Need advice to join navy as green card holder

allnurses Guide · Mar 21, 2006

i need an advice to join the navy as rn.
i am not a u.s. citizen yet but hold a permanent residentship (=green card).
i talked to a navy recruiter overseas where i am staying at my parents for a short time period. he told me only a u.s. citizen can work as rn in navy. he said only jobs that i can take in healthcare is a medical assistant job. i have to wait about a year to get a u.s. citizenship once i join the navy, and after that it is possible to work as a nurse.
i really want to be a navy nurse, but i don't know how trusting what this recruiter is saying. i know, for sure, that only u.s. citizens can become military nurses.
my question is, once i get a citizenship (according to the recruiter, it takes about a year to get it in the military system. usually it takes 5 years after holding a green card), if i can really work as a navy nurse. i am afraid they still keep me in a medical assistant job.
does anyone know a military nurse who was non-u.s. citizen in the past and join the military?

the recruiter is right only u.s. citizens can become commissioned officers. as far becoming an officer after going in as enlisted....it usually is not hard switching over to become a nurse, but if your bsn is from a foreign university you could potentially not be accepted for that reason.

good luck..hope that helps!

kelly302 · Mar 21, 2006

thanks for the reply, wtbcrna.

well, i have bsn from a college in the u.s., though. i wonder if it is still hard to become an officer. :confused:

kelly

macoy · Mar 21, 2006

I want to become also as a navy nurse..heheheh I just love it....Good luck.....Sir!!! I am stil a student nurse but I love to hear those words from you.It inspired me a lot..

Can you be my friend and A brother..I am a student nurse from philippines....I am not a RN.heheh soon to be

God bless

kelly302 · Mar 22, 2006

Thanks for the encouragement. I wish you all luck to become RN in the near future. I am glad to hear some others want to become a military nurse as a foreigner.

P.S. I am a female. So I don't wish to be called Sir. Thanks.

Trauma Columnist · Mar 22, 2006

Kelly - just curious...are you a Japanese citizen? Do you perhaps have dual citzenship? The reason I ask is that our son was born in Japan to US citizen parents. However, since he was born in Japan, he was actually a dual citizen: Japanese and American. However, we were told to negate his Japanese citizenry because he would then be eligible for the draft in Japan at the age of 18 yrs.

If you have dual citizenship, is this an option? Good luck.

MamaTheNurse, BSN, RN · Mar 22, 2006

Has it always been that you had to be a US citizen? I remember a Navy recruiter calling me at home when I was a senior in nursing school (1992-1993) and I told him I was out of the running because I was only going to have a green card upon graduation (I had just married my US husband - I'm Canadian) and he said that didn't matter - being in the Navy was a job and a green card was going to allow me to work (and he knew I was in a BSN program and we discussed nursing, not medical assistant)................

kelly302 · Mar 23, 2006

Kelly - just curious...are you a Japanese citizen? Do you perhaps have dual citzenship? The reason I ask is that our son was born in Japan to US citizen parents. However, since he was born in Japan, he was actually a dual citizen: Japanese and American. However, we were told to negate his Japanese citizenry because he would then be eligible for the draft in Japan at the age of 18 yrs.
If you have dual citizenship, is this an option? Good luck.

Yes, I am a Japanese citizen. Unfortunately, I don't have a dual citizenship. I believe neither U.S. government and Japanese government allow dural citizenship over 18 years old. There are only some countries, like Eygpt, which allow people to have dural citizenship.

I don't think your son has dual citizenship if I am not wrong. Japanese government does not give citizenship to people who were just born in Japan. Citizenship is given only to people whose parents (either mother or father) are Japanese. Of course, non-Japanese can apply to citizenship later on if they wish. The U.S., on the other hand, give citizenship if a person

1. was born in the U.S. (This is what Japanese government does not allow)

2. was born into a parent who is U.S. citizen (including who was born overseas)

Even if your son happen to have dual citizenship, he has to claim the citizenship to either American one or Japanese one at the age of 18.

No, he does not need to join military in Japan. Japanese laws do not force people to join, like in the U.S. I heard Korean men has to join the military for 3 years. In Japan, it is a choice. Actually there are only few people who want to join. I have only one friend who is related to Japanese defense force.

