How can a non-citizen join the USMC? The Army?

Thank you, the article and post you submitted is definitely accurate.

Elena Russo - I read your responses. It seems citizenship is an issue. If you contact these Marines they can possibly determine that for certain. If the Army will take him he can do a tour with them. He may like it, but it may make it easier to join USMC afterwards. There are no transfers generally, so he would likely have to complete one tour and then enlist, or maybe join USMC from the start. At age 19, he still has time to live his dream. If he joins Army he would later have to attend USMC boot camp but possibly with some rank; maybe one paygrade higher. I hope it works out, but I should tell you he will need a good score on the ASVAB, good health, and no serious criminal offenses. Here is a link to USMC Europe, and one about another young man who faced adversity in becoming a Marine. Good luck and don't give up on it. He is blessed with a good and loyal Aunt. Semper Fidelis, Will

https://www.facebook.com/marinerecruitingeurope/
https://www.military.com/marine-corps-birthday/badass-of-the-week-jacklyn-h-lucas.html

We truly appreciate your time in reading all the responses and then providing new consistent links. I enjoyed reading the story of Jack Lucas, an impressive series of bravery, chutzpah and Semper Fi spirit; every paragraph was a new coup de théâtre. Thank you for sharing, Will.

Elena Russo - My pleasure. I'm somewhat envious of you living in Italy. I've been to Rome, Naples, Pompei, Sorrento, Ercolano (Herculaneum) and Brindisi. I definitely want to see Sorrento again. I'd like to spend a few days at Lake Como also. I hope things will work out for your Nephew. Best Wishes, Will

Thanks!

I was deployed with a guy from England, didn't want citizenry or a green card or nothing, just wanted to be a part of the only military still blowing stuff up at the time haha.

Exactly! We have the same situation here, he does not care about citizenry etc. as well. Others in this thread mentioned of having had non national and foreigner soldiers in their military units. It is not hard to guess why a young healthy man with strong beliefs and values wishes to be a Marine. I hope that the Govt might cancel the current ban at least for Nato members, in a way that a motivated good foreigner could be part of the Few and the Proud. :-)

Done that, thank you for the prompt reply.
The recruiter would be very happy to take him (my nephew) but there are obviously problems with the papers: in order for a foreigner to serve in the US Military, at least a permanent green card is needed.
Until a while ago, there was the I-551 recruiting Green Card, but now I-551 is no more an option, as such path is temporarily unavailable and possibly getting canceled.
My nephew met this morning a JAG, got said that the Army might have a way to accept him; we of course are trying to get connected with an Army recruiter before he leaves the Country, but in the meanwhile posting here, just in case.
Also, do you or anybody know, please, how hard or easy is to move from Army to USMC? I read another old post on that topic, but the question actually was not fully answered. Thank you. :-)

To transfer branches he would have to go through Marine Boot Camp

Elena Russo - Yes, the minimum requirement is that the recruit be a legal permanent resident. As of recent, I551 recruits are being put on delayed entry to allow time for a full background check and security clearance. This is kind of a pain in the ass, but it prevents having to reclass a soldier in the middle of AIT when you find out he can't get a Secret Clearance.
Aside for exceptions for National Security reasons for people like Language and Cultural experts in a certain area, I don't know of another route for aliens.

That's correct, we just learned in those last 24 hours thanks also to the people who posted here. At the moment, for aliens, there is no any other route unless the Language and Cultural experts for certain specific areas. Sad, but at lest now we know.

Thank you very much for your thorough response.
My friend is interested in being an enlistedman, and he is 19-year-old.
I write here the follow up of our researches, so that if if anybody else would end up on this website as I did, he might have the current status quo of the situation.
We just spoke with an Army recruiter, after talking with a Marine recruiter and getting said by the USMC what I wrote above (ref. my previous reply to SSG David McPherson.) Unfortunately, the Army recruiter said that the Army actually did have a program for non-citizens non-residents motivated to enlist, but such program closed around a year ago, and it seems it won't be reopened anytime soon. :-((
In other words, it seems that in this moment is virtually impossible to get into the US Military for any foreigner, unless, I seem to understand, he can be a translator or similar for some critical languages/cultures, etc.
For the sake of completeness, I wish to add that the nationality of my friend is Italian.

I suggest researching the possibility of getting him resident status. I hope his endeavor pans out.

Yes, you are right; after wide investigation, we came to the conclusion that getting a resident status is the only chance he has to be a Marine. It is way more complicated that it seems, unfortunately.
Thank you for your support. :-)

Thank you, really interesting article, and very useful for us.
Through that article, I found the most complete answer to my question. I post the article here in case future readers might be interested:

https://www.npr.org/2017/07/03/535342867/pentagon-considers-canceling-program-that-recruits-immigrant-soldiers

Now I have just to find reliable sources in order to be updated on future final cancellation or rather reopening of the program.