| Nonimmigrant Physician Becomes American Citizen One Month After Enlistment in US Army |
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| Wednesday, 22 July 2009 | |
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First Nonimmigrant Physician Became American citizen in one month after enlistment in US Army Reserve! It is really true! Dr. Brown (not real name) was the first H-1B physician to skip the green card process and directly from H-1B status to American citizenship less than three months after signing Army Reserve enlistment contract and one month after filing the citizenship application. He enlisted under the pilot Army MAVNI program. This program is an excellent antidote to waiting in the eternal waiting room in the Indian EB2 immigrant visa category particularly USCIS credits the record processing to the close coordination of USCIS and the US Army MAVNI program officials."This ceremony happened in record time because our military liaison team maintained close coordination with the Army and tracked The one-year MAVNI pilot program will allow up to 1,000 non-citizens, who do not have permanent resident status but have been here legally for at least two years, to join the Army if they have the needed medical or foreign language and cultural expertise. While citizenship is not guaranteed, nonimmigrants who apply under the MAVNI pilot program must undergo the same background checks, security screening and meet all of the general qualifications to become citizens of the United States, as do all other members of the U.S. armed forces who apply for citizenship. To get the details, we suggest you listen to an audio seminar featuring Lt. Col. Margaret Stock and Jan Pederson which can be accessed at http://www.usvisainfo.com/content/view/95/72/ Then go to: https://www.goarmy.com/info/form/GetBrcFormRedirectByUrl.do?url=/info/mavni/ and complete the questionnaire. Then a medical recruiter will contact you. Remember that you want to speak only to a MAVNI Medical Recruiter.Important things to remember: 1. You are under no obligation to join the Army by contacting a recruiter. It is important to contact a recruiter immediately if you have any interest at all. 2. It will take several months to complete the screening process. You are under no obligation to enlist until you sign the enlistment contract, which is at the end of the process. 3. You must have held valid H-1B, O-1, J-1, F-1 or other nonimmigrant status (other than B-1 or B-2) status for two years prior to joining. 4. You can keep your current job and join a reserve unit where you live and work. If you want to change jobs, you may transfer to another reserve unit in your new job location. 5. It is seldom that an army reservist physician will be called to active duty and you will not likely be called to active duty while in a residency or fellowship program. 6. Once you sign the enlistment contract and attend two weekend training sessions, you will be given Form N-426. 7. With the N-426, you can apply for citizenship, which is generally granted within six months and most are granted in two months. 8. This makes sense at this time because Indian physicians in the EB2 category have up to a ten to twelve year wait for a green card, unless the laws are changed by Congress. Please contact us if you have questions. We would strongly encourage you to explore this option if you have a priority date after 2005. Good Luck! Pederson Immigration Law Group is available to represent you in the citizenship process and to represent your spouse and children in applying for green cards as the spouse and children of an American citizen, which are not subject to any quotas. |
