Citizenship through military service

[JoBri 545]

My wife joined the Air National Guard. We heard from USCIS and the Air Force and the Air National Guard so much conflicting information on whether or not she can get her citizenship while at basic training. If you research it online it is very vague. And USCIS and ANG and Air Force all seem to have different answers too. It depends on who you ask and what day you ask. Some say it is only for those going on active duty after basic training. Others say she is eligible while at basic training. USCIS said she is eligible at basic training, but that more times than not it would be difficult to complete it in that timeframe and would have to be transferred to an office near us after basic training. The Air Force said she would have to be going regular active duty after basic training. Her recruiter called USCIS and was told they will give her the option to get her citizenship while at basic training. We will just have to wait to see what really happens I guess. It would be nice if she were eligible to get her citizenship while on active duty for basic training because they waive the cost of filing. It would cost nothing.

It would be nice to get a clear cut answer on whether she can or cant, but that has been hard to do.

[TBoneTX 44,786]

*** Thread moved from U.S. Citizenship forum to Military forum as better location for answers to the OP's questions. ***

[hellINTIM 9]

this is the process of that, well since she already joined the service , her recruiter should tell her to fill up n-400 and give back to him/her before her oath taking for military. they only want is the copy of her GC . then on the shipment for bct , Recruiter going to give her a package for BCT and for her citizenship , at the reception, they will process it and they will ask everything that she put on in n-400. She should have her GC with her ( i didnt bring mine, bcoz USCIS said dont bring it but Military CO said i should ) if the GC will going to be expire before the shipment she should renew it bcoz they will disqualify to ship in training due to expired GC. after reception, while on training, the drill SGt will let her know about her citizenship , they will call her like 3-4 times while on training for biometrics, CO get together with other soldiers that apply for citizenship, interview, practice for oath taking and oath taking. most likely only 70% of the whole battalion will be awarded. she will get her citizenship before bct graduation or while in AIT.

Edited January 31, 2013 by .MythaG-

[JoBri 545]

Thank you for your feedback. When you mentioned "packet", that got me thinking, and I found a lot of other valuable information based on that alone. I have had a hard time getting good information. Judging by your signature where you use the acronym "USAR", I take it you are in the Army Reserve. If that is the case, it is good to see someone who was in the Reserves or Guard was also able to take advantage of naturalization in that way too. I havent found absolute proof anywhere my wife would be able to do that, being in the Air National Guard, although I have a lot of second hand information that she can.

I also found out yesterday, thanks to some things you said and then doing further research, that iif she gets her biometrics (fingerprints) done no later than 30 days prior to going to Basic Training, she has a better chance of taking her oath while at Basic at Lackland Air Force Base. On one of the USCIS web sites it says for military personnel they can go to a local office and get their fingerprints done with no appointment and no pending application. so their packet is ready before going to Basic Training. When I called USCIS to confirm that (just to feel better about it) the person I spoke with tried to argue that with me, and tell me to just wait until she goes to basic training because she would need to have an appointment to get fingerprinted before going. But the USCIS website says differently, so... That has been our problem. One official Air Force site says she can do it, and then someone in Personnel with the Air Force says she cant do it. USCIS says in one place she can do "this or that" and then a representative says she cant do "this or that". Anyways, it has been a whole lot of conflicting information. But if she can do it then we will save over $600, which will be well worth the effort to us.

At this point I think we both have decided it is well worth the risk, and we are going to gamble that she can get it done at basic training, and we will gamble as well that we can get her finger prints (probably at an $85 cost from what I can gather). We will just take the gamble that what I read is correct and that it will speed things up to get the finger prints now which I read are good for 15 months. And I will get the whole "packet" put together to ship with her to Basic Training.

Thanks again for your response. It helps me a lot in connecting the dots.

this is the process of that, well since she already joined the service , her recruiter should tell her to fill up n-400 and give back to him/her before her oath taking for military. they only want is the copy of her GC . then on the shipment for bct , Recruiter going to give her a package for BCT and for her citizenship , at the reception, they will process it and they will ask everything that she put on in n-400. She should have her GC with her ( i didnt bring mine, bcoz USCIS said dont bring it but Military CO said i should ) if the GC will going to be expire before the shipment she should renew it bcoz they will disqualify to ship in training due to expired GC. after reception, while on training, the drill SGt will let her know about her citizenship , they will call her like 3-4 times while on training for biometrics, CO get together with other soldiers that apply for citizenship, interview, practice for oath taking and oath taking. most likely only 70% of the whole battalion will be awarded. she will get her citizenship before bct graduation or while in AIT.

