---
kind: "section"
citation: "46 U.S.C. § 11203"
title: "46"
title_heading: "Shipping"
number: "11203"
heading: "Documentation of qualified service"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/46/11203"
units:
  - "Subtitle II — Vessels and Seamen"
  - "Part G — Merchant Seamen Protection and Relief"
  - "Chapter 112 — Merchant Mariner Benefits"
---

# §11203. Documentation of qualified service

- (a) **Record of Service.—** The [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46), or in the case of personnel of the Army Transport Service or the Naval Transport Service, the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) of Defense, shall, upon application—
  - (1) issue a certificate of honorable service to an individual who, as determined by that [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46), engaged in qualified service of a nature and duration that warrants issuance of the certificate; and
  - (2) correct, or request the appropriate official of the Federal Government to correct, the service records of that individual to the extent necessary to reflect the qualified service and the issuance of the certificate of honorable service.
- (b) **Timing of Documentation.—** A [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) receiving an application under [subsection (a)](#a) shall act on the application not later than 1 year after the date of that receipt.
- (c) **Standards Relating to Service.—** In making a determination under [subsection (a)(1)](#a-1), the [Secretary](/usc/46/2101.md?p=46) acting on the application shall apply the same standards relating to the nature and duration of service that apply to the issuance of honorable discharges under section 401(a)(1)(B) of the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977 ([38 U.S.C. 106](/usc/38/106.md) note).
- (d) **Correction of Records.—** An official who is requested under [subsection (a)(2)](#a-2) to correct the service records of an individual shall make such correction.

## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 105–368, title IV, § 402(a), Nov. 11, 1998, 112 Stat. 3337; amended Pub. L. 116–283, div. G, title LVXXXV [LXXXV], § 8505(b)(13), Jan. 1, 2021, 134 Stat. 4752.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### References in Text

Section 401(a)(1)(B) of the GI Bill Improvement Act of 1977, referred to in subsec. (c), is section 401(a)(1)(B) of Pub. L. 95–202, which is set out as a note under section 106 of Title 38, Veterans’ Benefits.

### Amendments

2021—Pub. L. 116–283, § 8505(b)(13)(A), substituted “an individual” for “a person” in subsecs. (a)(1) and (d).

Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 116–283, § 8505(b)(13)(B), substituted “that individual” for “that person”.