Naturalization Guidance for Alien Service Members

Key changes

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is issuing guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual to explain why uncharacterized discharges no longer meet the requirement of a separation “under honorable conditions” for former alien service members to naturalize under Sections 328 and 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), and to explain changes in process for former alien service members who had been receiving naturalization interviews and oath ceremony services at land ports of entry.
• Explains that “Honorable” and “General-Under Honorable Conditions” are the only two accepted discharge characterizations to determine if an alien qualifies as having served under “honorable conditions.”
• Provides that the DOW’s discharge description of “Uncharacterized” on the DD Form 214 will no longer be deemed as a separation under “honorable conditions” when the separation occurred on or after August 1, 2024.8
• Identifies that aliens who separated or were discharged from the military under less than honorable conditions for reasons like failure to comply with COVID vaccination requirements may request a change in the “characterization of their discharge” with DOW and that USCIS will rely on submitted official discharge documents for former service 3 Formerly the U.S. Department of Defense. Executive Order 14347, Restoring the United States Department of War, 90 FR 43893 (Sept. 5, 2025), restored the Department’s name to the Department of War.
• Provides that USCIS will no longer coordinate with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to have USCIS officers conduct a naturalization interview and oath ceremony of certain alien veterans at a port of entry.
• Provides that former alien service members of the U.S. armed forces who reside overseas must seek a visa or parole to enter the United States for a naturalization interview.
• Replaces all instances of the term “Department of Defense” with “Department of War” as appropriate in accordance with Executive Order 14347, Restoring the United States Department of War (September 5, 2025).