[hellINTIM 9]

Thank you for your feedback. When you mentioned "packet", that got me thinking, and I found a lot of other valuable information based on that alone. I have had a hard time getting good information. Judging by your signature where you use the acronym "USAR", I take it you are in the Army Reserve. If that is the case, it is good to see someone who was in the Reserves or Guard was also able to take advantage of naturalization in that way too. I havent found absolute proof anywhere my wife would be able to do that, being in the Air National Guard, although I have a lot of second hand information that she can.

I also found out yesterday, thanks to some things you said and then doing further research, that iif she gets her biometrics (fingerprints) done no later than 30 days prior to going to Basic Training, she has a better chance of taking her oath while at Basic at Lackland Air Force Base. On one of the USCIS web sites it says for military personnel they can go to a local office and get their fingerprints done with no appointment and no pending application. so their packet is ready before going to Basic Training. When I called USCIS to confirm that (just to feel better about it) the person I spoke with tried to argue that with me, and tell me to just wait until she goes to basic training because she would need to have an appointment to get fingerprinted before going. But the USCIS website says differently, so... That has been our problem. One official Air Force site says she can do it, and then someone in Personnel with the Air Force says she cant do it. USCIS says in one place she can do "this or that" and then a representative says she cant do "this or that". Anyways, it has been a whole lot of conflicting information. But if she can do it then we will save over $600, which will be well worth the effort to us.

At this point I think we both have decided it is well worth the risk, and we are going to gamble that she can get it done at basic training, and we will gamble as well that we can get her finger prints (probably at an $85 cost from what I can gather). We will just take the gamble that what I read is correct and that it will speed things up to get the finger prints now which I read are good for 15 months. And I will get the whole "packet" put together to ship with her to Basic Training.

Thanks again for your response. It helps me a lot in connecting the dots.

[hellINTIM 9]

Thank you for your feedback. When you mentioned "packet", that got me thinking, and I found a lot of other valuable information based on that alone. I have had a hard time getting good information. Judging by your signature where you use the acronym "USAR", I take it you are in the Army Reserve. If that is the case, it is good to see someone who was in the Reserves or Guard was also able to take advantage of naturalization in that way too. I havent found absolute proof anywhere my wife would be able to do that, being in the Air National Guard, although I have a lot of second hand information that she can.

I also found out yesterday, thanks to some things you said and then doing further research, that iif she gets her biometrics (fingerprints) done no later than 30 days prior to going to Basic Training, she has a better chance of taking her oath while at Basic at Lackland Air Force Base. On one of the USCIS web sites it says for military personnel they can go to a local office and get their fingerprints done with no appointment and no pending application. so their packet is ready before going to Basic Training. When I called USCIS to confirm that (just to feel better about it) the person I spoke with tried to argue that with me, and tell me to just wait until she goes to basic training because she would need to have an appointment to get fingerprinted before going. But the USCIS website says differently, so... That has been our problem. One official Air Force site says she can do it, and then someone in Personnel with the Air Force says she cant do it. USCIS says in one place she can do "this or that" and then a representative says she cant do "this or that". Anyways, it has been a whole lot of conflicting information. But if she can do it then we will save over $600, which will be well worth the effort to us.

At this point I think we both have decided it is well worth the risk, and we are going to gamble that she can get it done at basic training, and we will gamble as well that we can get her finger prints (probably at an $85 cost from what I can gather). We will just take the gamble that what I read is correct and that it will speed things up to get the finger prints now which I read are good for 15 months. And I will get the whole "packet" put together to ship with her to Basic Training.

Thanks again for your response. It helps me a lot in connecting the dots.

No, ur totally confused.,,..

1. ur wife joined military , before oath taking for service , her recruiter should told her to fill up n400.

2. recruiter will going to ask her BC, GC, ur BC passport and driver license or state ID.

3. after oath taking in military , FBI agent going to contact her for security clearance , this agent also going to tell ask you about everything she put in n400....

