8 U.S.C. § 1354
Section 1354 · Applicability to members of the Armed Forces
This is § 284 of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (McCarran-Walter)
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case In re Naturalization of Convento (1962)
Most recently applied in In re Naturalization of Alon (May 1972)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Nothing contained in this subchapter shall be construed so as to limit, restrict, deny, or affect the coming into or departure from the United States of an alien member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is in the uniform of, or who bears documents identifying him as a member of, such Armed Forces, and who is coming to or departing from the United States under official orders or permit of such Armed Forces: Provided, That nothing contained in this section shall be construed to give to or confer upon any such alien any other privileges, rights, benefits, exemptions, or immunities under this chapter, which are not otherwise specifically granted by this chapter.
(b) If a person lawfully admitted for permanent residence is the spouse or child of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, is authorized to accompany the member and reside abroad with the member pursuant to the member's official orders, and is so accompanying and residing with the member (in marital union if a spouse), then the residence and physical presence of the person abroad shall not be treated as—
(1) an abandonment or relinquishment of lawful permanent resident status for purposes of clause (i) of section 1101(a)(13)(C) of this title; or
(2) an absence from the United States for purposes of clause (ii) of such section.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2008—Pub. L. 110–181 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a) and added subsec. (b).