Us Army Recruitment Program For Non-Citizens Of The United States
The US Army Recruiting Program called the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) was introduced in February 2009, to recruit non-citizens of US into the army as healthcare professionals. According to this non-immigrant recruiting program, certain non-citizens who are legally present in the US could join the US army and apply for citizenship directly without having to obtain the lawful permanent resident status beforehand.
This served as a golden chance for temporary immigrants to apply for US citizenship since a green card or the permanent residence permit was not required to enlist in the MAVNI recruitment program. The MAVNI recruitment program allows temporary immigrants who have lived for at least two years in the US to become a member of the US Armed Force.
Prior to February 2009, the categories of persons who could lawfully enlist in the United States Armed Forces, included citizens and non-citizen nationals of the United States, lawful permanent resident aliens, and certain nationals of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Palau. But, in February 2009, the Secretary of Army under the guidance of Secretary of Defense ordered that as the recruitment of foreign healthcare professionals was beneficial to national interest, they should also be recruited to the US Army.
The MAVNI recruitment program seeks doctors and nurses from various fields of medicine, such as Internal Medicine, Dentistry, General Surgery, Veterinary Medicine, Psychiatry, and many more. An essential criterion for enlisting was proficiency in any one of the foreign languages specified by the program. Newly appointed MAVNI members of the US Army have a statutory obligation to serve for eight years just as any other normally recruited member. If such a member does not complete this term, his US citizenship can be revoked.
The US Army Recruitment Program essentially was scheduled to continue till either December 31, 2009 or when it meets its target of new recruitments, whichever happens earlier.