4. this FBI agent will be around ( asking the same question every stupid time to make sure your not lying ) for 2 weeks or so or till 3 days before she leave to for training.

5. probably you have the yellow packet already , on her shipping day at the reception in bct, while in process , they going to ask to go in a office to fill up n400 again ( but if you fill up n400 just give that to the lady coz if u messed up filling up that and put different one from the FBI agent copy you might get a problem._)

6. before she leave the reception they will tell her that her drill sgt will let her know about the next step.

7. while in bct, in her first week they going to have a meeting for citizenship soldiers. ( its just recognizing thingy for military saying thanks you for service and everything)

8. after 3 weeks they will call her for biometrics and interview and they will ask for her GC to surrender it.

9. a week before graduation , they will tell them to call families to come to oath taking, at the same time they going to have some meeting for again whos going to be awarded of citizenship.

10. practice practice practice for oath taking, and they will let know everyone whos going to have citizenship and who is not..

11. if you didnt get your citizenship in BCT, you will have it in AIT..

Dont do anything else, wait till she get ship out , you dont need to pay anything, FYI, if her GC will be expire before shipping she needs to renew that...

if still confuse do not call USCIS call military hotline because according to Military citizenship CO , USCIS is not the one going to approve the citizenship , military CCO will the one ....

one more thing, if she only have extension letter ,, make sure that she going to bring the original letter and GC... and tell her she needs to indeed to those stupid people in reception that extension letter is legit ....

Edited February 1, 2013 by .MythaG-

[JoBri 545]

No, ur totally confused.,,..

1. ur wife joined military , before oath taking for service , her recruiter should told her to fill up n400.

Her recruiter, who also is a member of her unit at the air base, does not know what to do to help about the citizenship stuff.

2. recruiter will going to ask her BC, GC, ur BC passport and driver license or state ID.

3. after oath taking in military , FBI agent going to contact her for security clearance , this agent also going to tell ask you about everything she put in n400....

Last July when my wife was sworn in, she completed the "e-QIP" for the background check. A woman met with her shortly after that and went over all the questions and answers, and told her she probably wont hear anymore from her unless she had a question about something. That was 7 months ago. Many other airmen at her airbase have to wait up to a year before they are sent to basic training. This "agent" never spoke to me. But then my wife isnt getting a secret clearance either, since she isnt a US citizen yet. Her specialty area doesnt require a secret clearance. Nothing was asked of my wife concerning getting an N400 by recruiter or agent.

4. this FBI agent will be around ( asking the same question every stupid time to make sure your not lying ) for 2 weeks or so or till 3 days before she leave to for training.

5. probably you have the yellow packet already , on her shipping day at the reception in bct, while in process , they going to ask to go in a office to fill up n400 again ( but if you fill up n400 just give that to the lady coz if u messed up filling up that and put different one from the FBI agent copy you might get a problem._)

6. before she leave the reception they will tell her that her drill sgt will let her know about the next step.

7. while in bct, in her first week they going to have a meeting for citizenship soldiers. ( its just recognizing thingy for military saying thanks you for service and everything)

8. after 3 weeks they will call her for biometrics and interview and they will ask for her GC to surrender it.

9. a week before graduation , they will tell them to call families to come to oath taking, at the same time they going to have some meeting for again whos going to be awarded of citizenship.

10. practice practice practice for oath taking, and they will let know everyone whos going to have citizenship and who is not..

11. if you didnt get your citizenship in BCT, you will have it in AIT..

What I read yesterday online for Air Force was the following preocedure:

"Air Force

This year, the Air Force became the third service to partnerwith

USCIS and bring naturalization to basic training at LacklandAir

Force Base. This program is brand new; the firstapplications were

processed in June 2011.

Ideally, non-citizen recruits in the Air Force are informedby their

recruiters of the availability of naturalization at basictraining. The

recruiters supply interested non-citizen recruits withcitizenship

application materials and ensure that their paperwork iscompleted

by the time the recruit ships. Also, the recruiters instructthe recruits

to go to local USCIS application support centers to befingerprinted

no later than 30 days before shipping. Then, when thenon-citizen

recruits arrive at the Reception Battalion, they submittheir completed

applications to begin processing. In practice, about half of

non-citizen recruits arrive with their application packetscompleted.

