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nofrills Jul 7th 2019 12:07 pm

Foreign Legion
 
Hello all
A friend of mine, has an opportunity to get a green card.
one thing he is worried about is that some years ago he served in French Foreign Legion.
would this negatively impact his application?
Any advice highly appreciated.
thanks

civilservant Jul 7th 2019 12:33 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 
He will need his military service papers, his discharge papers I believe.

If he was discharged other than honorably, it could cause a problem.

morpeth Jul 7th 2019 3:24 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 

Originally Posted by nofrills (Post 12707620)
Hello all
A friend of mine, has an opportunity to get a green card.
one thing he is worried about is that some years ago he served in French Foreign Legion.
would this negatively impact his application?
Any advice highly appreciated.
thanks

One option is talk to a Marine recruiter (a) depending on his training it may be they would help (b)get his Green called, sign up for 4 years, and he can get his citizenship after completing boot camp..

nofrills Jul 7th 2019 7:16 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 
Thanks for replying.

The thing is, he signed a 5 year contract, and served only just over 1 year.

He left on his 3 weeks holiday and never came back.

That was over 20 years ago.

He wanted to get copies of his documents from FL, he phoned them, and was asked to send an email to the address they provided, and he would get his copy.

He's done it several times, but received no reply.

He suspects they could have tried him for deserting, and there could be a record of the sentence on his FL file.

When he spoke to them over the phone, he was told nobody is looking for him at all, as every year there are so many people deserting FL for various reasons.

When he spoke over the phone with a french lawyer he was told that most likely his case went through military court and there was some sentence imposed, but after 6 years it expired.

The lawyer said he could go through a court and ask to be pardoned.



He applied for a criminal history check from France as he lived there for over 6 months, and it came clear.

What do you think about it?

Thanks

Nutmegger Jul 7th 2019 8:03 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 

Originally Posted by nofrills (Post 12707620)
Hello all
A friend of mine, has an opportunity to get a green card.
one thing he is worried about is that some years ago he served in French Foreign Legion.
would this negatively impact his application?
Any advice highly appreciated.
thanks

It might be relevant for us to know how he has the opportunity to get the green card.

jkeller Jul 7th 2019 8:16 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 
It used to be that you could join the legion with a fake name. Did he join with his real identity?

Wiki quote..
"Legionnaires were, in the past, forced to enlist under a pseudonym ("declared identity"). This policy existed in order to allow recruits who wanted to restart their lives to enlist. The Legion held the belief that it was fairer to make all new recruits use declared identities." There has to be some way to get ahold of his service records. Lying on his green card paperwork is not the way to go.

civilservant Jul 7th 2019 8:49 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 
Time for an attorney, this just became a non-DIY immigration case.

No one here can adequately advise on this situation.

tom169 Jul 7th 2019 11:03 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 

Originally Posted by civilservant (Post 12707755)
Time for an attorney, this just became a non-DIY immigration case.

No one here can adequately advise on this situation.

:goodpost:

HDWill Jul 8th 2019 12:32 am

Re: Foreign Legion
 
If I were an immigration officer looking at his case, I would have no problem and would love to hear his stories. I recall reading "Legion of the Lost," a book written by an American who joined in the '90s and deserted after a year due to the viciousness, brutality, and chaos he was subjected to. It made me imagine that I too would have deserted in a similar situation.

nofrills Jul 8th 2019 4:42 am

Re: Foreign Legion
 
Thanks for replying again.

There is a company that wants to sponsor him as an employee.
would anyone know of a good attorney, who would be able to advise on this case?
He served under his real name.
thanks

morpeth Jul 8th 2019 7:29 am

Re: Foreign Legion
 

Originally Posted by nofrills (Post 12707858)
Thanks for replying again.

There is a company that wants to sponsor him as an employee.
would anyone know of a good attorney, who would be able to advise on this case?
He served under his real name.
thanks

if you send me private message i can give you recommendation


Pollyana Jul 8th 2019 12:33 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 

Originally Posted by nofrills (Post 12707858)
Thanks for replying again.

There is a company that wants to sponsor him as an employee.
would anyone know of a good attorney, who would be able to advise on this case?
He served under his real name.
thanks

Many Legionnaires only served under their real names, sand their records are excellent,
However the biggest problem your friend will face is the fact hat he deserted. The brotherhood of the Legion views desertion as just about the worst crime there is, certainly post enlistment, and to many Legionnaire once a person has deserted they are dead. So the problem will be getting an officer with that attitude to trace and sign any records. The records will be there, its access to them that will be the issue.
I wish your friend luck - let us know the outcome. .





TexanScot Jul 8th 2019 1:19 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 

Originally Posted by HDWill (Post 12707811)
If I were an immigration officer looking at his case, I would have no problem and would love to hear his stories.

I'm not an immigration officer, but I can't see many Americans in general looking fondly towards anyone deserting the military!


civilservant Jul 8th 2019 1:20 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 

Originally Posted by TexanScot (Post 12707997)
I'm not an immigration officer, but I can't see many Americans in general looking fondly towards anyone deserting the military!

Hardly fits with 'good moral character' does it?

Rete Jul 8th 2019 1:29 pm

Re: Foreign Legion
 

Originally Posted by TexanScot (Post 12707997)
I'm not an immigration officer, but I can't see many Americans in general looking fondly towards anyone deserting the military!

Would that attitude not be the same of someone who is a deserter who is attempting to emigrate to the UK?


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