Hi guys,

Once my fiance recieves his green card, he would like to work in law enforcement (even though I dont want him to!). Anyway, some of the police departments he has looked at so far require you to be a US citizen. Is anyone aware of a PD where just having the green card is enough or would he have to wait to apply for citizenship?

Thank you in advance!

Katie

Not a career path I'm interested in, but out of boredom, I looked into a few of the police dept around my area (VA) and all required citizenship. For fire dept or paramedic, one didnt have to be a citizen!

Same goes for the US Post Office. There are many advantages gained with citizenship.

As far as I'm aware to be a police officer you need to be a citizen. If he was interested in being a dispatcher, a green card will suffice...

The PO will take Permanent Residents, but only after conditions are lifted (if in place):

http://www.usps.com/employment/employrequirements.htm
Employees must be a United States citizen, a lawful permanent resident alien (i.e., possession of a “green card”), a citizen of American Samoa or any other territory owing permanent allegiance to the United States. Individuals solely granted asylum status, refugee status or conditional permanent resident status are not eligible for Postal Service employment

meauxna,

But doesn't USPS have more applicants than openings, and don't they have a policy of giving preference to veterens? Very difficult to get a job there, I understand. Or is that ancient history or urban myth?

Yodrak

Minnesota also requires that peace officers be citizens. They also require them to take several classes, which can take a year or 2. If your fiance is interested, he should get in contact with the state police/peace officer's board and find out all the requirements. If your state also requires classes, he could start on those while waiting to apply for citizenship.

i will check with human resources in houston when i get back from thanksgiving break

Thank you for all your help!

Maybe so. I remember back to high school in a small town--that was considered to be a good job to get if you could get it. Employment for life!
I don't know about the current hiring levels, but I do know that you don't have to be a US citizen to work there.

UPS is supposed to be a desirable place to work too, but none of that employment for life stuff.

I second this. Getting paramedic certification would also help him have a leg up once he became a citizen and started looking for peace officer positions.

You have to be an American Citizen to be a Police Officer I'm afraid and I know this for a fact.

However once you have applied for your citizenship some Police Departments will allow you to start your training with them as long as you will have received your citizenship by the end of the training.

A dispatcher/telecommunicator job came up 2 weeks ago in my small town but when I enquired, I was told by the Chief of Police that I would have to be a citizen as accessing police records was part of the job and for that one has to be a citizen.

Good luck for the future, anyway....Neil.