I’m seeing some conflicting information when Googling the issue. Can a non-US citizen that is currently in the States on a student visa join the military? End game is obviously permanent residency and eventually citizenship.
To enlist, you have to either be a citizen or a permanent resident.
That being said, there is a pilot program called MAVNI, which you can see here, which will allow non citizens/permanent residents with skills vital to the national interest to join.
To join the US military you must be at least a Legal Permanent Resident (LPR, aka have a “green card”), which includes permission to work in the US. The military does offer an expedited path to citizenship, but only if you figure out how to become an LPR first, which I assure you is not easy.
Your student visa is considered a “non-immigrant” visa and as such cannot ripen into permanent residency. I think the only way you can adjust from a student visa is through marriage, I may be mistaken on that, but you will need the advice of a competent immigration attorney.
What **Captain Amazing ** and Hello Again said about enlistment.
A student/work/visitor visa explicitly does not confer Resident status during its term (whether renewable or not). Residency has to be specifically applied for, and marriage is no longer an “automatic” means to do so. Here’s one university’s page on Visa students transitioning to Permanent Residency.
Enlistment does accelerate the naturalization process for noncitizen residents.
Seriously, if you’re eligible (and the criteria are pretty narrow), MAVNI can make you a U.S. citizen in very short order. As in by the end of basic training. One of the creators of MAVNI is on an immigration law listserve I’m on, and she posts examples all the time.
Eva Luna, U.S. Immigration Paralegal
Thanks everyone for the quick and helpful answers!