A new law recently enacted adds new immigration benefits for members of the armed forces. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (H.R. 1588), a Department of Defense appropriations bill, became law on November 24, 2003.  Title XVII of the bill outlines the new benefits.

The new legislation amends the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) by reducing the required qualifying service to apply for naturalization from three years to one and exempts visa applicants serving in the military from paying fees associated with immigration, such as application fees and naturalization fees.  The section also adds a provision allowing citizenship granted under the section to be revoked if the immigrant is released from the military “under other than honorable conditions” before he/she has served for five years.

Immigrant members of the armed forces can file their applications, have their interviews, oaths, ceremonies and any other proceedings associated with naturalization through US embassies, consulates and military installations overseas.

The law also has provisions regarding the immigrant spouse, children and parents of a US citizen who died while in the armed forces, and the spouse, children and parents of lawful permanent residents who serve in the military.  The legislation retains the immediate relative status for the immigrant spouse, child, or parent of a US citizen who dies from injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by combat and requires that petitions be filed within two years of the death.

Further, the law states that an application for status adjustment by the immigrant spouse, child, or parent of an immigrant who served in the military who was granted service-related posthumous citizenship may be adjudicated as if the death had not occurred, but the application must be filed prior to the death.  Also, the spouse, child, or parent of a lawful permanent resident who was granted service-related posthumous citizenship is considered as a valid petitioner for immediate family status if the petition was filed within two years of the death.  Additionally, these immigrant relatives may apply for permanent resident status adjustment.

These amendments to the INA take effect as if they were enacted on September 11, 2001, except for the amendments regarding naturalization fees and overseas naturalization proceedings, which take effect on October 1, 2004.