February 26, 2009

New Non-Citizen Military Recruitment Pilot Program

On November 25, 2008 the Department of Defense announced that it has authorized the military services to implement a new non-citizen recruitment pilot program. The program will temporarily permit enlistment of certain non-citizens with critical skills who are legally present in the United States. The pilot program titled “Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest” (MAVNI), will seek to recruit health care professionals and persons who speak certain strategic languages. The program will run from February 23, 2009 to December 31, 2009 with a goal to recruit up to 1,000 people. Thus the program will end on December 31, 2009 or when the first 1000 qualified non-citizens are recruited, whichever comes first. Enlisted individuals can then immediately apply for U.S. citizenship without first obtaining lawful permanent residence.

The US Army MAVNI recruitment program began on February 23, 2009. Qualified individuals enlisting on the basis of their language skills will be recruited in New York City while health care professionals are recruited nationwide. As part of the recruitment requirements all Army recruits must pass an English test and score 50 or higher on the Armed Forces Qualification Test. Thus, these recruits will be required to meet higher standards than US citizen recruits. Those MAVNI recruits who seek to enlist on the basis of their foreign language proficiency skills will be tested on their proficiency. The Army has been given the task of recruiting 890 of the allocated slots. Among those 890 slots, 333 have been reserved for health care professionals, and 557 for persons who demonstrate proficiency in the listed languages. The Navy and Marine Corps are also reportedly planning to implement the pilot program but have not yet publicly announced any details.

Key Features of the Program

1. Expands the category of eligible non-citizens who can enlist. The MAVNI program expands the categories of persons who can lawfully enlist. Therefore anyone who currently holds asylee, refugee, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), or one of the numerous non-immigrant statuses (E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, O, P, Q, R, S, T, TC, TD, TN, U, or V) may be eligible. It is important that the non-citizen must have held one of those legal statuses for at least two years (Note: changing statuses between the above mentioned nonimmigrant visa categories during the two-year period will not bar enlistment). In addition, if the person holds a non-immigrant status mentioned above then, he or she cannot have had a single absence from the United States of more than 90 days in the past two years (seems like multiple absences are ok as long as no single trip exceeded 90 days). Persons whose status is not listed in the eligible categories cannot enlist under this pilot program. Thus, those holding B visa or other visitor status—including those who entered on the Visa Waiver Program—are not eligible. Asylum applicants are not eligible, although once they have been granted asylum, they may become eligible.

2. Unauthorized or undocumented immigrants cannot enlist. The MAVNI program is not open to unauthorized or undocumented immigrants. It also does not permit the enlistment of individuals who have overstayed their visa or have fallen out of status. Furthermore, no one with a criminal record is eligible under this program.

3. The program is not designed for anyone outside the US that wishes to enlist.

4. Persons who enlist under MAVNI program can apply for US Citizenship immediately (even if they do not have lawful permanent resident status).

5. Persons who enlist will be fingerprinted and screened. Persons enlisting are required to provide documents to prove he or she is in the United States legally and that they meet the immigration eligibility criteria. The documents are cross-checked with the Department of Homeland Security database through a newly established procedure to verify their validity. All recruits are also fingerprinted and their background checked. In some cases applicants may be asked to undergo additional security screening before being permitted to enlist.

6. Health care professionals can go on active duty or join the reserve; Language enlistees must sign a four-year active duty enlistment contract. Language recruits must enlist for a minimum four-year contractual active duty tour, but health care professionals have a choice of a three-year contractual active duty tour, or six years in the selected reserve. A contractual obligation to serve exists when a person voluntarily signs an enlistment agreement. In addition to the contractual obligation, all persons who join the US Army (including US citizens) are subject to an eight-year statutory military service obligation that requires them to remain on the military rolls for eight years total, even if they are no longer on active duty or in a selected reserve unit. After completing the minimum contractual enlistment period, MAVNI enlistees (like all other military personnel) may serve any remaining statutory military service obligation in the selected reserve, inactive national guard, or individual ready reserve. The eight-year statutory obligation applies to MAVNI candidates just as it does to every other person who joins the US military.

7. Credentialing process for foreign educated health care professionals. Health care professionals who seek the three-year active duty tour or service in the selected reserve must enlist specifically as doctors or nurses; they need not have any specialized language skills, but they must meet the Army’s stringent credentialing requirements. For most foreign-educated but US-licensed doctors, the credentialing process may pose few obstacles because they likely have already met the Army’s stringent requirements. It is however different for nurses. Because the Army Nurse Corps requires its nurses to have obtained a degree from an American nursing school most US-licensed foreign nurses are not eligible for commissioning in the Army Nurse Corps. US-licensed nurses who do not have an American degree, but who would like to become Army nurses, can choose to (1) enroll at their own expense in an American nursing program that will give them the required American degree, or (2) enlist in the Army under the MAVNI language specialist option—if they possess the necessary language skills—and choose any available military occupational specialties. Later, they may become Army nurses by applying to Army educational programs that will allow them to obtain the required American degree

7. Language enlistees are eligible for more than eighty jobs; Health care professionals will be recruited for specific specialties. Under the MAVNI program eighty-three military occupational specialties are listed. While US citizens are eligible to enlist in any specialty, non-citizens are not permitted to enlist in ones that requires a security clearance. The available specialties include Interpreter/Translator Aide; Infantry; Cavalry Scout; many Combat Engineer jobs such as Construction Equipment Operator, Plumber, and Firefighter; and numerous medical jobs, such as Operating Room Specialist, Dental Specialist, Pharmacy Specialist, and Preventive Medicine Specialist. Some of the specialties may not be available when an applicant enlists because the quota for those specialties may have already been filled. If this happens, the enlistee would be asked to choose a different specialty. Once a MAVNI enlistee becomes a US citizen, he or she can apply to re-classify into a different military specialty, including one that requires a security clearance. They can also later apply to become an officer upon obtaining US citizenship.

8. Citizenship can be revoked if an enlistee fails to complete his or her enlistment. MAVNI enlistees are not eligible for US citizenship under the regular naturalization statute because they do not have Lawful Permanent Residence (LPR) status. They are only eligible to apply for US citizenship under the wartime military naturalization statute. This statute allows for revocation of US citizenship if the enlistee does not complete five years of honorable military service. Thus, MAVNI applicants who enlist for a three or four-year active duty term must also complete at least one or two years of honorable service in the individual ready reserve, or they may face revocation of their citizenship.

Interested Persons Can Find More Information on the “Go Army” Website. The Army has established two special websites for non-citizens who are interested in finding out more about the MAVNI pilot program. The links are: http://www.goarmy.com/info/mavni (for persons with language skills); http://www.goarmy.com/info/mavni/healthcare (for healthcare professionals).