MAVNI's Open - Page 2

There's a MAVNI Facebook page, mostly populated by legal immigrants trying to enlist under MAVNI. The people there report that piles of MAVNI enlistment contracts have been cancelled because people who enlisted subsequently failed the SSBI for such things as a bad credit report, relatives who are unauthorized immigrants, working unlawfully, or using a bad Social Security number. One person had her enlistment contract cancelled because she used her own SSN to make a banking transaction for someone else who didn't have one. She wasn't charged with any crime but the Army cancelled her enlistment contract a few weeks before she shipped out to basic training.

You don't "get your status changed." You get US citizenship within a few months. Not a green card--US citizenship.

More or less. Are you expected to have your citizenship sorted our before you leave Basic Training.

If someone could please clarify, isn't the MAVNI program only for active duty enlistment? or do they have an option for reserves enlistments (assuming one is qualified in all other ways)

Teach for America is also open to DACA folks

Last year (FY2014) they opened up a few reserve spots for the language program. It remains as such, of course, reserve spots are the first to go since you do basic training and mostly continue civilian life unless they'll require you.

The medical part of the program always had reserve slots.

Who cares?

It is. But you have to teach in underprivileged schools for a certain amount of years and it will not change your status (as in the case of MAVNI, for obvious reasons).

Not a bad route if you want to teach however, and have not taken any college courses for it or do not hold the certifications.

You are naturalized under section 329 of INA after you complete basic training and are sworn in. You jump straight to being a US citizen. Every MAVNI applicant is required to apply for expedited naturalization. The naturalization fee is waived.

Normal restrictions do not apply to section 329 naturalization. You do not need a green card. You do not need to hold it for 3 or 5 years (if you have one). You do not need to have conditions removed if you're a conditional permanent resident. You do not need to be over 18 (though you need to be over 18 to enlist regardless). There is no minimal service length under section 329.

While in Basic Training you're still technically under DACA or No Status (depending whether or not you want to count DACA as a status). You are not a US citizen until you have your ceremony.

If you quit during basic training, you don't get anything.
If you get kicked out during basic training for any reason, you don't get anything.
If you are dishonorably discharged, or otherwise quit before doing all the years you signed up for, you lose your citizenship and go back to being illegal, expect removal proceedings to follow.


If you are discharged due to no fault of your own (family reasons, military cuts, injuries, illness) before the 4 years they will NOT take your citizenship away. Unlike USCIS the military actually interprets laws in manners that make sense.

Some corrections to what you posted: You can enlist at age 17 with your parents' permission; you can also be naturalized at age 17 if you are in the military (active or Selected Reserve). If you are discharged early, DHS makes the decision whether to take away your US citizenship--not the Army. You must serve five (5) years honorably in order to keep your citizenship--that's in the statute. MAVNI only requires four years of active service, but keeping your citizenship requires five years of honorable service in any component (active or Reserve). So if you don't trust USCIS or DHS to make the right decision, joining the military may not be for you.

Also, some recruiters are telling applicants to send their parents out of the US so that the applicants can enlist (the military is still denying enlistment to people with undocumented parents, spouses, and children). If you send your parents out of the US, they may not get back for ten years or more. Parents can't currently get a waiver of the unlawful presence bars based on having a son or daughter who is a US citizen in the military. Recruiters don't know anything about immigration law and shouldn't be giving legal advice, but unfortunately they do this.