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If you are serving in the U.S. armed forces, or have served, the path to citizenship is shorter than the civilian one — and it is free. Congress created two special provisions: one for a year of service at any time, and one for service during a designated period of hostilities. Because the United States has been in a designated period of hostilities continuously since September 11, 2001, most people serving today qualify under the second and more generous provision. This page explains which one fits you, what can disqualify you, and how to file.
Qualifying service means the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Space Force, or Coast Guard. National Guard service can count as well, but the rules differ between the two provisions, so read the comparison below carefully if that is your situation. International cadets attending U.S. military academies are generally not treated as having served in the U.S. armed forces.
| One year of service (INA 328) | Service during hostilities (INA 329) | |
|---|---|---|
| Service required | One year total, at any time | Any length, during a designated period |
| Age | 18 or older | Any age |
| Green card | Must be a permanent resident at the time of your naturalization interview | Not required if you were in the United States, the Canal Zone, American Samoa, Swains Island, or aboard a noncommercial U.S. public vessel when you enlisted, reenlisted, extended, or were inducted. You are also covered if you became a permanent resident after enlistment. |
| Good moral character | Five years before filing, through naturalization | One year before filing, through naturalization |
| U.S. residence and physical presence | Waived if you file while serving or within six months of an honorable discharge. File later and the five-year, thirty-month rules apply — but honorable service during those five years counts as time in the United States. | Always waived |
| English and civics | Required | Required |
| Oath of allegiance | Required | Required |
| Filing fee | None | None |
| National Guard | Counts while the unit is federally recognized as a reserve component | Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve counts; no proof of federal activation needed |
| Conflict | Period |
|---|---|
| World War I | April 6, 1917 – November 11, 1918 |
| World War II | September 1, 1939 – December 31, 1946 |
| Korean Conflict | June 25, 1950 – July 1, 1955 |
| Vietnam Hostilities | February 28, 1961 – October 15, 1978 |
| Persian Gulf Conflict | August 2, 1990 – April 11, 1991 |
| War on Terrorism | September 11, 2001 – present |
The current period was designated by Executive Order 13269, signed July 3, 2002, and it runs until a President ends it by a new order.
Both provisions require honorable service and, if you have separated, a separation under honorable conditions. Only two characterizations satisfy that requirement: Honorable and General (Under Honorable Conditions). Discharges characterized as Other Than Honorable, Bad Conduct, or Dishonorable do not.
Uncharacterized separations, typically entry-level separations, turn on a single date rather than on the circumstances of your service. They qualify only if issued on or before July 31, 2024. A Department of Defense instruction effective August 1, 2024 stopped treating an uncharacterized discharge as a substitute characterization, so uncharacterized discharges issued after that date do not meet the requirement. If yours falls after that date, ask your service branch about an upgrade before you file.
If you have served more than once, the two provisions treat your record differently. Under INA 328, every separation must have been under honorable conditions, including separations from periods of service you are not relying on to qualify. An other-than-honorable discharge from any period of service makes you ineligible under INA 328, even if a different period of service was entirely honorable. Under INA 329, one qualifying period of honorable service during a designated period of hostilities can support naturalization even if another period ended less favorably — although USCIS will still weigh your complete military and personal record, including any misconduct, in deciding whether you meet the applicable good moral character requirement.
If your discharge was characterized unfavorably because you declined the COVID-19 vaccination that was mandated in 2021 and rescinded in January 2023, you may be able to request an upgrade through your service branch. That is worth doing before you apply, not after.
If you ever requested and obtained a discharge or exemption from military service on the ground that you are not a U.S. citizen, you are permanently barred from naturalizing unless a narrow exception applies. Selective Service and military department records are treated as conclusive on this point. Separately, a court-martial conviction for desertion can be a permanent bar. Being absent without leave without a court-martial is not a permanent bar, but it can defeat good moral character.
For naturalizations granted on or after November 24, 2003, citizenship obtained through military service can be revoked if the person is separated under other-than-honorable conditions before completing five years of honorable service. Naturalizing does not end your obligation to finish your service honorably.
File Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, and check the military eligibility basis. You can file online or on paper; use the current edition of the form and follow its instructions for where to send it. There is no filing fee under either provision. There is also no fee for a hearing on a denial (Form N-336), and no fee for an Application for Certificate of Citizenship (Form N-600) for current and former service members filing on their own behalf.
If you are currently serving, you must also submit Form N-426, Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service, certified by your branch. An authorized certifying official must sign it no more than six months before you submit your Form N-400. A recruiter cannot certify it.
If you have separated, you are not required to submit Form N-426. Instead, include a copy of your DD Form 214 or NGB Form 22 for every period of service, showing the type of separation and the character of service. That information is usually on the Member-4 copy of the DD Form 214 or in Block 24 of the NGB Form 22.
