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Legislation
Easing
Path to Citizenship for “Green Card
Soldiers”
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The Issue
More than 60,000 immigrants are
currently on active duty in our nation’s armed forces, and a little more than
half of them are not yet citizens. Over 20% of all Medal of Honor recipients
were immigrants, and immigrants have been among the casualties and prisoners in
the war in Iraq. Congress has sought to recognize the contributions of these
“green card soldiers” by making U.S. citizenship a more attainable goal:
reducing the time legal permanent residents serving in the military must wait to
become eligible for naturalization, and removing financial and logistical
barriers that impede their ability to complete the application process while
stationed outside of the U.S.
The
Legislation
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H.R. 1588, the Armed
Forces Naturalization Act, passed as Title XVII of the National Defense
Authorization Act (Public
Law 108-136).
Among other things, this new law
makes permanent residents eligible for citizenship after serving one year in the
military; waives fees for citizenship applicants in the armed forces; provides
for overseas swearing-in ceremonies for those on active duty; and preserves
immediate relative status for immigrant spouses, children and parents of
citizens killed in action, and for permanent residents who are killed and
granted posthumous citizenship.
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