Question: Many Have Served US Military Non-US Citizens- Does Not Being A US Citizen At Time Of Discharge Affect Their Disability Benefits?

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Former MiTT Team Leader

Former MiTT Team Leader

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ALL- many have served with non-Us Citizens, during their time in US Military, and most have performed outstanding, however question is, does not becoming a US Citizen by time of their honorable discharge affect in any way their US Military-US VA disability or are they entitled to it if have not become US Citizens by time of honorable discharge from US Military?

A vet, looked extensively on internet trying to find this answer but simply could not, but found some of the following that may be of interest, for information and example only:

- https://www.congress.gov/115/bills/hr2810/BILLS-115hr2810enr.pdf (Simply one could not find anything clarifying in here, but perhaps overlooked when scanned through...???)

- Can I Recieve Disability Benefits if I am not a US Citizen?

- U.S. Citizenship Rights for U.S. Military Personnel and Veterans

- Immigrants And Non-Citizens Serving In The U.S.Military

- Immigrants in the U.S. military: 8 rules on non-citizen service

- Do You Have to Give Up Dual Citizenship in the US Military?

The above web-sites are in fact pretty informative, however did not address the specific question...unless of course overlooked by one?????

Interestingly, and may assist some non-US Citizens serving armed services, is their is a huge amount of information out their various media to assist in passing the US Immigration teats, such as the below google web-search, for example and information only:

- youtube +US citizenship test - Google Search

Furthermore, numerous book sellers have US Citizenship study guides..........and other material....

Finally, out of sheer curiosity an local vet took US Citizenship practice test without studying, to see how they themselves would perform- so to speak "cold-turkey" results were interesting, and would perhaps encourage others do same see were they stack up with knowledge US Immigrants required to know.....might prove interesting??????

Anyway, one also searched PEB Forum, for answer about non-US Citizens and their disability rights after honorable service, and could not find anything......perhaps, one missed once again, or if did not perhaps a Super Moderator could answer this question, simply out of hand?????

Thanks, as usual, and hope this helps at least one vet served honorably with their in quest US Citizenship.....???????

PS: In all the Congressional Mandated training US Military Officer's and Senior NCO's undergo(?), some have perhaps never been through any training that would perhaps better assist those non-US Citizen's enlisted in US Armed Services, within their commands (Squad, Team, Platoon, Company, BN....), in gaining their US citizenship nor what potentially they are entitled to, as well as their families/survivors, far as "benefits" upon completion of a stint of honorable US Military Service or worse and perhaps not having become a US Citizen by that juncture in time......???

Per one web-articles listed above "8000 (+/-)", if memory serves, non-US Citizens "serve-enlist" in US Armed Services every year......????

As usual could be wrong...and if so hopefully Super Moderator will correct me.....for as far as one can tell this is at best, a pretty complex issue or maybe not.....??????
 
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Perci75-euphonix- thanks for input, however what are hard and fast rules, all this as per, and for example only the following web-site:

- U.S. Citizenship Rights for U.S. Military Personnel and Veterans Below in bold "Italics" cited directly from listed web-site:

"If you have already been discharged from the military, the discharge must have been honorable, and you'll need to hurry to use this exception: If more than six months pass after your discharge and before you file your application for naturalization, you'll be back to following the five-year rule that applies to civilian applicants. But see the next section of this article, which may help you if you served during wartime. (The above exception comes from the Immigration and Nationality Act at I.N.A. section 328 or 8 U.S.C. section 1439.)"

"For anyone who thinks they've spotted a loophole allowing someone to sign up for the U.S. military, serve for only a day or two, and walk away as a U.S. citizen, we've got bad news. For one thing, USCIS will wait until the new recruit is done with basic training to complete the citizenship application process. More importantly, you'll need to honorably complete your term of military service in order to hold onto U.S. citizenship gained in this way. If you don't, your U.S. citizenship will be taken away."

Furthermore, per following listed web-site, for example only: Do You Have to Give Up Dual Citizenship in the US Military? (below in bold "italics" copied-cited directly from listed article..) Following up- euphonix

"High Security Clearance However, if the military job which the recruit is applying for requires a "Secret" security clearance level, a dual citizenship can be a serious obstacle. These are individuals who will be dealing with information that can harm United States interests if leaked into the wrong hands. Consequently, the investigation scrutinizes the potential recruit's background more closely. Depending on the job, the dual citizen might have to renounce his non-U.S. citizenship. It is also possible that the very existence of the alternate citizenship in the first place will disqualify him from getting a security clearance for a particular job.
Officers Unlike enlisted personnel, officers in the United States military must be U.S. citizens and U.S. citizens alone. If an officer candidate has a dual citizenship, then he must renounce it in order to receive an officer's commission. Furthermore, all United States military officers must be able to receive a "Secret" security clearance level. Depending on the country from which the prospective officer candidate has his other citizenship, and his previous visitation and involvement with that country, the individual may be unable to receive a security clearance even if they are willing to renounce their foreign citizenship."