Most installations have a designated USCIS liaison or point of contact who handles naturalization packets. Ask through your chain of command; it is considerably faster than working through the process alone.
If you are stationed outside the United States, you can complete every step abroad, including biometrics, the interview, and the oath, and you may request overseas processing at any point in the process.
Military service does not exempt you from the English and civics requirements. Which civics test you take depends on when you file. Applications filed before October 20, 2025 use the 2008 test. Applications filed on or after that date use the 2025 test, which draws 20 questions from a bank of 128 and requires 12 correct answers to pass. USCIS publishes free study materials for both versions.
If your spouse is a permanent resident and you are a U.S. citizen service member who is or will be stationed or deployed abroad for at least a year, your spouse may apply for expedited naturalization under INA 319(b), with no prior period of residence or physical presence required. Under that provision the interview and the oath must take place in the United States.
If your spouse is already living abroad with you on official orders, INA 319(e) is usually the better route. It treats qualifying time spent abroad with a U.S. citizen service member as residence and physical presence in the United States, so your spouse can satisfy those requirements without interrupting the overseas assignment. It also goes further than INA 319(b): where 319(b) requires your spouse to come to the United States for the interview and the oath, INA 319(e) permits your spouse to complete the entire naturalization process from abroad, without returning to the United States for any part of it. To establish eligibility, submit evidence that your spouse was authorized to accompany you abroad on official military orders — permanent change of station orders naming your spouse, or those orders together with Form DD-1278 and your Form DD-1172 DEERS enrollment.
A child under 18 who is a lawful permanent resident and resides in the United States in the legal and physical custody of a U.S. citizen parent generally acquires U.S. citizenship automatically under INA 320; Form N-600 may be filed to obtain a Certificate of Citizenship.
A child living abroad with you may not need the naturalization process at all. The Citizenship for Children of Military Members and Civil Servants Act, enacted March 26, 2020, provides that a child residing outside the United States with a U.S. citizen parent who is stationed abroad as a member of the armed forces or as a U.S. government employee — or with the U.S. citizen spouse of such a person — acquires citizenship automatically under INA 320, rather than having to naturalize under INA 322. The child must still be a lawful permanent resident and be in the legal and physical custody of the U.S. citizen parent. For the child of an armed forces member, authorization by the member’s official orders to accompany and reside with the member is a statutory requirement; if adding the child to those orders is the last step needed to qualify, the date of the order becomes the date citizenship is acquired. File Form N-600 to obtain the certificate.
If INA 322 does apply instead, a child residing abroad with you on official orders is exempt from the usual requirements of lawful admission, temporary presence in the United States, and maintenance of lawful status, and may complete the entire process, including the oath, without traveling to the United States. It must be completed before the child’s 18th birthday. Apply on Form N-600K. Time you have spent abroad on official military orders counts toward your own physical presence requirement.
A parent filing Form N-600 or Form N-600K for a child pays the standard filing fee. There is no military exemption for a parent’s filing on a child’s behalf, although a fee waiver may be requested on Form I-912 based on inability to pay. A fee waiver request for Form N-600K must be filed on paper. Fees change, so check the current USCIS fee schedule before you file.
Stepchildren do not qualify under INA 320 or INA 322 unless they have become the citizen’s “child” under the immigration laws, such as through a qualifying adoption. See our page on Adopted Children and Citizenship for more information.
A person who served honorably during a designated period of hostilities and died from an injury or disease incurred in, or aggravated by, that service may be granted posthumous citizenship under INA 329A, effective as of the date of death. The next of kin files Form N-644 within two years of the death, and USCIS issues a certificate in the service member’s name.
The surviving spouse, child, or parent of a U.S. citizen service member who died during honorable active-duty service may naturalize under INA 319(d), exempt from the continuous residence and physical presence requirements. That exemption covers the time-based requirements only: the survivor must still be a lawful permanent resident, both when the application is filed and when they naturalize. This includes the survivors of service members granted posthumous citizenship. A surviving spouse must have been living in marital union with the service member and not legally separated at the time of death, and remarriage since the death does not disqualify the spouse.
USCIS operates a Military Help Line at 877-247-4645 (877-CIS-4MIL), Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern, for service members, veterans, and their families. It can check case status, update a duty station or mailing address, handle posthumous citizenship questions, and request expedited processing of military Form N-400 and Form N-600 filings. Callers on base can reach it through the base operator or the Defense Switched Network.
Reviewed July 31, 2026. This page is general information about U.S. immigration and nationality law, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for advice about your own circumstances. Requirements, forms, and filing addresses change; verify current details with USCIS before filing.