted paternity, and the Illinois court entered an order requiring him to pay $80 per month for the child’s support.
- Garstka consistently complied with the support order.
- A few years after the child’s birth, Garstka filed a petition for naturalization.
- The United States Naturalization Service opposed the petition, arguing that fathering an illegitimate child showed a lack of “good moral character” required for naturalization under the Immigration and Nationality Act, including 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f).

## Issues

1. Whether fathering an out-of-wedlock child through consensual, non-adulterous relations between unmarried adults, where the petitioner admits paternity and pays court-ordered support, bars a finding of “good moral character” for naturalization under 8 U.S.C. § 1101(f).

## Decision

- The court granted Garstka’s petition for naturalization.
- The court held that Garstka’s conduct did not fall within any enumerated statutory bar to good moral character listed in § 1101(f).
- The court further held that, on these facts, the residual clause of § 1101(f) did not justify finding that Garstka lacked good moral character based solely on the existence of an illegitimate child.

## Legal Principles

- The naturalization requirement of “good moral character” is determined through a fact-specific inquiry during the statutory period; conduct not listed in § 1101(f)’s enumerated categories may still be considered under the statute’s residual clause.
- Section 1101(f) identifies certain categories of conduct (such as adultery and other serious misconduct) that preclude a finding of good moral character, but the absence of an enumerated bar does not end the inquiry.
- Non-adulterous sexual relations between unmarried adults generally have not been treated as automatically inconsistent with good moral character for naturalization purposes.
- The birth of a child out of wedlock does not, by itself, convert consensual premarital sexual conduct into a showing of bad moral character.
- Taking responsibility for the child—by admitting paternity and making regular payments under a support order—supports, rather than defeats, a finding of good moral character.
- In assessing “good moral character” under the residual clause, courts may look to how the conduct is commonly regarded, and to whether the applicant’s behavior shows responsibility and respect for legal obligations.
- Denying naturalization solely because a petitioner fathered an illegitimate child, despite consistent support payments, can conflict with the public interest in the child’s continued financial support.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that Garstka’s consensual relationship with an unmarried woman, resulting in the birth of a child out of wedlock, did not require a finding of poor moral character where he admitted paternity and complied with a court-ordered support obligation; therefore, the petition for naturalization was granted.


In re Petition for Naturalization of Konrad Garstka, 295 F. Supp. 833 (1969)