Military Accessions Vital to the National · PDF fileMilitary Accessions Vital to the National Interest ... ･Albanian ･Amharic ･Arabic ･Azerbaijani ･Bengali ... MAVNI enlistment

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THERE’S STRONG, AND THEN THERE’S ARMY STRONG! 1-800-USA-ARMY • goarmy.com12/1/2009 10:35 AM 1

MAVNI Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest

Margaret Stock, LTC, MP, USAR

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OVERVIEW

BLUF: MAVNI provides recruits with critical, vital skills in language, culture, and health care

DoD Guidelines• Enlist legal non-green card holders in the US (asylee,

refugee, work/student status)• Minimum two years residence in US – most have more

Army Guidelines• Minimum high school diploma• Military entrance test scores in top 50%• No conduct waivers

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Categories of People Living in US

• Native born citizens• Naturalized citizens• Nationals• Green Card Holders------------------------------------------------------------------

• Non-immigrant legal aliens, refugees, asylees, Temporary Protected Status

• Unauthorized aliens – NOT eligible

Recruiting pool in peacetime

MAVNI recruiting pool

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THERE’S STRONG, AND THEN THERE’S ARMY STRONG! 1-800-USA-ARMY • goarmy.com

From “Alien” to “Citizen”“Alien”

Non-immigrant

Immigrant (CPR/LPR)

Citizen

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From “Alien” to “Citizen”“Alien”

Non-immigrant

Immigrant (CPR/LPR)

Citizen

5-15 years

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Dysfunction & Difficulty

• “I’ve been waiting, law-abiding, tax paying . . . How long is long enough?”– Dr. Sridhar Narra, a physician born in India,

commenting on his eight-year effort to obtain a “green card,” which has included a two-year separation from his wife

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From “Alien” to “Citizen”:The Wartime Military Exception

“Alien”

(Legal or Illegal)

Citizen

> 6 months

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8 U.S.C. § 1440

“Any person who, while an alien or a noncitizen national of the United States, has served honorably in an active-duty status . . . during any [] period which the President by Executive order shall designate as a period in which Armed Forces of the United States are or were engaged in military operations involving armed conflict with a hostile foreign force, and who, if separated from such service, was separated under honorable conditions, may be naturalized. . . whether or not he has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.”

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Ex. Or. No. 13,269 of July 3, 2002, 67 Fed.Reg. 45, 287 (July 8, 2002)

• By the authority vested in me as President . . . it is hereby ordered as follows:

• . . . I designate as a period in which the Armed Forces of the United States were engaged in armed conflict with a hostile foreign force the period beginning on September 11, 2001. Such period will be deemed to terminate on a date designated by future Executive Order. Those persons serving honorably in active-duty status in the Armed Forces of the United States, during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and terminating on the date to be so designated, are eligible for naturalization . . .

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10 USC §504 (2006)

(1) A person may be enlisted in any armed force only if the person is one of the following:(A) A national of the United States . . .

(B) An alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence . . .(C) A person described in . . . one of the following compacts:

(i) The Compact of Free Association between the Federated States of Micronesia and the United States . . .

(ii) The Compact of Free Association between the Republic of theMarshall Islands and the United States . . .

(iii) The Compact of Free Association between Palau and the United States . . .

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the Secretary concerned may authorize the enlistment of a person not described in paragraph (1) if the Secretary determines that such enlistment is vital to the national interest.

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Precedent

• Since 1775, non-citizens have served in the Army• WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam --we did not limit service of non-

citizens only to green card holders• Over time, green card pool has remained relatively flat; legal

non-green card pool has grown• Green card limitation unnecessary when 8 USC 1440 allows

for naturalization without green card status• Current conflict needs high quality, multi-lingual, culturally

and ethnically diverse soldiers

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Discharge Issues

“. . . The executive department under which such person served shall determine whether persons have served honorably in an active-duty status, and whether separation from such service was under honorable conditions: Provided, however, That no person who is or has been separated from such service on account of alienage, or who was a conscientious objector who performed no military, air, or naval duty whatever or refused to wear the uniform, shall be regarded as having served honorably or having been separated under honorable conditions for the purposes of this section . . . .

Citizenship granted pursuant to this section may be revoked . . . if the person is separated from the Armed Forces under other than honorable conditions before the person has served honorably for a period or periods aggregating five years. . . .”

