Selective Service issue

[ali.jr0 3]

Hello Everyone,

I am a LPR in the United States, i started my first full time job almost 6 months ago and was thinking about applying for Citizenship (i've been here for more than 5 years).

When i talked to my neighbour about it , she told me that i can not apply for Citizenship if i didin't submit a request to be a part of "Selective Service" which i never even heard of!!!! , so when i went to the website and checked it out i figured i am not eligible to register anymore because my 26th birthday was almost 5 months ago!!

How bad is this on my citizenship application? should i apply for citizenship or should i wait? some people also told me i should wait until am 31 or sthn..... what's the deal with that????

What if i apply and get rejected, will i lose my Green Card???? or just lose the money??!

I really need to apply for citizenship to sponsor my wife-to-be faster

Some people told me i can send them a letter and tell them i honestly did not know about it until my neigbour told me which was already too late, but i don't know if that could help!

Anyone??

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

I may be wrong, but as I understand it, you register for selective service when you become a citizen, not before?

[ali.jr0 3]

It seems that everyone should register for selective service if they are aged 18-26 i can't believe how i never thought about something like that! am so depressed since i have been counting days to reach the point where i can finally become a citizen :(

[Ian H. 207]

Ok, first of all not registering for the selective service is not good, especially if you want to apply for naturalization. I would speak to an immigration lawyer just in case. However, I know several people who were unaware that they had to register, and they were able to naturalize. However, you do have to tell the truth, and provide a letter explaining why you didn't register. Simple, you were unaware that you had to, no one every told you that was a requirement. You also have to contact the SSS, and find out about getting a letter verifying your status.

[Not a Tailor 1,370]

"WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU DID NOT REGISTER AND ARE NOW 26 OR OLDER?

If you have passed your 26th birthday and are now being denied eligibility for Federal student financial aid, Federal job training, or Federal employment, or are having difficulty obtaining U.S. citizenship because you failed to register, you have the following recourse available to you: Explain to the official handling your case (for example, a student financial aid officer) the reasons for your failure to register with Selective Service. A non-registrant may not be denied any benefit if he can "show by a preponderance of evidence" that his failure to register was not knowing and willful. Offer as much evidence supporting your case, and as much detail, as possible."

source

Edited July 16, 2014 by Not a Tailor

[Ontarkie 14,507]

~~Duplicate post merged.~~

Check to see if you were automatically registered. My son was and a few other members were also.

[JimmyHou 613]

Hello Everyone,

I am a LPR in the United States, i started my first full time job almost 6 months ago and was thinking about applying for Citizenship (i've been here for more than 5 years).

When i talked to my neighbour about it , she told me that i can not apply for Citizenship if i didin't submit a request to be a part of "Selective Service" which i never even heard of!!!! , so when i went to the website and checked it out i figured i am not eligible to register anymore because my 26th birthday was almost 5 months ago!!

How bad is this on my citizenship application? should i apply for citizenship or should i wait? some people also told me i should wait until am 31 or sthn..... what's the deal with that????

What if i apply and get rejected, will i lose my Green Card???? or just lose the money??!

I really need to apply for citizenship to sponsor my wife-to-be faster

Some people told me i can send them a letter and tell them i honestly did not know about it until my neigbour told me which was already too late, but i don't know if that could help!

Anyone??

All US citizens and permanent residents between the ages of 18 and 26 are required to register for selective service. There's some good news and bad news for you.

The good news is that your status as a permanent resident will almost certainly not be affected by this. You'll still be able to sponsor any relatives that are eligible for sponsorship by permanent residents (this will be slower than if you were a citizen). More good news: you'll also be able to eventually apply for citizenship.

The bad news is that you probably won't be able to apply for citizenship anytime soon. Failing to apply for Selective Service is seen as a failure to "demonstrate good moral character". To overcome this, you need to wait 5 years (or 3 years if you are applying based on marriage to a US citizen) from the date of the offense. This means that if you want a relatively smooth application process, you'll need to wait until after your 31st birthday to send in your application. You can still apply before then, but there is a big chance that you'll be denied.

The information below is from an immigration legal advice website, not from an official USCIS document. It addresses the situation you're in. If you use the search tool on Visa Journey, you'll find many cases similar to your own. Most people wait until they have turned 31 (or 29), but there are exceptions.

The following is from: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/naturalization-eligibility-men-who-failed-register-with-the-selective-service.html

Proving Good Moral Character If It’s Too Late to Register

If you’ve passed age 26, it’s too late for you to register for the Selective Service. Your chances of qualifying for U.S. citizenship depend on how many years have passed since you were supposed to register and how many years of good moral character you need to show. If you need to show five years of good moral character, then the easiest thing might be to wait until you are age 31 to apply for citizenship.

Or if you need to show only three years of good moral character (because you have been married to and living with a U.S. citizen all that time), you should wait until you are 29 years of age to submit your N-400 citizenship application.

Proving That You Didn’t Know You Were Supposed to Register

If you are eager to apply for citizenship before you turn 29 or 31 (as applicable), you may be able to show USCIS that you had no idea that registering was expected of you, and that you therefore didn’t “willfully” fail to register, by submitting these along with your naturalization application:

• a Status Information Letter from the Selective Service System
• your sworn declaration, and
• sworn declarations from people who knew you.

