33 CFR § 25.503 - Proper claimants.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t33/s25.503"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "33 CFR § 25.503 - Proper claimants."
title_number: 33
title_name: "Navigation and Navigable Waters"
section_number: "25.503"
section_name: "Proper claimants."
chapter_name: "COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "GENERAL"
part_number: "25"
part_name: "CLAIMS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "14 U.S.C. 503; 49 CFR 1.45(a); 49 CFR 1.45(b); 49 CFR 1.46(b), unless otherwise noted."
regulatory_source: "CGD 80-033, 46 FR 27109, May 18, 1981, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "25"
---


# 25.503 Proper claimants.

(a) The claimant, or the decedent in a death case, must have been an inhabitant of a foreign country at the time of the incident giving rise to the claim and must not be otherwise excluded by § 25.505. It is not necessary that a claimant be a citizen of, or legal domiciliary of the foreign country.

(b) A corporation or other organization doing business in a foreign country on a permanent basis may qualify as a proper claimant although organized under United States law.

(c) The government of a foreign country or a political subdivision thereof is a proper claimant unless excluded by waiver provisions of applicable international agreements.