MARAD Modernizes U.S. Citizenship Evidencing Requirements For Vessel Owners And Program Participants

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) published two companion final rules in the Federal Register on June 4, 2026, that together modernize and streamline the process by which corporations and other business entities must evidence United States citizenship to participate in MARAD programs and obtain fishery endorsements for U.S.-flag fishing vessels. The first rule, amending 46 CFR Part 355, applies broadly to entities participating in MARAD’s promotional programs, including the Capital Construction Fund, the Maritime Security Program, and federally guaranteed vessel financing (Title XI), and governs the standard affidavit of U.S. citizenship required under 46 U.S.C. 50501. 

The second rule, amending 46 CFR Part 356, addresses specifically the American Fisheries Act (AFA) program, which imposes heightened citizenship requirements on owners of U.S.-flag fishing industry vessels of 100 feet or greater in registered length. Both rules became effective on June 4, 2026, and were classified as deregulatory actions under Executive Order 14192, meaning they are expected to reduce rather than increase the compliance burden on regulated entities.

The most significant change across both rules is the elimination of requirements to provide personally identifiable information, specifically dates and places of birth for corporate officers, directors, and stockholders, and social security numbers for AFA program participants, in the affidavit of U.S. citizenship. These changes are reflected in the revised form of affidavit of U.S. citizenship at 46 C.F.R. § 355.2, effective June 4, 2026, which no longer calls for birth information for officers, directors, or stockholders, and in the corresponding AFA affidavit at 46 C.F.R. § 356.5(d), which eliminates both social security numbers and birth information for corporate officers and directors. 

MARAD determined that this information did not meaningfully improve the agency’s ability to confirm citizenship and created an unnecessary risk of exposing sensitive personal data. MARAD retains the authority to request such information individually where doubt arises, preserving its oversight capacity without requiring routine collection of PII from all filers. The Part 355 rule also eliminates the prior notarization requirement for the standard affidavit at § 355.2, reducing the administrative burden on first-time applicants and annual recertifying entities alike. 

Both rules introduce a new optional streamlined recertification process for entities whose citizenship information has not changed since their most recent affidavit filing. Under new 46 C.F.R. § 355.4(b), an entity participating in MARAD’s promotional programs may file a brief written certification in lieu of a full annual affidavit, confirming that no changes have occurred to the ownership information previously provided to MARAD. The parallel provision for AFA program participants appears at 46 C.F.R. § 356.5(g), which permits vessel owners whose citizenship information has not changed to file an annual certification rather than a full AFA affidavit. MARAD will include the form of certification with each fishery endorsement eligibility approval letter it issues. Entities that do experience material changes in ownership, officers, or directors remain obligated to notify MARAD within thirty calendar days under § 356.5(g) and file an updated affidavit in the ordinary course.

The rules also update the methodology available to publicly traded corporations for evidencing U.S. citizen ownership. The expanded framework for publicly traded AFA vessel owners is now codified at 46 C.F.R. § 356.7(e), which sets out a nonexclusive menu of methods that corporations may employ to measure, monitor, determine, and affirm the required percentage of U.S. citizen share ownership. The revised rules adopt and harmonize MARAD’s approach with guidance previously issued by the U.S. Coast Guard in its November 2012 Federal Register Notice, creating consistent standards across the two agencies for the first time. 

Publicly traded entities may now rely on participation in the Depository Trust Company’s SEG-100 segregated account system, monitoring of SEC filings for five-percent holders, geographic surveys or statistical analyses of shareholder residences, communications with Non-Objecting Beneficial Owners (NOBOs), use of protective provisions in organizational documents to guard against excess non-citizen ownership, and alternative methods approved in writing by MARAD. The modified “fair inference rule” codified at § 356.7(c), allowing a publicly traded corporation may infer at least 75 percent U.S. citizen ownership if at least 95 percent of each class of stock is held by persons with a U.S. address, now expressly permits reliance on this broader range of shareholder residence data sources identified in § 356.7(e).

For maritime clients with interests in MARAD programs, vessel financing, or the domestic fishing industry, the practical effect of these final rules is a meaningful reduction in the annual administrative burden associated with citizenship compliance, particularly for publicly traded entities and for closely held entities whose ownership structure is stable from year to year.

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