MILITARY ACCESSIONS VITAL TO THE NATIONAL INTEREST   

(MAVNI)

MAVNI (Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest) is the recruiting program designed to recruiter non-citizens present in the U.S. in legal status with in-demand skills. Such individuals can join the Army in exchange for expedited U.S. citizenship. Individuals who go through this program are able to adjust their status from non-immigrant visa (asylee, refugee, or temporary protective status) directly to citizenship. Typically, most program participants will become a U.S. citizen by the time they graduate from the 10 weeks of Basic Combat Training or accept commission as Army Officers.

General Requirements for Obtaining U.S. Citizenship

1. Applicants must be in one of the following categories at the time of their enlistment:
   1. Non-immigrant categories E, F, H, I, J, K, L, M, O, P, Q, R, S, T, TC, TD, TN, U OR V
   2. Asylee, Refugee or Temporary Protective Status (TPS)
   3. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
2. Applicants must legally reside in the United States for a minimum of two years prior to joining the Army (excluding DACA) without a single absence from t he country lasting longer than 90 days.
3. Applicants must have a high school diploma and a qualifying score on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AQFT)
4. Must be 17-34 years old and under the age of 35 at the time of shipping to Basic Combat Training.

Calixto Settlement Agreement

On September 22, 2022, the U.S. Army entered into the Calixto Agreement to provide that Calixto class members may receive a certified Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service (Form N-426).

Class members are individuals who enlisted in the U.S. Army, including the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve Delayed Training Program or Regular Army Delayed Entry Program as part of the MAVNI pilot program on or before September 30, 2017, who were not discharged or received an uncharacterized discharge.

These applicants become eligible to apply for naturalization under INA 329 as a result of the certified Form N-426, even before attending initial entry training. Calixto class members may not have started or completed a qualifying period of service but are still considered to meet the period of service requirements for naturalization eligibility if the Army certifies a class member’s Form N-426.

To request the Army’s certification on an N-426, please send an email (with the attachments listed below) using the subject line “MAVNI Settlement – [Insert Your Name]” to this email address: usarmy.pentagon.hqda-otjag.mbx.mavnisettlement@army.mil.  Please include Calixto class counsel on your email by copying this email address:  jennifer.wollenberg@morganlewis.com.

Attach both of the following to your email:

• An N-426 with your sections completed.
  • Please use the most current Form N-426 provided by USCIS, which should be available on the USCIS website.  As of September 2022, the current version was available at https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/document/forms/n-426.pdf.  Do not use a form that includes a past-dated expiration date or that is not currently available on the USCIS website.
  • At the top of the first page of the N-426 form, above the words “Request for Certification” insert the following: “Pursuant to Calixto Settlement Agreement.”
  • Complete the Requestor’s sections of the N-426 form, which request information about you, your enlistment information, your contact information, and your signature/date of signature.  It is important that you complete those sections fully and legibly and include your FULL name, personal email address (not military email address unless you use it regularly), physical mailing address, and personal phone number.  Please note the following:
    • It is important to include your military service number if you have one.  However, many Regular Army or Delayed Entry Program (“DEP”) MAVNI soldiers will not have a military service number, and if that is the case for you, you should leave that part of the form blank.
    • Some MAVNI soldiers may be uncertain about what to insert as their “Service End Date,” including because they do not know if the Army considers them to be discharged from service.  If you have any uncertainty, you may leave that field blank and allow the Army to complete and initial it.
    • In the “Type of Service” field, you also may leave that blank as the Army will make the appropriate selection and initial that selection.
    • It is important that you insert a handwritten signature (do not use a typed or digital signature).
• A copy of your enlistment contract (DD Form 4).
  • If your contract itself is not available for any reason, you may send ANY proof that you entered into a contract to serve in the Army.
  • If you cannot locate any of these documents, you may still send your N-426 request to the Army, but it may take longer to complete the certification process.

Once you send this email and attachments, the Army will review them and will email you (copying class counsel) if further information is needed.  Once the Army verifies that you are a Calixto class member, it will send you a certified N-426 by email to the same email address you used to submit your request, with a copy to class counsel.  You may then, pursuant to INA 329, provide that N-426 to USCIS in support of an existing naturalization application or with an initial N-400 submission.

Army Reserve Medical Specialties

General Dentist, Comprehensive Dentist, Prosthodontist, Oral Surgeon, Preventative Medicine, Urologist, Anesthesiologist, Opthalmologist, Otolaryngologist (ENT), Psychiatrist, Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, General Surgeon, Thoracic Surgeon, Orthopedic Surgeon, Emergency Medicine, Entomologist, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Physicians Assistant, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner

Current Languages Recruited

Albanian, Amharic, Arabic, Azerbaijani, Baluchi, Bengali, Bulgarian, Burmese, Cebuano, Cambodian-Khmer, Chinese, Czech, French (with citizenship from an African Country), Georgian, Haitian Creole, Hausa, Hindi, Hungarian, Ibo/Igbo, Indonesian, Japanese, Kashmiri, Korean, Kurdish, Lao, Malay, Malayalam, Moro (Tausug/Maranao/Maguindanao), Nepalese, Pashto, Persian Dari, Persian Farsi, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Sindhi, Singhalese, Somali, Swahili, Tagalog, Tajik, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Turkmen, Ukrainian, Urdu (with citizenship from Pakistan or Afghanistan), Uzbek, Yoruba

Consult USCIS manual regarding MAVNI Program.