II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1727 

To establish a naturalization office at every initial military training site. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

AUGUST 2, 2017 

Ms. DUCKWORTH (for herself and Ms. CORTEZ MASTO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Armed Services 

A BILL 

To establish a naturalization office at every initial military 

training site. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Naturalization At 

5 Training Sites Act of 2017’’ or the ‘‘NATS Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND USE OF NATURALIZATION OF7 FICES AT INITIAL MILITARY TRAINING SITES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary 

9 concerned’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

10 101(a) of title 10, United States Code. 


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1 (b) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

2 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, 

3 and the Secretary of Homeland Security with respect to 

4 the Coast Guard, shall establish a naturalization office at 

5 each initial military training site of the Armed Forces 

6 under the jurisdiction of the respective Secretary. 

7 (c) OUTREACH.—In coordination with the Under Sec8 retary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the 

9 Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 

10 each Secretary concerned shall, to the maximum extent 

11 practicable— 

12 (1) identify each member of the Armed Forces 

13 overseen by such Secretary who is not a citizen of 

14 the United States; 

15 (2) inform each noncitizen member of the 

16 Armed Forces overseen by such Secretary about— 

17 (A) the existence of a naturalization office 

18 at each initial military training site; 

19 (B) the continuous availability of each nat20 uralization office throughout the career of a 

21 member of the Armed Forces to— 

22 (i) evaluate the extent to which a non23 citizen member of the Armed Forces is eli24 gible to become a naturalized citizen; and 


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1 (ii) assess the suitability for citizen2 ship of a noncitizen member of the Armed 

3 Forces; 

4 (C) each potential pathway to citizenship; 

5 (D) each service a naturalization office 

6 provides; 

7 (E) the required length of service to obtain 

8 citizenship during— 

9 (i) peacetime; and 

10 (ii) a period of hostility; and 

11 (F) the application process for citizenship, 

12 including— 

13 (i) details of the application process; 

14 (ii) required application materials; 

15 (iii) requirements for a naturalization 

16 interview; and 

17 (iv) any other information required to 

18 become a citizen under the Immigration 

19 and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

20 seq.). 

21 (d) TIMING.—Each Secretary concerned shall com22 plete the notifications required under subsection (c)— 

23 (1) during every stage of basic training; 

24 (2) during training for any military occupa25 tional specialty; 


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1 (3) at each school of professional military edu2 cation; 

3 (4) upon each transfer of a duty station; and 

4 (5) at any other time determined appropriate 

5 by the Secretary concerned. 

6 (e) TRAINED PERSONNEL.— 

7 (1) AVAILABILITY.—Each Secretary concerned 

8 shall retain trained personnel at a naturalization of9 fice at every initial military training site to provide 

10 appropriate services to every member of the Armed 

11 Forces who is not a citizen of the United States. 

12 (2) TRAINING.—All personnel retained under 

13 paragraph (1) shall be familiar with— 

14 (A) the special provisions of the Immigra15 tion and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 et 

16 seq.) authorizing the expedited application and 

17 naturalization process for current members of 

18 the Armed Forces and veterans; 

19 (B) the application process for naturaliza20 tion and associated application materials; and 

21 (C) the naturalization process administered 

22 by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 

23 (f) ASSIGNMENT PREFERENCE.—The Secretary con24 cerned, to the extent practicable, shall assign each new 

25 member of the Armed Forces who is not a citizen of the 


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1 United States to an initial military training site that has 

2 a naturalization office. 

3 (g) REPORTING REQUIREMENT.—The Director of the 

4 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services shall annually 

5 publish, on a publicly accessible website— 

6 (1) the number of members of the Armed 

7 Forces who became naturalized United States citi8 zens during the most recent year for which data is 

9 available, categorized by country in which the natu10 ralization ceremony took place; 

11 (2) the number of Armed Forces member’s chil12 dren who became naturalized United States citizens 

13 during the most recent year for which data is avail14 able, categorized by country in which the naturaliza15 tion ceremony took place; and 

16 (3) the number of Armed Forces member’s 

17 spouses who became naturalized United States citi18 zens during the most recent year for which data is 

19 available, categorized by country in which the natu20 ralization ceremony took place. 

21 (h) REGULATIONS.—Each Secretary concerned shall 

22 prescribe in regulation a definition of the term ‘‘initial 

23 military training site’’ for purposes of this section. 

Æ 


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