8 U.S.C. § 1440
Naturalization through active-duty service in the Armed Forces during World War I, World War II, Korean hostilities, Vietnam hostilities, or other periods of military hostilities
United States · Title 8 — ALIENS AND NATIONALITY · Status: effective
Cite this
- Citation
- 8 U.S.C. § 1440, Naturalization through active-duty service in the Armed Forces during World War I, World War II, Korean hostilities, Vietnam hostilities, or other periods of military hostilities, United States, version 1 as recorded 2026-07-09, yourstate.us, https://yourstate.us/provision/431977
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Full text
Any person who, while an alien or a noncitizen national of the United States, has served honorably as a member of the Selected Reserve of the Ready Reserve or in an active-duty status in the military, air, or naval forces of the United States during either World War I or during a period beginning September 1, 1939, and ending December 31, 1946, or during a period beginning June 25, 1950, and ending July 1, 1955, or during a period beginning February 28, 1961, and ending on a date designated by the President by Executive order as of the date of termination of the Vietnam hostilities, or thereafter during any other period which the President by Executive order shall designate as a period in which Armed Forces of the United States are or were engaged in military operations involving armed conflict with a hostile foreign force, and who, if separated from such service, was separated under honorable conditions, may be naturalized as provided in this section if (1) at the time of enlistment, reenlistment, extension of enlistment, or induction such person shall have been in the United States, the Canal Zone, American Samoa, or Swains Island, or on board a public vessel owned or operated by the United States for noncommercial service, whether or not he has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence, or (2) at any time subsequent to enlistment or induction such person shall have been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. The executive department under which such person served shall determine whether persons have served honorably in an active-duty status, and whether separation from such service was under honorable conditions: Provided, however, That no person who is or has been separated from such service on account of alienage, or who was a conscientious objector who performed no military, air, or naval duty whatever or refused to wear the uniform, shall be regarded as having served honorably or having been separated under honorable conditions for the purposes of this section. No period of service in the Armed Forces shall be made the basis of an application for naturalization under this section if the applicant has previously been naturalized on the basis of the same period of service.
A person filing an application under subsection (a) of this section shall comply in all other respects with the requirements of this subchapter, except that—
Citizenship granted pursuant to this section may be revoked in accordance with section 1451 of this title if the person is separated from the Armed Forces under other than honorable conditions before the person has served honorably for a period or periods aggregating five years. Such ground for revocation shall be in addition to any other provided by law, including the grounds described in section 1451 of this title. The fact that the naturalized person was separated from the service under other than honorable conditions shall be proved by a duly authenticated certification from the executive department under which the person was serving at the time of separation. Any period or periods of service shall be proved by duly authenticated copies of the records of the executive departments having custody of the records of such service.
Legislative history
The public laws that enacted or amended this section. Tallies are for the whole bill as it passed each chamber — often an omnibus covering far more than this provision — not a vote on this section alone. The law that originally enacted this section predates the public laws loaded here, so only later amendments are listed.
- Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1981House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Immigration Technical Corrections Act of 1988House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- Immigration Act of 1990
- Miscellaneous and Technical Immigration and Naturalization Amendments of 1991House: no recorded tallySenate: no recorded tally
- National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998
- National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004