Navy Enlistment Eligibility Changes Effective, July 1, 2021

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Effective yesterday, there has been a few changes to eligibility requirements for enlistment; specifically, to citizenship documents and status, to dependency, and two new ratings within the Hospital Corpsman rating now available at enlistment.

First, citizenship.

The shipping or gaining a permanent resident alien without a valid unexpired USCIS I-551 card is prohibited unless they possess an expired ten year USCIS I-551 card with a USCIS I-797 (Notice of Action-Issued) extending their expiration date of their 10 year USCIS I-551 card in their possession. Prior to this change, a person could not ship to boot-camp or be gained as a Reservist until a new unexpired I-551 card was recieved.

Conditional resident aliens with an expired 2 year card are not eligible for enlistment until they can obtain a 10 year permanent resident card or proof of citizenship.

To initially join, the rule remains the same: A Permanent Resident Alien applicant must have an unexpired USCIS I-551 issued on or after the person’s 14th birthday in their possession.

Dual Citizenship is no longer a show-stopper: Applicants holding dual citizenship status (i.e., a citizen of the United States and a citizen of another country) may not be used as a basis for, or a disqualifying factor in, determining an individual's Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) eligibility provided the individual has a completed a favorably adjudicated investigation and meets all other eligibility requirements. Prior to this change, one would have to officially renouncement citizenship to the non-US country before being eligible.

Dependency. The total number of dependents a non-Prior Service applicant can have has been reduced. I have updated the Dependency Waiver article to reflect the new standard. Previously, for instance, an unmarried or divorced Reserve Component applicant with four dependents was eligible with a waiver; now, the maximum dependents is three, and only two of those dependents can minors.

I read that as a single applicant with three minor children would no longer be eligible. Similar changes have been made to the Active Duty dependent maximums. For an Active Duty married non-Prior Service applicant, the maximum is now three dependents; previously, four was the most one could have with an approved waiver.

The Hospital Corpsman rating: opportunities now exist for those to enlist as Dental Hygienist(HMDH) and a Behavioral Health Technician(HMBHT). Both ratings share the same ASVAB requirement for HMDA (VE+MK+GS=156).

The HMDH rating is only accessible via the Direct Procurement Enlistment Program (DPEP) (Because it is a DPEP, I do not know whether HMDH is a four year enlistment per DPEP instructions, or whether it is a five year enlistment to be inline with HM's current minimum enlistment requirement).

The HMBHT, like the HM-ATF program, is a 72 month enlistment obligation.

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