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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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Melania Trump's mother's immigration records, including her certificate of naturalization and Slovenian passport, have been released by The Heritage Foundation during a lawsuit over Prince Harry's visa, Newsweek can reveal.
The Heritage Foundation is suing the Biden administration in an effort to access the Duke of Sussex's visa records, arguing his past drug use should have rendered him inadmissible to the U.S.
And the think tank submitted around 165 pages of records, seen by Newsweek, relating to Amalija Knavs, Melania Trump's mother who died in January, to show that the State Department held records on her.
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The bundle includes Knavs' certificate of naturalization, granted on August 9, 2018, and includes her "alien registration number," as well as a daytime telephone number.
Photocopies of her permanent resident card and her Slovenian passport are also included in the filing along with confirmation that she was not convicted of any criminal offences in her home country.
Knavs is described in the documentation as having brown eyes, blond hair and being 5 feet, 8 inches tall and listing her weight in pounds. She lists her address at times as Trump Tower, in New York, and at other times gives Mar-a-Lago, Trump's resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
It lists her employment status as retired, commencing on March 8, 1998, and describes her trips abroad over the past five years, mostly to Slovenia, her place of birth, and also to the Caribbean island Saint Martin.
The documents give the date of her marriage to husband Viktor as July 29, 1967 and say she has two children, while boxes requesting further details on both subjects appear to have been left blank. It is possible this information was among the material withheld by DHS.
Asked, "Have you EVER not filed a Federal, state, or local tax return since you became a lawful permanent resident?" she ticked "Yes" and to the follow-up, "If you answered 'Yes,' did you consider yourself to be a 'non-U. S. resident']" she answered "no."
Knavs ticked "yes" to pledge her allegiance to the constitution and form of Government of the United States and also to indicate that, "if the law requires it," she is "willing to bear arms on behalf of the United States."
A letter from the Department of Homeland Security to Heritage reads: "We have considered the foreseeable harm standard when reviewing the record set and have applied the FOIA exemptions as required by the statute and the Attorney General's guidance.
"We have completed the review of all documents and have identified 165 pages that are responsive to your request. Enclosed are 100 pages released in their entirety and 37 pages released in part. We are withholding 28 pages in full."
A court filing by Heritage lawyers, seen by Newsweek reads: "The reason [Heritage] would have sought additional detail about the records in question is that State Department records are typically included in a complete A-File maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
"For example, the recently released A-File of Melania Trump's mother contains a number of State Department forms," the filing adds.
Melania Trump announced her mother's death in January when she said: "Amalija Knavs was a strong woman who always carried herself with grace, warmth, and dignity."
And in 2016, Melania spoke about her upbringing at the Republican National Convention: "I was born in Slovenia, a small, beautiful and then-Communist country in central Europe. My sister Ines, who is an incredible woman and a friend, and I were raised by my wonderful parents.
"My elegant and hardworking mother, Amalija, introduced me to fashion and beauty. My father Viktor instilled in me a passion for business and travel," Melania continued.
Jack Royston is Newsweek*'s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on* Newsweek*'s The Royals Facebook page.*
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
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