Join the US military and get US citizenship in six months

by Sarah C.

Sounds like a cheesy ad, but it isn’t. If you are a in the US on a temporary visa, it could get easier to become a US citizen. Sure you may have to take a trip to Afghanistan or Iraq, but in as little as six months you could be an American. According to this article in yesterday’s New York Times;

Recruiters expect that the temporary immigrants will have more education, foreign language skills and professional expertise than many Americans who enlist, helping the military to fill shortages in medical care, language interpretation and field intelligence analysis.

Sounds like a variant of an H1-B visa. For Africans just dying to jump at the opportunity, wait. Looks like they might be targeting people from the Middle East and surrounding regions.

“The American Army finds itself in a lot of different countries where cultural awareness is critical,” said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, the top recruitment officer for the Army, which is leading the pilot program. “There will be some very talented folks in this group.”

Nothing about whether permanent resident get the same benefit.

About 8,000 permanent immigrants with green cards join the armed forces annually, the Pentagon reports, and about 29,000 foreign-born people currently serving are not American citizens.

So who ARE these temporary immigrants? Here’s a list from the US Dept of State website. Does this mean that we will see more recruiting on campuses – among students with F-1 visas?

Purpose of Travel to U.S. and Nonimmigrant Visas	Visa Type	Required: Before Applying for Visa*
Athletes, amateur & professional (compete for prize money only)	B-1	(NA)
Au pairs (exchange visitor)	J	SEVIS
Australian professional specialty	E-3	DOL
Border Crossing Card: Mexico	BCC	(NA)
Business visitors	B-1	(NA)
Diplomats and foreign government officials	A	(NA)
Domestic employees or nanny -must be accompanying a foreign national employer	B-1	(NA)
Employees of a designated international organization, and NATO	G1-G5, NATO	(NA)
Exchange visitors	J	SEVIS
Foreign military personnel stationed in the U.S.	A-2 NATO1-6	(NA)
Foreign nationals with extraordinary ability in Sciences, Arts, Education, Business or Athletics	O	USCIS
Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Professionals: Chile, Singapore	H-1B1	DOL
International cultural exchange visitors	Q	USCIS
Intra-company transferees	L	USCIS
Medical treatment, visitors for	B-2	(NA)
Media, journalists	I	(NA)
NAFTA professional workers: Mexico, Canada	TN/TD	(NA)
Nurses coming to health professional shortage areas	H1-C	USCIS
Performing athletes, artists, entertainers	P	USCIS
Physician	J, H-1B	SEVIS
Professor, scholar, teacher (exchange visitor)	J	SEVIS
Religious workers	R	(NA)
Specialty occupations in fields requiring highly specialized knowledge	H-1B	DOL then USCIS
Students: academic, vocational	F, M	SEVIS
Temporary agricultural workers	H-2A	DOL then USCIS
Temporary workers performing other services or labor of a temporary or seasonal nature.	H-2B	DOL then USCIS
Tourism, vacation, pleasure visitors	B2	(NA)
Training in a program not primarily for employment	H-3	USCIS
Treaty traders/treaty investors	E	(NA)
Transiting the United States	C	(NA)
Visa Renewals – Available in the U.S.		(NA)

We have closed comments on this post because it seems readers are under the impression that we can connect you with the US military. No we cannot.