Pentagon reopens MAVNI - citizenship through military service

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/28/us...list.html?_r=0


Fill out this questionnnaire and a recruiter will contact you to see if you qualify:
https://my.goarmy.com/info/form/GetB...rl=/info/mavni

whoa!

sneaky sneaky!

Good news. A friend of the family is an engineer from Mexico, and he has, I believe, a tourist visa. He is going to like this.

If we ever get permanent relief, I hope this option is available, so the process of becoming a citizen is shortened.

Tell him not to waste his time applying.



Officials are also looking for native speakers of 44 languages, including Azerbaijani, Cambodian-Khmer, Hausa and Igbo (both spoken in West Africa), Persian Dari (spoken in Afghanistan), Portuguese, and Tamil (spoken in South Asia). Spanish is not on the list of languages.

Well I no longer qualify based on background, besides:
1) DACA is not listed as one of the eligibility categories
2) You need to be legally present in US for at least 2 years prior to applying.

And just like that, you destroyed my dreams...


Nah, I'm just kidding.

It is a drag though. I signed up to show interest though, no harm in that.

I got a response from the Army today and went in to see what they could do for me.


It seemed like the recruiter had no idea what I821D was but had the strangest idea that because I posessed an alien number, that I had to have some sort of valid visa. I reassured him that that is not the case at all. I tried to explain to the recruiter that an alien number is something given to everyone applying for something with USCIS. I stumped the recruiter even harder when I had told him I also had a legitimate social security number. After a few minutes on the computer, he explained to me that he will have to go over it with his superior and will give me a call back later. One of the other guys must've overheard and said, why don't you just get your residency? I replied "Well, it's really a lot harder than it sounds. I do have a valid visa I can obtain back in my country of origin (Mexico), although if I leave the country (USA), I'll be banned for 10 years." They seemed somewhat shocked; as if they've never heard of this before.

It was nice to be considered for once. Although I know I won't be admissable to the armed forces. I made it clear that I do have an interest in joinining and that the matter if gaining legal status is harder than it looks.

Recruiters are not immigration law experts. Even many lawyers are not immigration law experts. Don't rely on recruiters to know whether you are legally able to join the military. Anyone who tries to join the US military today has his or her status checked with DHS, and DHS says whether you are qualified to join or not. Many times a recruiter will say that a person is OK, but DHS will give you a "no go" when the recruiter sends the paperwork to DHS. Currently, DACAs are NOT eligible to enlist in the US military. They could be eligible to enlist if the President would allow it--but so far, the President has not asked the Pentagon to allow DACAs to enlist.

Here is a link to an accurate article on DACAs and military enlistment: http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/poli...XbO/story.html