N-400 Military Training question (Part 12, Question 19

[seganku 53]

Part 12, Question 19: "Did you EVER receive any type of military, paramilitary (a group of people who act like a military group but are not part of the official military), or weapon training?"

 

My wife went to university in China.  All students attend a mandatory one month 学校军训 (school military training), which mostly involves calesthenics, marching, waking early, and making your bed with crisp corners.  At the end of the month, each student fired one shot from a rifle.  No one seemed to care if they hit anything.

 

In previous documents (eg. I-485), we've always answered "No" to military training questions, because she didn't really consider this military training at all.  But .. it does have "military" in the name fo the program.   We feel like it is better to answer "Yes" here, with explanation.

 

How likely is it that she runs into issues if she says "Yes" on the N-400, but previously said "No".  I suspect it would be worse to reverse the scenario (say "Yes", then "No").

 

Thank you so much!  Also, a huge thanks to a wonderful community that has supported us through this entire process!

[Dongbei 22]

I honestly don't believe 军训 fits anything like what they're thinking when they say "military training." It's 99.9% sitting in the sun and being forced to sing patriotic songs, isn't it?

[Ellie_7 99]

An online search for the USCIS definition of military training gives results that state:

Military-type training is defined to include "training in means or methods that can cause death or serious bodily injury, destroy or damage property, or

disrupt services to critical infrastructure, or training on the use, storage,

production, or assembly of any explosive, firearm or other weapon, including

any weapon of mass destruction." 18 U.S.C. § 2339D(c)(l)

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On 6/17/2022 at 2:03 PM, Dongbei said:

I honestly don't believe 军训 fits anything like what they're thinking when they say "military training." It's 99.9% sitting in the sun and being forced to sing patriotic songs, isn't it?

Yes, she did a lot of marching in place (in the sun), singing patriotic songs as loudly as possible (in the sun), and making her bed a crisp as possible.  There was no combat training whatsoever, with the exception of firing the rifle that one time.

[Dongbei 22]

Yeah I wouldn’t count that. It’s not the kind of combat training they seem to be referring to. 
 

I’m not a lawyer though!