Военное время/посмертно военный сек. 329/сек. 329A (назначенный период EO 13269)

INA sec. 329 = 8 USC sec. 1440 makes a person eligible for naturalization if they served honorably in an active-duty status (or as a member of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve) in the U.S. armed forces during a period of military hostilities designated by the President by Executive Order, and, at the time of enlistment/induction/re-enlistment/extension, were physically present in the United States, the Canal Zone, American Samoa, Swains Island, or a qualifying location, OR are otherwise lawfully present. Critically, sec. 329 imposes NO minimum length of service and waives the continuous-residence and physical-presence requirements that apply to civilian (sec. 316) and peacetime-military (sec. 328) naturalization. The applicant must still establish good moral character, attachment to the Constitution, and take the oath (sec. 337), and must not be barred (e.g., by the totalitarian/subversive bars or a disqualifying record). A person who has been a member of, or served honorably during a designated period, may naturalize even if they have separated, provided service was honorable.

The defining feature of sec. 329 is the absence of the residence and physical-presence requirements that constrain other naturalization routes. Unlike INA sec. 316 = 8 USC sec. 1427 (five years continuous residence as an LPR plus 30 months physical presence) and unlike even INA sec. 328 = 8 USC sec. 1439 (one year of honorable service, with residence/physical-presence waivers tied to filing while in service or within six months of separation), sec. 329 imposes NO minimum period of service and NO continuous-residence or physical-presence quantum at all: a single day of honorable active-duty service during a designated period of hostilities can suffice for eligibility. Nor must the applicant be a lawful permanent resident in every case (sec. 329(b)), distinguishing this route from the LPR-prerequisite of INA sec. 318 = 8 USC sec. 1429. What the applicant must show instead is honorable service within an in-force Presidential designation (EO 13269), good moral character, and attachment to the Constitution. This makes sec. 329 the single most accelerated naturalization route in U.S. law.

The military-naturalization document set centers on two forms plus service records. Form N-400 (Application for Naturalization), filed designating the sec. 329 military basis, is the application; military applicants are fee-exempt. Form N-426 (Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service) is indispensable: it must be certified by the Department of Defense to establish that the applicant's service was, or is, honorable — the certification the Kirwa court compelled DOD to provide promptly. Supporting evidence includes the service member's enlistment/active-duty records and any discharge documentation (DD Form 214) where separated. For overseas processing under 8 USC sec. 1443a, the interview and oath may occur at a U.S. embassy, consulate, or military installation abroad. For posthumous naturalization under sec. 329A, the next of kin (or an authorized service representative) files the application within two years of death, with proof of honorable service and that the death resulted from a service-connected injury or disease. The oath under INA sec. 337 = 8 USC sec. 1448 completes a living applicant's naturalization.

The sec. 329 process is military-expedited. The service member files Form N-400 (Application for Naturalization) designating the military basis, together with Form N-426 (Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service), which the Department of Defense must certify to establish honorable service — the certification the Kirwa litigation forced DOD to provide on a reasonable timeline. USCIS coordinates fingerprinting/background checks (often expedited for deployed members), conducts the naturalization interview (which may occur on base or, under 8 USC sec. 1443a, at a U.S. embassy/consulate or military installation abroad), administers the English and civics tests and the good-moral-character review, and, on approval, administers the oath of allegiance under INA sec. 337 = 8 USC sec. 1448 (which can be expedited and administered overseas for military applicants). No filing fee applies to military naturalization applicants. For posthumous naturalization under sec. 329A, the procedure is a next-of-kin (or service representative) application within two years of death, supported by proof of honorable service and that death resulted from service-connected injury or disease.

Sec. 329 naturalization is designed to be expedited, though actual timing depends on DOD certification and security checks. There is no fixed statutory adjudication deadline; the LIVE authority for current adjudication times is the USCIS processing-times tool at egov.uscis.gov/processing-times (filter Form N-400 / military channel), which must be consulted at filing because published figures change frequently. The statutory decision framework is INA sec. 336(b) = 8 USC sec. 1447(b), allowing district-court intervention if USCIS does not decide within 120 days of the examination. With no residence or physical-presence period to satisfy, the principal time drivers are (1) DOD certification of honorable service on Form N-426 — the step the Kirwa/Nio litigation targeted when delays and the 'Military Service Suitability Determination' regime stalled MAVNI cases — and (2) USCIS background/security checks, which can be expedited for deployed members. When certification and checks proceed normally, military naturalization can complete materially faster than the civilian range, and oaths are frequently administered at expedited or overseas ceremonies (8 USC sec. 1443a). For posthumous sec. 329A cases the controlling deadline is on the applicant side: the next-of-kin application must be filed within two years of the service member's death. All published timeframes are USCIS estimates, not guarantees; as of 2026-06-01, verify current figures at the USCIS tool.

