Naturalization bash planned for Fort Myer

By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Mar 25, 2007 12:59:39 EDT

Service members applying to become U.S. citizens may want to make plans to raise their right hands June 13 at the government’s biggest military naturalization bash.

Each year around Flag Day, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service co-sponsors a naturalization ceremony with one of the military branches, and the goal is to get as many service members in attendance as possible.

Last year, the USCIS naturalized more than 250 uniformed men and women in Norfolk, Va., aboard the aircraft carrier George Washington.

This year’s event will take place at Fort Myer, Va., with the Army as host; it will mark the first time the ceremony is held in the national capital region.

“We think it’s important to give an opportunity to all of our warriors who are serving this country to become U.S. citizens,” said USCIS spokesman Dan Kane. “It reminds Americans of the contributions that these men and women are making even though they are not Americans yet.”

The June 13 event is open to all service members who are eligible to take the oath of citizenship at that time, but Kane warned service members to work through their chains of command on both the application process and to obtain permission to attend the event.

All immigrants serving in the U.S. military are eligible to file for expedited citizenship and can do so online by going directly to www.uscis.gov/n-400 for the Application for Naturalization.

The service member’s unit is required to have a designated person on staff with knowledge of the application process for non-U.S. citizens.

The completed form should be sent through the U.S. Postal Service to the Nebraska Service Center, which is the only USCIS service center that processes applications from the military. The address is P.O. Box 87426, Lincoln, NE 68501-7426.

“The NSC has been alerted to identify and quickly process all military naturalizations from the capital region of Washington, D.C.,” according to Kane, who said service members who don’t live in the Washington area are also welcome to attend.

All service members applying for citizenship who want to participate in the June 13 event, regardless of where they live, must specify their wishes in a letter included with their packet that states they would “like to be considered for the Fort Myer event,” Kane said, because inclusion in the event is not automatic and expenses are the responsibility of the service member.

Service members who have already applied and are waiting for their naturalization ceremonies may inquire about attending the Fort Myer event by writing a letter to the NSC.

There are 40,000 non-U.S. citizens serving in the U.S. military today and 75 noncitizens killed in Iraq or Afghanistan have been granted citizenship posthumously, according to USCIS data.

Since July 3, 2002, when a presidential executive order granted expedited naturalization privileges to U.S. service members, USCIS has naturalized more than 26,000 service members and more than 35,000 service members have filed for expedited naturalization.

Questions about the application process can be answered by calling the USCIS Customer Service toll-free at 800-375-5283.

More information can be found at www.uscis.gov.

Ellie