Current Service Members Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service Form Update and Policy Manual Revision
Effective immediately, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) issued the new Form N-426, Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service, and policy guidance in the USCIS Policy Manual stating that only applicants for naturalization under Section 328 or Section 329 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) who are currently serving in the U.S. armed forces are required to file Form N-426 with their Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.
Background
To reduce burdens on current and former service members applying for naturalization and eliminate duplicative requests for information, USCIS revised the Form N-426. In the latest revision, effective March 22, 2023, USCIS removed information already collected on Form N-400 and found in official discharge documents identifying the type of separation and character of service. USCIS now requires Form N-426 only from current service members and not from separated or discharged service members.
This guidance, contained in Volume 12 of the Policy Manual, is effective immediately and applies to all currently pending applications and applications filed on or after March 22, 2023. The guidance contained in the Policy Manual is controlling and supersedes any related prior guidance on the topic.
More Information
For more information on the revised section of the USCIS Policy Manual please see Volume 12: Citizenship and Naturalization, Part I, Military Members and their Families, Chapter 2, One Year Military Service during Peacetime (INA 328) [12 USCIS-PM I.2]; Chapter 3, Military Service during Hostilities (INA 329) [12 PM-USCIS I.3]; and Chapter 5, Application and Filing for Service Members (INA 328 and 329) [12 PM-USCIS I.5].
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