Military naturalization applicants under INA sec. 328/sec. 329 are exempt from the Form N-400 filing fee and the biometrics fee. Whereas a civilian general-naturalization applicant under INA sec. 316 = 8 USC sec. 1427 pays $760 (paper) / $710 (online) / $380 (reduced) under the USCIS 2024 Final Fee Rule (89 FR 6194, eff. 1 Apr 2024), a qualifying servicemember filing on the basis of honorable military service pays $0. This fee exemption reflects the policy of removing financial barriers to citizenship for those serving the country and is administered through the USCIS military-naturalization program in coordination with each service's installation legal offices. The exemption covers the application and biometrics; it does not waive substantive eligibility requirements (honorable service, GMC, attachment, oath). For posthumous naturalization under sec. 329A there is likewise no fee for the next-of-kin application. Beyond the (waived) USCIS fees, there are no government charges intrinsic to the route, distinguishing it sharply from fee-bearing civilian naturalization. These fee figures are pinned to the Evidence Table and not generated from training data; as of 2026-06-01.

Устав INA сек. 329 = 8 USC сек. 1440, принятый INA 1952 года (Pub. L. 82-414, 66 Stat. 250) и измененный, в частности, Законом о полномочиях национальной обороны на 2004 финансовый год, Pub. Л. 108-136 сек. 1702 г. (24 ноября 2003 г.). Раздел 329(a) устанавливает критерии приемлемости (почетная служба на действительной военной службе/в выбранном резерве в течение назначенного Президентом периода боевых действий; отсутствие минимального срока службы, отсутствие требований к месту жительства/физического присутствия). Раздел 329(b) предусматривает, что заявитель не обязательно должен быть постоянным постоянным жителем, если соблюдены определенные условия, с отличием разд. 329 из сек. 316/сек. 328. Раздел 329(c) = 8 USC сек. 1440(c) разрешает лишение гражданства, предоставленного в соответствии с разд. 329, если лицо освобождается от службы на условиях, отличных от почетных, до того, как он прослужит с честью в течение пяти лет, - лишение свободы на основании службы, отличное от разд. 340 денатурализация. Механизм назначенного периода (статутные ключи к получению президентского назначения) является шарниром, связывающим сек. 329 к Указу № 13269.

A denied sec. 329 N-400 carries the standard naturalization-review architecture, with a military-specific overlay. A USCIS denial is challenged first by Form N-336 (Request for a Hearing on a Decision in Naturalization Proceedings), filed within 30 days under INA sec. 336(a) = 8 USC sec. 1447(a) and 8 CFR sec. 336.2, for review by a higher-level USCIS officer; if that hearing affirms denial, the applicant may seek DE NOVO review in the U.S. district court under INA sec. 310(c) = 8 USC sec. 1421(c), where the court re-examines the application afresh rather than on a deferential record. Where USCIS fails to decide within 120 days of the examination, INA sec. 336(b) = 8 USC sec. 1447(b) lets the applicant ask the district court to decide the matter or remand with instructions. The distinctive sec. 329 wrinkle is that the controlling dispute is frequently against DOD over the Form N-426 honorable-service certification rather than against USCIS over the naturalization decision: the D.D.C. MAVNI trilogy (Kirwa 2017; Nio 2019; Samma 2020) litigated DOD's certification delays and vacated its 'Minimum Service Requirements' under the Administrative Procedure Act. A sec. 329(c) service-conditioned revocation, by contrast, proceeds under sec. 1451 in the district courts. As of 2026-06-01.

Citizenship obtained under sec. 329 carries a unique, service-conditioned revocation rule. INA sec. 329(c) = 8 USC sec. 1440(c) provides that if a person naturalized under sec. 329 is separated from the armed forces under OTHER-THAN-HONORABLE conditions before having served honorably for a period or periods aggregating at least five years, that ground is sufficient for revocation of the citizenship — a revocation tied to the integrity of the underlying military service, distinct from the fraud/illegality grounds of INA sec. 340 = 8 USC sec. 1451 (denaturalization, US-XCT-02). Once the five-year honorable-service threshold is met (or the person dies honorably in service), the citizenship is as secure as any other naturalized citizenship and is no longer revocable on the sec. 329(c) ground. As with all naturalized citizenship, it remains theoretically reachable by ordinary denaturalization (sec. 340) if the grant was illegally procured or obtained by material misrepresentation, but it is NOT subject to involuntary expatriation (Afroyim v. Rusk, 387 U.S. 253 (1967)).