The above is in fact interesting, as many probably do not know, but most people working at the US Dept. Veteran Affairs must, also, have some level of US Security Clearance, and wonder what standard applies to all the non-native US employees at the US VA same or similar....as US Military??????

Perci75-[B]euphonix[/B]- as one can hopefully see this is not such a clear-cut issue, that I believe should be required training at some point at least US Military Officers, to assist those in their commands like Perci75- British soldier for example, whom served honorably and hopefully with distinction as many do.....to better assist them with this entire process of US Citizenship and making sure they or their families or survivors receive benefits may be entitled to upon successful and honorable discharge US Military service.... as one simply cannot find one all encompassing article on or about all the rules, regulations, and requirements for this... and would think, most would agree those non-US Citizens served US Military honorably should be a priority for US Citizenship and other benefits....perhaps?????

Hopefully...a SuperModerator can clarify...????

(PS: still having issues this web-site...)
 
Former MiTT Team Leader said:
The above is in fact interesting, as many probably do not know, but most people working at the US Dept. Veteran Affairs must, also, have some level of US Security Clearance, and wonder what standard applies to all the non-native US employees at the US VA same or similar....as US Military??????
Click to expand...

euphonix - thought would follow up a little story, was told by local veteran Gulf Coast VA/VISN 16- apparently per vet- US VA employees have stated that it is possible to have a "criminal background" and after a certain time period be cleared to work at the US Department of Veterans Affairs., supposedly. They found this odd, supposedly, as whilst on active duty- supposedly with Chain of Command backing, could not get a "good" enlisted solider "cleared" because they had a "misdemeanor" in their record.....allegedly...????

Realizing, things change - such as times of combat-War- and needs of US Military superseded or take precedence over host lot of other things, if above true.... is that somewhat not indicative of a "standards" issue...as how many US DVA Employees actually deploy to a combat environment, even for just purely "observational" reasons....or even attend a live-fire "CAPEX" for that matter...as one example only????? [As an aside, how hard would it be to send say Gulf Coast VA/VISN16 Mental Health Providers, for example only, to the famed Joint Readiness Training Center's - JRTC- renowned "Live Fire Division" at Fort Polk Louisiana, near Alexandria LA VA, when a CAB rotating through, to get a sense of what fire-and maneuver is actually all about....under simulated real world conditions...that would probably be a "filed trip" US VA TDY experience soon not forget and place host of things in context that soldiers talk about and actually experience...perhaps????]

euphonix- thought might find interesting, in light og your Post # 3 above......????

Anyway- hopefully a SuperModerator, can clarify most of rules and regulations regarding non-US citizen soldiers whom served honorably and covering benefits they and their survivors are entitled to as well as US Citizenship process for them and their dependents-survivors.

Thanks all.....could be wrong as always...???

(PS: Still issues this web-site...)
 
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Former MiTT Team Leader said:
euphonix - thought would follow up a little story, was told by local veteran Gulf Coast VA/VISN 16- apparently per vet- US VA employees have stated that it is possible to have a "criminal background" and after a certain time period be cleared to work at the US Department of Veterans Affairs., supposedly. They found this odd, supposedly, as whilst on active duty- supposedly with Chain of Command backing, could not get a "good" enlisted solider "cleared" because they had a "misdemeanor" in their record.....allegedly...????

Realizing, things change - such as times of combat-War- and needs of US Military superseded or take precedence over host lot of other things, if above true.... is that somewhat not indicative of a "standards" issue...as how many US DVA Employees actually deploy to a combat environment, even for just purely "observational" reasons....or even attend a live-fire "CAPEX" for that matter...as one example only????? [As an aside, how hard would it be to send say Gulf Coast VA/VISN16 Mental Health Providers, for example only, to the famed Joint Readiness Training Center's - JRTC- renowned "Live Fire Division" at Fort Polk Louisiana, near Alexandria LA VA, when a CAB rotating through, to get a sense of what fire-and maneuver is actually all about....under simulated real world conditions...that would probably be a "filed trip" US VA TDY experience soon not forget and place host of things in context that soldiers talk about and actually experience...perhaps????]

euphonix- thought might find interesting, in light og your Post # 3 above......????

Anyway- hopefully a SuperModerator, can clarify most of rules and regulations regarding non-US citizen soldiers whom served honorably and covering benefits they and their survivors are entitled to as well as US Citizenship process for them and their dependents-survivors.

Thanks all.....could be wrong as always...???

(PS: Still issues this web-site...)
Click to expand...
People who work for the VA do not have security clearances, they have standard background checks to be issued PIV cards, if they are in a position that requires access to PII, they are given a public trust "clearance" which is not a security clearance. I've had both when working for the VA and the DoD, the background checks are completely different. VA employees fill out SF-85's while those who get confidential and above clearances fill out SF-86's for their investigations.
 
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