While the Air Force has achieved buy-in from the leadershipat Air

Force Recruiting Service as well as from the recruiters, itwill likely

take time before all non-citizens who wish to be naturalizedwill have

completed their applications before the start of basictraining.

During week 4 of training, USCIS officials are on site atLackland Air

Force Base. For non-citizen recruits who arrived at basictraining with

completed applications, USCIS officials use this time tointerview and

administer the citizenship test. For non-citizen recruitswho arrived at

basic training with incomplete applications, USCIS officialsassist

them with finalizing their applications and gettingfingerprinted.

USCIS officials also coordinate the naturalization ceremony,which is

scheduled for the Thursday before basic training graduation,at the

end of the 8th week of training.

Although the Air Force's goal is to naturalize allnon-citizen recruits

who are seeking citizenship by the time they graduate frombasic

training, in practice this is only possible for non-citizenrecruits who

arrive at basic training with completed applications. Fornon-citizen

recruits whose applications are incomplete at the start ofbasic training,

their applications will be forwarded to USCIS officeslocated near

their initial skills training locations, and the applicantwill be advised

to follow up with USCIS on their own."

Dont do anything else, wait till she get ship out , you dont need to pay anything, FYI, if her GC will be expire before shipping she needs to renew that...

She has her 10 year permanent resident card. And USCIS website says for those getting their naturalization through the military the following: "Have their fingerprints taken at any domestic USCISApplication Support Center (ASC) without an appointment even if theirapplication is not yet pending with USCIS."

if still confuse do not call USCIS call military hotline because according to Military citizenship CO , USCIS is not the one going to approve the citizenship , military CCO will the one ....

one more thing, if she only have extension letter ,, make sure that she going to bring the original letter and GC... and tell her she needs to indeed to those stupid people in reception that extension letter is legit ....

This is why it has been so confusing for me, because everywhere I turn I get different answers.

Edited February 2, 2013 by Brijo

[hellINTIM 9]

can u PM me pls bcoz i shipout last oct 2011. and get citizenship last January 2012. Yes some recruiter didnt know anything about the citizenship through military specially if shes new in recruiting.. if shes in bct right now you dont need to be worry on anything. dont do anything just wait to her call when u need to go there to attend the oath taking. but if she havent ship out yet she needs to talk to the recruiter that process her paper bcoz they should do security clearance before they ship her out unless army is different to air. they should give her a copy on that too its on the paper works that she signed when she joined the service ( that's how we found out too) but im telling you dont listen to USCIS , military citizenship has own rules and process. i get in trouble listening to USCIS ..

[hellINTIM 9]

the security clearance is not only for top secret MOS but you need to get that also if your non-citizen soldier. btw i know this bcoz the FBI agent that interview me told me.

its probably the air guard has different rules or the state but my recruiter didnt know about the FBI also till the FBI agent called me for interviewed. this is just based on experienced and all of us in my batch had the same process too.

i also called my cousin ,his a airman , he said we had the same process too , he had his citizenship before the bct graduation.

I only did finger printing when i did the oath taking to service, while in reception for bct, and biometrics for citizenship ( i am in the training that time ).. do not waste money for finger printing ..........

Edited February 2, 2013 by .MythaG-

[huckerman26 3]

how long the proceess take?

[JoBri 545]

how long the proceess take?

What? You mean to go through naturalization as a member of the military? Well, she was supposed to be able to do it in its entirty while at Air Force Basic Training, and I had everything prepared for her to do that. But when she was in-processing at basic training the person she talked with told her they "dont do that anymore", which was pure ignorance or that person was just plain lazy. As a military recruit you cant do much insisting or questioning of anything. My wife showed that woman all that I instructed for her to show and tell, but in the end she had to say "yes ma'am" and move on. IF they would have done for her as they are supposed to do she would have been able to take her oath when she graduated from Basic Training.

So we had to go with plan B. I submitted her application as soon as she returned home, June 10, and now she has an interview and same day oath ceremony on August 12. So less than 3 months after returning from basic training she will be sworn in as a US citizen.

The military point of contact immigration officer (who will be the same one who interviews her) actually called her on the phone 2 days ago to set up the interview/oath ceremony with her on August 12.