Stateless Person Doctrine Law and Legal Definition
Stateless person doctrine refers to the rule that a U.S. citizen permanently domiciled abroad may not sue or be sued on the basis of diversity of citizenship.
Stateless person doctrine is federal law. In order to be a citizen of a State within the meaning of the diversity statute, a natural person must both be a citizen of the U.S. and be domiciled within the State. A U.S. citizen with no domicile in any State ranks as a stateless person for purposes of 28 USCS § 1332, providing for suits between citizens of different States and in which citizens or subjects of a foreign state are additional parties, and authorizing federal suit when citizens of a State sue citizens or subjects of a foreign state .[ Newman-Green, Inc. v. Alfonzo-Larrain, 490 U.S. 826, 828 (U.S. 1989)].