Hope it helps!

kelly302 · Mar 23, 2006

Has it always been that you had to be a US citizen? I remember a Navy recruiter calling me at home when I was a senior in nursing school (1992-1993) and I told him I was out of the running because I was only going to have a green card upon graduation (I had just married my US husband - I'm Canadian) and he said that didn't matter - being in the Navy was a job and a green card was going to allow me to work (and he knew I was in a BSN program and we discussed nursing, not medical assistant)................

I really wish what you said is true!!! Actually, a non-U.S. citizen with green card can join the navy. But I don't think it does not apply to Navy nurse. I look at the Navy website, and it says to be eligible for the navy nurse program, a person has to be a U.S. citizen. But I might be wrong. If there are other military branch which allows to become military nurse without a citizenship, I love to find out!

Trauma Columnist · Mar 23, 2006

Kelly - I stand corrected. What I should have said (and which you stated so eloquently) was that we chose to have our son stay an American citizen since we planned to leave Japan.

When I was in Japan (I was in the Navy myself, though not a nurse then), I worked with some JSDF folks and came to appreciate what they did for their country. BTW, we were stationed at Yokota and both my husband (who was in the Air Force) and myself (Navy) met and married there. We were stationed at FEN - the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service.

DanznRN, RN · Mar 24, 2006

I thought I'd chime in and put my .02 cents in to help.

1. You have to be a U.S. citizen to be a commissioned officer, it has nothing to do with being a nurse. It's the officer part of being a nurse that will get you.

2. Not only do you have to have a BSN degree from a U.S. institution, you have to take our NCLEX exam and pass that as well, in most states. Some states may allow you to bypass the NCLEX, all depends on their laws.

3. If you are a BSN and come in as an Enlisted until you become a citizen, it is harder to switch over than what you think. When you sign up, you sign a contract and they want that fullfilled before you move on. Now there are certain circumstances where they bend this rule, but that is hit or miss.

4. There is no such thing as Medical Assistant in the Navy. We have Navy Corpsmen, some of the best people on the planet and they are far more valuable and trained than an MA.

5. At least in Italy, if you have U.S. parents that have a child born in a foreign country, it is considered a "birth abroad" and does not qualify for dual citizenship. It may have been different in other countries. If one of the parents is from that country then the child is eligible, but at some point needs to declare one or the other.

Good luck with what you want.

LT Dan

kelly302 · Mar 24, 2006

I thought I'd chime in and put my .02 cents in to help.
1. You have to be a U.S. citizen to be a commissioned officer, it has nothing to do with being a nurse. It's the officer part of being a nurse that will get you.
2. Not only do you have to have a BSN degree from a U.S. institution, you have to take our NCLEX exam and pass that as well, in most states. Some states may allow you to bypass the NCLEX, all depends on their laws.
3. If you are a BSN and come in as an Enlisted until you become a citizen, it is harder to switch over than what you think. When you sign up, you sign a contract and they want that fullfilled before you move on. Now there are certain circumstances where they bend this rule, but that is hit or miss.
4. There is no such thing as Medical Assistant in the Navy. We have Navy Corpsmen, some of the best people on the planet and they are far more valuable and trained than an MA.
5. At least in Italy, if you have U.S. parents that have a child born in a foreign country, it is considered a "birth abroad" and does not qualify for dual citizenship. It may have been different in other countries. If one of the parents is from that country then the child is eligible, but at some point needs to declare one or the other.
Good luck with what you want.
LT Dan

Thank you very much for your message. It really helped!!! I am little dissapointed, though. I knew the recruiter I talked to did not seem to tell me the truth, but I think I was right, according to what you wrote. I think the recruiter just make me join the navy, knowing that it is hard to switch the status from the enlisted to the officer. So let me clarify what you are saying.

1. There are foreign nurses in the military, but they cannot be officers.

2. Once someone is enlisted, it is almost impossible to become an officer until the contract is over.

Well, I have BSN from a college in the U.S. and have passed NCLEX. My RN license is from the U.S. Do you think I should become a citizen before joining the military if I want to be an officer as RN, rather than joining a military first? It usually takes 5 years to become a citizen without using a military system. So if I want to join the military after getting the citizenship, it would take 5 years. But if I join the military now, I won't be able to become an officer,. It would also take about 4-5 years ( isn't this the usual duration of a contract, right? ) to finish the contract as enlisted. I am still confused. :uhoh3: