II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3947 

To permit the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant citizenship to an 

alien who serves on active duty in the Armed Forces, to assist such 

an alien in applying for citizenship, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 27, 2006 

Mr. FRIST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To permit the Secretary of Homeland Security to grant 

citizenship to an alien who serves on active duty in 

the Armed Forces, to assist such an alien in applying 

for citizenship, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Soldiers to Citizens 

5 Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. CITIZENSHIP FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED 

2 FORCES. 

3 Section 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act 

4 (8 U.S.C. 1440) is amended— 

5 (1) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘subsection 

6 (a)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection (a) or (d)’’; and 

7 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, ex9 cept for provisions relating to revocation of citizenship 

10 under subsection (c), an individual who is not a citizen 

11 of the United States shall not be denied the opportunity 

12 to apply for membership in the United States Armed 

13 Forces. Such an individual who becomes an active duty 

14 member of the United States Armed Forces shall, con15 sistent with this section and with the approval of the indi16 vidual’s chain of command, be granted United States citi17 zenship after performing at least 2 years of honorable and 

18 satisfactory service on active duty. Not later than 90 days 

19 after such requirements are met with respect to an indi20 vidual, such individual shall be granted United States citi21 zenship. 

22 ‘‘(e) An alien described in subsection (d) shall be nat23 uralized without regard to the requirements of this title 

24 or any other requirements, processes, or procedures of the 

25 Secretary of Homeland Security, if the alien— 


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1 ‘‘(1) files an application for naturalization in 

2 accordance with such procedures to carry out this 

3 section as may be established by regulation by the 

4 Secretary of Homeland Security or the Secretary of 

5 Defense; 

6 ‘‘(2) demonstrates to the alien’s military chain 

7 of command proficiency in the English language, 

8 good moral character, and knowledge of the Federal 

9 Government and United States history, consistent 

10 with the requirements contained in this Act; and 

11 ‘‘(3) takes the oath required under section 337 

12 of this Act and participates in an oath administra13 tion ceremony in accordance with this Act.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. WAIVER OF REQUIREMENT FOR FINGERPRINTS 

15 FOR MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

16 Notwithstanding any other provision of law or any 

17 regulation, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall use 

18 the fingerprints provided by an individual at the time the 

19 individual enlists in the Armed Forces to satisfy any re20 quirement for fingerprints as part of an application for 

21 naturalization if the individual— 

22 (1) may be naturalized pursuant to section 328 

23 or 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 

24 U.S.C. 1439 and 1440); 


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1 (2) was fingerprinted in accordance with the re2 quirements of the Department of Defense at the 

3 time the individual enlisted in the Armed Forces; 

4 and 

5 (3) submits an application for naturalization 

6 not later than 12 months after the date the indi7 vidual enlisted in the Armed Forces. 

8 SEC. 4. PROVISION OF INFORMATION ON NATURALIZATION 

9 TO MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES. 

10 The Secretary of Homeland Security shall— 

11 (1) establish a dedicated toll-free telephone 

12 service available only to members of the Armed 

13 Forces and the families of such members to provide 

14 information related to naturalization pursuant to 

15 section 328 or 329 of the Immigration and Nation16 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1439 and 1440), including the 

17 status of an application for such naturalization; 

18 (2) ensure that the telephone service required 

19 by paragraph (1) is operated by employees of the 

20 Department of Homeland Security who— 

21 (A) have received specialized training on 

22 the naturalization process for members of the 

23 Armed Forces and the families of such mem24 bers; and 


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1 (B) are physically located in the same unit 

2 as the military processing unit that adjudicates 

3 applications for naturalization pursuant to such 

4 section 328 or 329; and 

5 (3) implement a quality control program to 

6 monitor, on a regular basis, the accuracy and quality 

7 of information provided by the employees who oper8 ate the telephone service required by paragraph (1), 

9 including the breadth of the knowledge related to the 

10 naturalization process of such employees. 

Æ 


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