# Highest Ranking Position a Non-American can hold in Government? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2005, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397 "2005-08-31T07:09:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/21 "2005-08-31T22:26:06Z")
> [@Schnitte](#): > > I remember that this caused some public attention when the question came up whether British citizenship is citizenship of another country in the sense of this provision. An Australian court said yes, causing some outcry among followers of the traditional view that Commonwealth countries are not “foreign” to each other. Yes, it was the High Court decision in 1999 in [Sue v Hill.](http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1999/30.html) Heather Hill was a dual Australian / British citizen. She had not renounced her British citizenship before her election to the Senate for the state of Queensland. The High Court, sitting in its capacity as the Court of Disputed Returns, concluded that she was a subject of both the Queen of Australia and the Queen of the UK and therefore a citizen of a “foreign power” for the purposes of section 44(i) of the Constitution. She was thus ineligible to sit in Parliament. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/22 "2005-08-31T22:45:15Z")
My input: One cannot be an _officer_ in the U.S. Military without having become a citizen first. You don’t need to be born in the U.S. or to American Citizens, but you have to be naturalized. However, anyone can be _enlisted_ in the U.S. Military, and I know quite a few of those. There are quite a few that also use that as their way to becoming bona fide citizens. Tripler Just my $0.02. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/23 "2005-08-31T22:54:00Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Here’s an interesting related question. Could the OP, a Canadian citizen, be eligible for _any_ office in the United States? Are there any states or localities that expressly allow (or prohibit) this? Most states and cities (if not all) require that a public office holder be registered to vote in the district or state where you intend to run. If anyone has a clear cut exemption, I would like to see it. ElvisL1ves is correct, although I believe there are a number of exceptions. In short, as a Canadian Citizen your options are quite limited. I believe you could join the Army and after many years of hard work, rise to become a general. Although as a non-citizen, you may not get the security clearance required to do anything important. So your highest position would be a general in the supply service. ---
**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 31, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/24 "2005-08-31T23:15:52Z")
E-diddy: To be a commissioned officer, warrant officer, or E9 in the US military, one must be a citizen of the US, unless (for E9) the Secretary of the member’s service grants an exception to that requirement. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/25 "2005-08-31T23:22:11Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > E-diddy: To be a commissioned officer, warrant officer, or E9 in the US military, one must be a citizen of the US, unless (for E9) the Secretary of the member’s service grants an exception to that requirement. My mistake Monty. So the highest ranking non-citizen in the US would be a Sergeant? ---
**Author:** ![Atticus\_Finch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ec9cab/32.png) [@Atticus\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atticus_Finch)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/26 "2005-09-01T01:29:27Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Yes, it was the High Court decision in 1999 in [Sue v Hill.](http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1999/30.html)…Heather Hill was a dual Australian / British citizen. The entertainly ironic bit for me was that she was running for a party called One Nation, a far-right party with a platform of “immigrants taking our jobs” and so on. And their Senator-elect was kicked out because she didn’t fit the citizenship requirements! ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/27 "2005-09-01T02:08:01Z")
> [@amaranta](#): > > But what is the highest-ranking position a non-American citizen could attain in US Government? Being a US Citizen. Any position that is appointed or elected to government is a step down. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/28 "2005-09-01T02:55:45Z")
> [@E-Diddy](#): > > My mistake Monty. So the highest ranking non-citizen in the US would be a Sergeant? No, an E-9 would be the highest sergeant you could go on the scale. Here’s a chart to show you the ranks and pay grades (the “E-xxxx’s”) [DOD Enisted Rank/Pay Scale](http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/enlisted.html) Tripler You can follow the page links to the officers’ ranks. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397/29 "2005-09-01T04:09:50Z")
Well, technically, the Senior Enlisted Member of each Service that has Enlisted Members is an E-10. (I always got a kick out of that pay grade in the SIDPERS–hey, I’m easily amused.) So, basically, the chart Tripler linked is a bit incorrect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highest-ranking-position-a-non-american-can-hold-in-government/319397.md?page=1)