Establishing United States Citizenship for MARAD Program Participation; Simplifying the Application Process

Official abstract: On July 1, 2025, MARAD published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), titled "How to Best Evidence Corporate Citizenship: Policy and Regulatory Review," soliciting public comment on actions MARAD could take to improve the process for evidencing U.S. citizenship. The final rule will simplify and modernize the process for establishing United States citizenship of corporations and other business formations participating in MARAD programs. In the interest of minimizing the unnecessary disclosure of personally identifiable information, the final rule will also eliminate the requirement to provide dates and places of birth of corporate executives, directors, and stock owners as required in the current form of affidavit of citizenship. The final rule will also amend the form of affidavit with respect to entities that are publicly traded by eliminating the requirement to provide certain information regarding registered owners of stock, eliminate the notarization requirement, and provide a simple and streamlined process for recertification.