7 votes

Join the military, become a US citizen: Uncle Sam wants you and vous and tu

2 comments

  1. skybrian
    Link
    From the article: [...] [...] [...]

    From the article:

    Struggling to overcome recruiting shortfalls, the Army and the Air Force have bolstered their marketing to entice legal residents to enlist, putting out pamphlets, working social media and broadening their outreach, particularly in inner cities. One key element is the use of recruiters with similar backgrounds to these potential recruits.

    [...]

    The military has had success in recruiting legal immigrants, particularly among those seeking a job, education benefits and training as well as a quick route to becoming an American citizen. But they also require additional security screening and more help filling out forms, particularly those who are less proficient in English.

    Both the Army and the Air Force say they will not meet their recruiting goals this year, and the Navy also expects to fall short. Pulling more from the legal immigrant population may not provide large numbers, but any small boosts will help. The Marine Corp is the only service on pace to meet its goal.

    [...]

    Last October, the Army reestablished a program for legal permanent residents to apply for accelerated naturalization once they get to basic training. Recruiters began to reach out on social media, using short videos in various languages to target the top 10 countries that recruits had come from during the previous year.

    The Air Force effort began this year, and the first group of 14 graduated from basic training and were sworn in as new citizens in April. They included recruits from Cameroon, Jamaica, Kenya, the Philippines, Russia and South Africa. As of mid-May there were about 100 in basic training who had begun the citizenship process and about 40 who had completed it.

    [...]

    Under the new program, recruits are quickly enrolled in the citizenship system and when they start basic training, an expedited process kicks off, including all required paperwork and testing. By the time Air Force recruits finish their seven weeks of training, the process is complete and they are sworn in as American citizens.

    6 votes
  2. bobby_tables
    Link
    Did four years in the USN here, and served with a few foreigners in pursuit of US citizenship. Many countries where the US has overseas bases will negotiate for an annual quota of spots for it's...

    Did four years in the USN here, and served with a few foreigners in pursuit of US citizenship. Many countries where the US has overseas bases will negotiate for an annual quota of spots for it's nationals. Served with a few Spaniards who were particularly motivated to finish with a clean service record. Good guys.

    4 votes