# Canadian serving in US Army



## pfcspence

Cheers to all my Cdn buddies.   I'm a Cdn currently serving w/ the US Army,   I just graduated Basic &AIT on the 3rd and am chillin' back here in Waterloo ont for a couple weeks, its damn cold compared to Ft. Benning!   Next stop is Air Assault School, then hook up w/ my unit (10th Mountain) in Ft. Polk La.   Then Iraq by March.HOOAH.   Anyway, I tried to join the CF's last Nov, but by June of this yr, they were still saying it'll be a couple more mo's!!! To this day I have no clue what the problem is or was.   Lack of funds or staffing perhaps?   If anyone out there knows of any other Cdns serving in the USA or USMC please post, esp if theyve already been to the sandbox.   much thanks, off to downtown T.O!!!   :skull:


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## Charliedontsurf

how did you get in to the us military, did you hold dual citizenship already for some reason? Anyways be safe man.


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## Gouki

So, how is it down there?


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## ramy

Hey pfcspence , you will find a handfull of Canadians serving in the US Forces on this forum.. Couple of Marines and Army guys...  One at least has been to the "sand box"  probably more though. Anyways congrats on your achievement, and visit us often.


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## pfcspence

Ya thanks I just found out about this site, I think i'll check it out more often!  I'm 24 and to answer the question, I'm a native cdn originally from Wpg. I'd been trying to get into the CF's since Nov of 03!! By June of this yr I got fed up and headed south into Buffalo.  Too bad, but it's turning out to be a good experience.  I tried to join the Marines but couldn't because I only hold a GED. No matter what happens you never forget where you come from.


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## Charliedontsurf

pfcspence said:
			
		

> Ya thanks I just found out about this site, I think i'll check it out more often!   I'm 24 and to answer the question, I'm a native cdn originally from Wpg. I'd been trying to get into the CF's since Nov of 03!! By June of this yr I got fed up and headed south into Buffalo.   Too bad, but it's turning out to be a good experience.   I tried to join the Marines but couldn't because I only hold a GED. No matter what happens you never forget where you come from.



ok  but my question is if you held dual citizen ship, to enlist in the us military you need to at least hold a green card and have lived in the us 3 years min for USMC, or be a naturalized american.  Which are you? Did you live in the US before, is one of your parents american?


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## 48Highlander

There's something like 30,000 illigeal aliens serving in the US army.  I'm guessing their background checks aren't quite as extensive as ours...


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## Charliedontsurf

yea the illegal aliens are the ones who live in the us but with no green cards.  A lot of ppl get fake greencards and thats how they get in, but were talking about getting in the military legaly, I doubt this guy here got in with a fake green card.


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## canadianblue

I'm actually also really interested in how you got into the army down their. If I could I think I'd apply for the US Army, or Marine Corps, hopefully as a military police officer. But I doubt I could ever do it because I need a green card.

So how did you get into the US Army?


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## D-n-A

To be a MP in the US Army, you must have US citisenship. 

To join the US Military, you have to have a green card, be a us citisen, and theirs something about if your native, you can join.

If you only have a green card, you will be limited to what MOSs you can get and the kind of secruitty clearances you can get.


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## Alex252

How long did the US recruitment time take?


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## Charliedontsurf

MikeL said:
			
		

> To be a MP in the US Army, you must have US citisenship.
> 
> To join the US Military, you have to have a green card, be a us citisen, and theirs something about if your native, you can join.
> 
> If you only have a green card, you will be limited to what MOSs you can get and the kind of secruitty clearances you can get.



add to that there is a clause that you have to have lived a minimum of 5 years in the US or 3 for the USMC, though I am not sure how much they enforce this.  Short of getting a false green card and chancing it, if you dont have one already or arent naturalized, basically forget it.  Getting a green card requires a US company to sponsor you, to show that you have specific skills that are hard to come by in the american working pool.  Its an avenue I looked into a lot, talked to a lot of friends who are US Army recruiters and I made several trips to the US embassy.


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## D-n-A

Awhile ago I looked into enlisting in the US Army, I talked to recruiters, etc. The Army wanted to take me, but said they coulden't do anything with me unless I got a green card, but they told to talk to immigration, etc.

