# Guaranteed US citizenship for non-US citizens after serving in the US military? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 25, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032 "2007-07-25T00:29:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/21 "2007-07-26T18:28:40Z")
Of course, Congress can always take away that privilege at any time. See for example what happened in World War II with Filipino soldiers that fought on the side of the USA. In 1941 Roosevelt incorporated the Filipino army into the US army (the Philippines were a US colony at the time.) After the war they were officially US “veterans” until Congress passed the Recission Act of 1946 saying that they were not veterans and therefore not eligible for any benefits (medical, citizenship, etc.) In 1990 a new law allowed them citizenship and in 2003 a law was passed giving Filipino World War II veterans living in the US access to medical care benefits for veterans. See here: [http://nafve.org/index.php?option=com\_content&task=view&id=7&Itemid=2](http://nafve.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7&Itemid=2) and [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/12/30/BAG3H407IK1.DTL](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/12/30/BAG3H407IK1.DTL) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/22 "2007-07-27T01:26:46Z")
I’d like to live in the United States at some time in my life but being an obese pacifist I doubt the US military would have much use for me. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/23 "2007-07-27T01:47:36Z")
Well, plenty of other ways you can immigrate… C’mon over! ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/24 "2007-07-27T01:56:06Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] I’d like to live in the United States at some time in my life but being an obese pacifist I doubt the US military would have much use for me. [/QUOTE] You’d be surprised. The Navy kept calling me about their nuclear science program for about five years with a retort to everything I said. “We can help you get in shape”, “It doesn’t mean you have to serve on a submarine”, “Free education!”, “The chances you’ll be exposed to combat are extremely tiny” etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/25 "2007-07-27T02:06:15Z")
[QUOTE=An Gadaí] I’d like to live in the United States at some time in my life but being an obese pacifist I doubt the US military would have much use for me. [/QUOTE] Maybe we could work out some kind of swap? I’d like to live in Éire… ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/26 "2007-07-27T07:18:58Z")
[QUOTE=Tranquilis] Well, plenty of other ways you can immigrate… C’mon over! [/QUOTE] Such as? (legal methods, of course!) ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2007, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/27 "2007-07-27T08:09:20Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] Such as? (legal methods, of course!) [/QUOTE] Among others, – Find a job and get an H-1B visa, then file for an adjustment of status – Marry a United States citizen or permanent resident – Win the diversity lottery (I know several people who have, so the odds cannot be that terrible) – Invest $500,000 or more into a business venture in an underemployed area of the United States ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2007, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/28 "2007-08-03T15:02:16Z")
:: bump :: [Hot off the presses](http://www.uscis.gov/files/pressrelease/MilitaryNatz080107.pdf) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032/29 "2007-08-05T06:37:56Z")
There’s also a pretty good program referred to as the Expeditious Natuaralization Program. It’s for immediate family member dependents of US Armed Forces members. (I don’t recall if it also applies to dependents of civilian employees of the government.) If the dependent has been admitted to the US for Immigration and the military sponsor receives transfer orders to a post outside of the United States, then the non-citizen dependent may be naturalized _without regard to length of time in the US_ provided all other requirements for naturalization are met, _provided that the newly-minted citizen joins the sponsor overseas immediately after naturalization_. During my time in the military, every instance where someone needed that program, it required a gentle reminder from the servicemember’s Congressman’s office. There was also one case where the member’s wife decided that once she was naturalized, she didn’t have to bother with leaving the country to join him. The upshot of that was she was stripped of naturalization (because she didn’t comply with the requirements of the program), he divorced her, and I don’t know what else happened. If she’d been in the US less than the two-year mark, I imagine she would’ve been deported. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guaranteed-us-citizenship-for-non-us-citizens-after-serving-in-the-us-military/413032.md?page=1)