N-644, Application for Posthumous Citizenship
Under Pub. L. 101-249, use this form to request posthumous citizenship for an alien or noncitizen national whose death resulted from injury or disease incurred on active duty with the U.S. armed services during specified periods of military hostilities. Posthumous citizenship is an honorary status commemorating the bravery and sacrifices of these persons; it does not convey any benefits under the Immigration and Nationality Act to any relative of the decedent.
If we approve your application, we will send you Form N-645, Certificate of Citizenship, in the name of the decedent. The certificate only establishes that we consider them to be a citizen of the United States as of the date of their death, and is invalid for all other purposes.
Form Details
Dates are listed in mm/dd/yy format.
If you complete and print this form to mail it, make sure that the form edition date and page numbers are visible at the bottom of all pages and that all pages are from the same form edition. If any of the form’s pages are missing or are from a different form edition, we may reject your form.
If you need help downloading and printing forms, read our instructions.
Mail your completed N-644 application to the California Service Center.
Please do not submit this checklist with your Form N-644. It is an optional tool to use as you prepare your form, but does not replace statutory, regulatory, and form instruction requirements. We recommend that you review these requirements before completing and submitting your form. Do not send original documents unless specifically requested in the form instructions or applicable regulations.
If you submit any documents (copies or original documents, if requested) in a foreign language, you must include a full English translation along with a certification from the translator verifying that the translation is complete and accurate, and that they are competent to translate from the foreign language to English.
Did you provide the following?
- Authorization documents from all living next-of-kin above you in order of succession (required unless you are the spouse of a deceased service member, or you are the executor or administrator of their estate). For more information or examples, please refer to form instructions;
- A certified copy of your letter of appointment as the executor or administrator of the decedent’s estate, or as the guardian, conservator, or committee of the decedent’s next-of-kin (if applicable); and
- Evidence that the Department of Veteran’s Affairs recognizes your organization (if applicable).
Filing Tips: Go to our Tips for Filing Forms by Mail page for information on how to help ensure we will accept your application.
Don’t forget to sign your form. We will reject any unsigned form.