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MAVNI – Win Win

• LAW: No new legislation required

• CITIZENSHIP CAN BE EXPEDITED: MAVNI can only be offered while Executive Order is in effect stating US “engaged in armed conflict with a hostile foreign force”

• INCENTIVE FOR APPLICANT: DOD is the only federal agency that can hire non-citizens and facilitate expedited naturalization

• BENEFITS THE US: Future flow of high-quality federal employees with proven track record and clearances is vital to the national interest

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MAVNI Pilot Program

• SD authorized pilot program 25 Nov 08 – expires 31 Dec 09 –OR-– when allocated spaces are filled, whichever comes first– unless extended by SD

• SD allocated 1000 spaces across the Services, 890 for Army– 333 Health Care Professionals (HCP) - officers– 557 Language/Culture skills – enlisted members

• MAVNI accessions must be “vital to the national interest”– Enlisted: MAVNIs provide expertise in native-level language and cultural skills– Officers (HCP): Address shortfalls in needed specialties

• Army launched 23 Feb 09

FROM THE START MAVNI WAS FOR HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS & ENLISTED W/LANGUAGE SKILLS

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MAVNI statuses

1. The applicant must be in one of the following categories at timeof enlistment:

a. asylee, refugee, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), orb. nonimmigrant categories E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, O, P, Q, R, S, T, TC, TD,

TN, U, or V 2. The applicant must have been in valid status in one of those

categories for at least two years immediately prior to the enlistment date, but it does not have to be the same category asthe one held on the date of enlistment; and

3. An applicant who may be eligible on the basis of a nonimmigrant category at time of enlistment (see 1b above) must not have had any single absence from the United States of more than 90 days during the two year period immediately preceding the date of enlistment.

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MAVNI qualifications

• Either a Health Care Professional, or• Proficient in one of these languages:･ Albanian ･ Amharic ･ Arabic ･ Azerbaijani ･ Bengali ･ Burmese

･ Cambodian-Khmer ･ Chinese ･ Czech ･ Hausa ･ Hindi ･Hungarian ･ Igbo ･ Indonesian ･ Korean ･ Kurdish ･ Lao ･Malay ･ Malayalam ･ Moro [Tausug/Maranao/Maguindanao] ･Nepalese ･ Persian [Dari & Farsi] ･ Polish ･ Punjabi ･ Pushtu (a/k/a Pashto) ･ Russian ･ Sindhi ･ Sinhalese ･ Somali ･Swahili ･ Tamil ･ Turkish ･ Turkmen ･ Urdu ･ Yoruba

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MAVNI Status Report

GEN Casey Swears In First Group of MAVNIs

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Army MAVNI Update as of 23 Oct 09

ENLISTED

• 13,000+ Leads• 512 Contracted• 238 Shipped• Very low loss rate• AFQT average score = 79• Most Common AFQT = 96• 72% have minimum Bachelor’s

Degree• 58% have OPI of 3/3 or better• 1/3 of the Army’s master’s

degrees this FY

HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS

• 2500+ Leads• 57 Contracted• 57 Shipped• 0 DEP Loss• 200+ applications under review

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MAVNI Term of Service & Other Issues

• Language enlistees: Must enlist for 4 years of active duty (plus 4 years in the Reserve)

• HCPs: Must enlist for 3 years of active duty (5 years in the Reserve) or 6 years in the Selected Reserve (2 years in the Reserve)

• Eligible to apply for citizenship immediately upon enlistment

• Citizenship can be revoked if the enlistee fails to serve honorably for five years

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SEVIS Reporting of MAVNIs

• Encourage recruits to maintain status as long as possible• Terminate SEVIS record (if the student has not completed program) within

30 days of the session start date in which the student cannot enroll, or within 21 days of the date in the middle of a term upon which he/she can no longer maintain student status

• If a dependent, terminate in SEVIS for reason of "Other”• If the student has notified a DSO of his/her enlistment & departure, the

termination reason should be "Authorized Early Withdrawal." If not, the termination reason should be "Otherwise Failing to Maintain Status.”

• In the Remarks section of the Form I-20, state: Student/dependent has maintained status up to the present time; is being terminated because of MAVNI enlistment in the US Army; date on which he/she must report, if known

• There is a period of lapsed status between the termination of the SEVIS record and the filing of the Form N-400, Application for Naturalization

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Fort Sill, OK on 23 Oct 09

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CONTACT

• Margaret [email protected]

907-242-5800

• ASA (M&RA) – Naomi [email protected]

703-693-2456

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Documents

Military Accessions Vital to the National · PDF fileMilitary Accessions Vital to the National Interest ... ･Albanian ･Amharic ･Arabic ･Azerbaijani ･Bengali ... MAVNI enlistment