So, I talked to them an they said I coulden't get a green card, so I asked if my father could get one or a dual citisenship since he served in the US Army from 1968-1973 an served in Vietnam. They said he coulden't get one, but on their site it clearly says that anyone who has fought in the US Military in WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, etc is entitled to one. So the immigration person told me to talk to the Army about it, etc. The immigration people I talked to didn't really know that much about it, etc so I gave up. 

Its not as easy to join the US Military as some of you make it out to be, you can show up to their recruiters all you want, their give you lots of info, but unless you have a green card(or in the process of getting one) or a citisenship, your SOL.

So, I joined the Canadian Army and love it.


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## Tpr.Orange

why not just serve the country you live in?
Is waiting really that bad?


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## Matt_Fisher

Steve99 said:
			
		

> charliedontsurf: Where did you hear you need to live in the United States for 5 or 3 years to join?
> 
> Have you ACTUALLY TRIED driving down to a recruiting center, and enlist?
> 
> Unfornately I'm too young still and am on my last year in high school, but from what I've gathered if you were to go down there, and actually try to enlist, their is a pretty good chance they'll find a loophole to get you in, they need guys, simple as that, greencard or no greencard.
> 
> So, all you guys who want to join, why not go down there and TRY atleast, and I don't mean phone them or e-mail them, actually WALK IN the recruiting center, I have a fealing it will be hard for them to turn you down, that being said I'm sure you may be limited to certain MOS's for security purposes...
> 
> When I graduate high school, I think I'll try this, and if it doesn't work, I'll join the Canadian Forces.



Steve, 

How about I save you a tank of gas driving down to the closest US Armed Forces Recruiting Station and a bit of frstration on the drive home.

You need to either be a US citizen or Permanent Resident (aka Green Card holder) to enlist in any branch of the US Armed Forces.   If you as a Canadian citizen walk into a recruiting office in the US, you'll find that the recruiter will tell you to come back once you've got Permanent Resident status, as there is nothing they can do to enlist you without a green card.  No loopholes.  That's the regulation and if the recruiter cares about his (or her) career and not doesn't want to be tried in a court-martial for fraudulent enlistment, he'll abide by that regulation.

Then if you ask how you get a Green Card, the recruiter will tell you to talk to the INS, not him.

How do I know this?   I'm a Canadian citizen currently enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and only managed to do so because I had Permanent Resident status (Green Card).

If you're really wanting to serve in a military other than Canada's your best bets are to join the British Army or Royal Marines, or kiss your family and friends in Canada goodbye and be reborn into the French Foreign Legion.


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## Fishbone Jones

Finally. Thanx Matt.


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## Torlyn

Matt_Fisher said:
			
		

> If you're really wanting to serve in a military other than Canada's your best bets are to join the British Army or Royal Marines, or kiss your family and friends in Canada goodbye and be reborn into the French Foreign Legion.



Ah,  just the FFL.  The British requirements just got tougher for non-British subjects...

T


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## Fishbone Jones

So instead of leaving everyone hang there T. How about posting the Brit requirements.


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## Torlyn

recceguy said:
			
		

> So instead of leaving everyone hang there T. How about posting the Brit requirements.



My bad...    If you are applying for an officer position, be sure you're fairly young.  I know that Pieman just went over there, and one of the reasons he was rejected was because they thought he was too old.  (27)  The other reason was his residency.  While historically the Brits have had a 2 year UK living requirement for commonwealth application in writing, it wasn't adhered to very much.  (This from a british recruiter)  Now, they've changed the requirements to 5 years "In addition to the rules on nationality, whether or not you are of UK origin, you should normally have resided in the UK for a minimum of 5 years immediately prior to making an application".  The "normally" allows them some leeway, but you'd best be living there, as they are now required by the MoD to actually enforce this requirement.  For more info, check the thread http://army.ca/forums/threads/16844.120.html

T


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## pfcspence

No i dont have a green card, as i said i am a native cdn, all i had to do was prove it to the social security admin, and they gave me a ss# and consider me to be a US citizen born outside of the US.


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## pfcspence

S_Baker said:
			
		

> SPENCE....e-mail me....we can talk


Whats up?  Sorry I havent been around to chat, I've only got so much time up here!!


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## D-n-A

If your from Pueto Rico you can enlist without a green card, since its a US territory?

Or if your in the process of getting a green card you can enlist, just give the recruiter your green card processing number


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