Thread: MAVNI updates
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#639
01-27-2018, 05:25 PM
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Joined in Dec 2012
31 posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by unthinkable View Post
There will be no legal repercussions PERIOD. It won't even go on your records to begin with.
Unless you are a lawyer and an expert in military personnel issues, you should not assure people that there are "no legal repercussions PERIOD." I have run into several MAVNI Reservists who quit the program before getting their US citizenship. What were the repercussions? An uncharacterized, entry level discharge; no citizenship; a permanent Federal record that says they were in the Army Reserve and they asked to be discharged before going to basic training; the need to explain what happened on all future immigration paperwork (yes, every single US Government immigration form asks about military service--go read the I-485 on the USCIS website). It's unlikely that the military will "go after" you for quitting (it's not worth their time) but there are "repercussions" in that you will have to explain yourself for the rest of your natural life. The DACA "fix" that legislators are discussing may also exclude people who asked to be discharged from the military. Even if it does not exclude such people, all of the proposed "fixes" do not provide a green card or citizenship as fast as the MAVNI program, with all its flaws. Finally, if your unit codes your discharge as "on account of alienage" (being foreign), you may be permanently ineligible for US citizenship and you may not be able to get a green card (under current law). They've tricked a few MAVNIs with "voluntary" "alienage" discharges that make the MAVNIs permanently ineligible for immigration benefits. Go read the new I-485 carefully and you will see the potential "legal repercussions" of asking to be discharged.
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