A non-United States citizen of exceptional merit may be declared an Honorary Citizen of the United States by the President pursuant to an Act of Congress.

As of 2006, six people have had this honor bestowed upon them, and only two of them were so honoured during their lifetime:

• Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister during World War II (awarded 1963)
• Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa), Albanian-Indian nun and human rights advocate (1996).

Posthumously Awarded:

• Raoul Wallenberg, Swedish diplomat and Holocaust hero (1981)
• William Penn, 17th and 18th century proprietor and governor of the American colony of Pennsylvania. (1984)
• Hannah Callowhill Penn, second wife of William Penn and administrator of Pennsylvania. (1984)
• Marquis de la Fayette, French supporter of the American Revolution (2002)

Honorary citizenship is not to be confused with permanent residency bestowed by a private bill. Private bills are, on rare occasions, used to provide relief to individuals, often in immigration cases, and are also passed by both houses of Congress and signed into law by the President. A bill was introduced in Congress to grant such status to the Russian nuclear physicist and prisoner of conscience Dr. Andrei Sakharov in 2002 but it was not made law.

See also

• Citizenship

External link

• Public Laws granting Honorary Citizenship

History of immigration to the United States | Nationality law | Civilian decorations of the United States | Winston Churchill

Citoyen d'honneur des États-Unis d'Amérique | アメリカ名誉市民