Washington, September 5, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expanded a process allowing certain children born in the United States to foreign government employees to register as lawful permanent residents, while noting that a federal court injunction limits implementation of the new rule.
The interim final rule took effect on September 4 and applies to children born on or after that date when neither parent is a US citizen and at least one parent was employed by a foreign government at the time of the child’s birth.
The measure implements President Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14418 and expands an existing regulation covering US-born children of accredited foreign diplomatic officers. Under the amended regulation, the term “foreign government employee” replaces “foreign diplomatic officer”.
The expanded definition includes accredited diplomatic officers, nationals employed by their country’s embassy or consulate, individuals working for foreign governments in an official capacity and employees of international organisations who have international-organisation immunity.
However, personal employees and attendants of foreign officials, including personal assistants, chauffeurs and housekeepers, are excluded. The rule also excludes certain employees of state-owned enterprises, third-country nationals working for foreign governments, some contractors and foreign government employees visiting the US in a personal capacity.
Under the process, eligible individuals may be considered lawful permanent residents from birth. Registration is voluntary, although non-citizens may remain subject to alien-registration requirements under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
DHS is updating Form I-485 to reflect the broader category of foreign government employees. It is also revising Form G-325R for US-born children who do not acquire citizenship at birth, do not use the permanent-residence process and remain subject to federal alien-registration requirements.
The department said the rule would not be applied to members of the certified class in Casa Inc. v. Trump or in any manner that conflicts with a preliminary injunction issued by the US District Court in Maryland. The restriction will remain in effect unless the government obtains relief from the court.
The Fourteenth Amendment generally grants US citizenship to people born in the country and subject to its jurisdiction, with historically recognised exceptions including children of accredited foreign diplomatic representatives.
Federal immigration authorities have permitted eligible children in this category to register as permanent residents since at least the 1940s, while formal regulations governing the process were issued in 1982.
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