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The military path towards citizenship

The New York Times recently printed an article that addresses a new path towards citizenship for temporary immigrants through the military. The following article explains it all in detail.

The New York Times
April 2, 2009 Thursday
Late Edition - Final
One Oath Leads To Another

BYLINE: By KIRK SEMPLE

Stephen Chi was born in Norway to Chinese immigrant parents, grew up in Sweden, received undergraduate and graduate degrees at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan, mastered five languages and now works as an information technology consultant in New York City.

But for all the experiences his peripatetic life has given him, it has also left him with a profound sense of rootlessness. So he recently applied to enlist in the United States Army.

''I don't feel like I belong anywhere,'' Mr. Chi, 30, said on Wednesday. ''I wanted to become part of something bigger.''

Until last month, Mr. Chi's application would have been rejected outright because only American citizens and permanent residents -- immigrants who carry green cards -- were permitted to enlist in the American military. But under a new program that began Feb. 23 and is intended to increase the number of highly skilled soldiers, the American military is now allowing some temporary immigrants to enlist.

In a public ceremony in Times Square on Wednesday, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, swore in 16 of those new recruits, including Mr. Chi. The others hailed from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Korea and Sweden.

They gathered outside the recruiting station on the traffic island where Broadway and Seventh Avenue converge, pulled drab olive Army T-shirts over their civilian tops and, shivering against the cold, followed General Casey in a vow of allegiance to the military and to the United States.

''Our diversity only strengthens us,'' General Casey said in an interview with reporters after the ceremony.

The new program, known as Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest, is intended to address shortages among soldiers with medical expertise and foreign language skills. It will be limited to 1,000 enlistees in the first year, most of whom will enter the Army, though the American military command plans to expand it to include other branches and thousands more recruits every year.

It is open to foreigners who have lived legally in the United States for at least two years on temporary visas, including high-skilled employment visas and student visas. Illegal immigrants will continue to be barred from enlisting.

As an enticement, the government is offering an expedited path to citizenship and will waive naturalization fees.

Of 4,833 applicants so far, 52 people have enlisted, including Wednesday's group, while 445 have been disqualified, military officials said.

Of the 52 new enlistees, 11 have master's degrees, 31 have bachelor's degrees and 4 have associate's degrees or the equivalent, officials said. The remaining six are high school graduates.

At least 24 of the soldiers speak Korean, 11 speak Hindi, 9 speak a Chinese dialect, 3 speak Russian, 3 speak Arabic and one speaks Urdu.

The naturalization process for most foreigners on temporary visas can often take more than a decade. But people in the new program will be able to become citizens within six months, officials said. To maintain their citizenship, the enlistees must honorably complete their service, which ranges from two to four years of active duty, plus reserve duty, depending on their specialty.

Many of the new recruits, however, said after the ceremony that while the streamlined citizenship process was very attractive, it had not been the leading factor in their decision.

Indeed, several said they had applied to enlist without even knowing about the new program.

Toniya Mishra, an Indian citizen who holds a master's degree in industrial engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology, said she applied a day before the introduction of the program. She had been laid off from her job at a New Jersey company that makes pharmaceutical software; the firm was cutting staff because of the economic downturn.

Ms. Mishra, 24, said she applied after seeing a job posting on the Internet seeking engineers for the Army, but said she did not expect to receive a call because of her nationality.

Umesh Sharma, 37, who holds a master's degree in international education policy from Harvard, first tried to enlist in 2006 but was rejected because of his Indian citizenship. He reapplied last month when he read about the new program.

Mr. Sharma, who has been working for a private tutoring firm in Virginia, said he was motivated to enlist as a way of helping developing countries in areas like education reform. He enlisted as an infantryman because he wanted ''to be on the front lines and associate with the society, face to face.

''If I'm in the Army, I want to be really involved,'' he added.

Mr. Chi has an additional hurdle to clear: He still has not told his parents that he has joined the Army. ''I guess I have to tell them sometime,'' he said, chuckling uncomfortably at the thought. But he said he did not plan to break the news to them until after he returned from basic training, by which time, he said, he would be on his way in his new career -- ''and it's too late.''