Federal diversity jurisdiction requires what conditions?

• A. Complete diversity or alienage plus $75,000
• B. Complete diversity only, with no dollar amount
• C. Alienage only, with $0 minimum
• D. Any amount with any parties

Answer: (A)

Federal diversity jurisdiction is available only if the parties are from different citizenships and the amount in controversy is big enough. Citizenship for purposes of diversity includes aliens treated as citizens of their country, and corporate parties by their state of incorporation and principal place of business. In other words, you must have complete diversity—no plaintiff sharing a state citizenship with any defendant—and the amount in controversy must exceed $75,000, exclusive of interest and costs. When aliens are involved, this still holds: there must be the appropriate diversity among the parties, and the amount in controversy must be more than $75,000. This is why the correct choice reflects that you need complete diversity, or alienage with the $75,000 threshold. The other options fail because there is always the monetary threshold to meet, and you cannot rely on alienage alone without that threshold, nor can you have federal jurisdiction with any amount regardless of diversity.