Naturalización militar (INA 328/329/329A - ruta principal)

Escenarios de ejemplo

Los escenarios de ejemplo se muestran en inglés.

• Eligible under INA §328; residence/physical-presence requirements waived; fee-exempt.

  Okoro meets INA §328(a) = 8 U.S.C. §1439(a): an LPR with 1+ year (here 18 months) aggregate honorable service, filing while in service, so the §316 continuous-residence and physical-presence requirements are waived. His DOD-certified N-426 establishes honorable service. He still must show GMC, pass English/civics under §312, and take the §337 oath. The N-400 is fee-exempt for military applicants under 89 FR 6194.

• Eligible, but the residence/presence WAIVER no longer applies; service is credited toward the §316 clock.

  Because Lopez filed more than 6 months after separation, INA §328 no longer waives the §316 continuous-residence/physical-presence requirements; however, his 2 years of honorable service count as residence and physical presence under §328, and his LPR time fills the remainder. He must satisfy GMC, §312, and §337. His N-426 still documents the honorable service that anchors the credit.

• USCIS cannot approve without N-426 certification; remedy lies against DOD to compel certification.

  Under Kirwa v. DOD, 285 F. Supp. 3d 21 (D.D.C. 2017), DOD must certify honorable service on Form N-426 for qualifying Selected-Reserve enlistees, and Samma v. DOD (D.D.C. 2020) vacated DOD's Minimum Service Requirements as arbitrary/capricious. The MAVNI restriction was DOD policy, not a statutory bar (VC-13). Singh's path is intact; the obstacle is DOD's certification, addressable through APA litigation against DOD, after which USCIS can adjudicate the §328 N-400.

• Not eligible under §328 (LPR required); should use the wartime §329 track instead.

  INA §328 requires the applicant to be a lawful permanent resident; it does not waive that prerequisite. Reyes, never an LPR, cannot use §328. However, because he served honorably during the EO-13269-designated period (11 Sep 2001-present), the wartime track INA §329 = 8 U.S.C. §1440 is available — it permits naturalization of non-LPR lawful enlistees with no minimum service and no residence requirement (documented as US-NAT-05).

• Citizenship is exposed to revocation under the §328 service-conditioned ground.

  INA §328(f) (paralleling §329(c)) permits revocation where a person naturalized through military service separates under other-than-honorable conditions before completing 5 years of honorable service. Martins separated other-than-honorably within that window, exposing the naturalization to revocation on this service-specific ground — distinct from ordinary denaturalization under §340 and from voluntary expatriation under §349.

• May complete the entire §328 naturalization abroad under 8 U.S.C. §1443a.

  8 U.S.C. §1443a (eff. 1 Oct 2004) authorizes USCIS to conduct the naturalization process — application, interview, English/civics test, oath, and ceremony — overseas for armed-forces members (and, since 28 Jan 2008, their spouses/children). Adeyemi, an LPR with 1+ year honorable service and a certified N-426, can be naturalized at the U.S. installation/embassy abroad without returning stateside; the §328 residence/presence waivers and the fee exemption apply.