Honorable Service Certifications for Non-Citizen Military Service Members

Are you a non-citizen military service member experiencing difficulty obtaining an honorable service certification (N-426 form) in order to apply for U.S. citizenship? If so, you may be a class member in a lawsuit brought by other service members against the Department of Defense (“DOD”) to obtain the N-426 form. In August 2020, a federal court ruled that a DOD policy preventing service members from obtaining the N-426 form is unlawful.

In April 2020, six non-citizen military service members, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a federal class action lawsuit — Samma v. Department of Defense — against DOD. The service members had been unable to obtain the honorable service certification necessary to obtain citizenship pursuant to an October 2017 DOD policy. The ACLU filed the case in the federal district court for the District of Columbia. In August 2020, the Court ruled that the policy’s requirement that non-citizens serve a minimum period of time before they can obtain an N-426 form is unlawful. The Court also certified the class, meaning that DOD can no longer withhold an N-426 form from anyone in the same situation (as explained below) because they have not served the minimum period of time in the policy.

If you believe you meet all of the criteria below, the ACLU invites you to fill out our intake form.