Military Naturalizations
An 1862 law allowed honorably discharged Army veterans of any war to petition for naturalization, without having filed a declaration of intent, after only 1 year of residence in the United States. An 1894 law extended the same privilege to honorably discharged 5-year veteransof the Navy or Marine Corps. Over 192,000 aliens were naturalized between May 9, 1918, and June 30, 1919, under an act of May 9, 1918. Laws enacted in 1919, 1926, 1940, and 1952 continued preferential treatment provisions for veterans.
Aliens serving in the US militarydid not gain citizenshipthrough service alone. The naturalization of soldierswas performed under certain provisions of nationality law facilitating the naturalization of members of the US armed forces. These provisions waived the Declaration of Intentionrequirement and waived or reduced the residency requirement. Thus many soldiers filed petitionsand were naturalizedthe same day.
To learn how to find a World War I soldier naturalization, read the rest of “Naturalization of Members of the US Armed Forces During World War I”
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Start your Ancestry free trialSearch Naturalization Index – WWI Soldiers Index to Naturalizations of World War I Soldiers, 1918. index cards with names, dates of naturalization, court numbers, and certificate numbers of soldiers in WWI whose naturalizations were facilitated so they could serve in the US Armed Forces. The Declaration of Intention requirement was typically waived to speed up the process. Many soldiers filed petitions and were naturalized in the same day. Courts were often located at military bases. Browse the index by a soldier’s last name, or search by given name, surname, base name, or court number
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