[Enigma23 68]

~~Duplicate post merged.~~

Check to see if you were automatically registered. My son was and a few other members were also.

You can check if you were actually registered here:

https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfVerification.aspx

Best of luck for you!!

[Hypnos 6,578]

As alluded to above, you may or may not have been registered automatically depending on exactly how and when you become a green card holder. You can try an online search on their site to see if you were registered here: https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfVerification.aspx but even if you find nothing it doesn't mean you weren't registered. Provided you entered the US on an immigrant visa or were approved for adjustment of status before your 26th birthday then there's a good chance you were automatically registered with Selective Service. You can call them at 1-888-655-1825 and they can do a more thorough search than their online system to see if you were registered.

If it turns out you were registered then there is no issue. If for some reason you were not, you will not be apply to apply for naturalisation until you turn 31, because failure to register for Selective Service is deemed as a failing of the "good moral character" requirement of the N-400, and you would need to wait five years for it to fall outside of the five year window.

[JimmyHou 613]

You can check if you were actually registered here:

https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfVerification.aspx

Best of luck for you!!

Enigma23 raises a good point, many times, when you're starting a new job or enrolling in school or something else, you sign a lot of paperwork and there's a chance that a registration form could have been in the pack. Good luck!

[ali.jr0 3]

Thank you everyone for your support and quick replies! i have actually called them thanx to the number Hypnos posted & found that i have indeed been registered by DMV 1 year before my birthday when i renewed my ID and that my name was simply misspelled!!!!! What a nightmare!!!!! Finally something off my shoulder! the guy on the phone fixed the thing and told me they'll send me a letter confirming!!!! woooooooooooo hooooooooooo!Thank you everyone i really appreciate it!!!!

[Ian H. 207]

That's some good piece of information to have and to know. However, this is exactly one of the things that is wrong with the bureaucracy in this country. If you ask me, they do this on purpose. They should make the person aware at some point in the immigration process that registering for the SSS is a requirement. Or they should make SSS registration part of the visa application process. This would save people time, money, and energy in the future.

All US citizens and permanent residents between the ages of 18 and 26 are required to register for selective service. There's some good news and bad news for you.

The good news is that your status as a permanent resident will almost certainly not be affected by this. You'll still be able to sponsor any relatives that are eligible for sponsorship by permanent residents (this will be slower than if you were a citizen). More good news: you'll also be able to eventually apply for citizenship.

The bad news is that you probably won't be able to apply for citizenship anytime soon. Failing to apply for Selective Service is seen as a failure to "demonstrate good moral character". To overcome this, you need to wait 5 years (or 3 years if you are applying based on marriage to a US citizen) from the date of the offense. This means that if you want a relatively smooth application process, you'll need to wait until after your 31st birthday to send in your application. You can still apply before then, but there is a big chance that you'll be denied.

The information below is from an immigration legal advice website, not from an official USCIS document. It addresses the situation you're in. If you use the search tool on Visa Journey, you'll find many cases similar to your own. Most people wait until they have turned 31 (or 29), but there are exceptions.

The following is from: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/naturalization-eligibility-men-who-failed-register-with-the-selective-service.html

Proving Good Moral Character If It’s Too Late to Register

If you’ve passed age 26, it’s too late for you to register for the Selective Service. Your chances of qualifying for U.S. citizenship depend on how many years have passed since you were supposed to register and how many years of good moral character you need to show. If you need to show five years of good moral character, then the easiest thing might be to wait until you are age 31 to apply for citizenship.

Or if you need to show only three years of good moral character (because you have been married to and living with a U.S. citizen all that time), you should wait until you are 29 years of age to submit your N-400 citizenship application.

Proving That You Didn’t Know You Were Supposed to Register

If you are eager to apply for citizenship before you turn 29 or 31 (as applicable), you may be able to show USCIS that you had no idea that registering was expected of you, and that you therefore didn’t “willfully” fail to register, by submitting these along with your naturalization application:

• a Status Information Letter from the Selective Service System
• your sworn declaration, and
• sworn declarations from people who knew you.

[JimmyHou 613]

That's some good piece of information to have and to know. However, this is exactly one of the things that is wrong with the bureaucracy in this country. If you ask me, they do this on purpose. They should make the person aware at some point in the immigration process that registering for the SSS is a requirement. Or they should make SSS registration part of the visa application process. This would save people time, money, and energy in the future.

I agree... honestly, I'm surprised more people aren't tripped up by this requirement.

And just to clarify two things that were missing from my post:

- This only applies to male applicants.

- If you became a permanent resident after you turned 26, there's no issue and you can apply as soon as you are eligible (even if you lived in the US as a non-immigrant before you turned 26).

[Darth Vader Kuu 5]

It is not true that, by itself, failure to register for Selective Service establishes a failure to demonstrate good moral character.

It is also not true that one who fails to register (not the Original Poster who has since confirmed he was indeed automaticaly registered) cannot apply for citizenship "any time soon."

There are people who are simply unaware of this requirement, and are able to demonstrate such ignorance with ease. I was, in the past, casually informed that the USCIS only considers crimes of moral turpitude (rape, murder, drug trafficking, felony theft, arms offences, etcetera) as events that would demonstrate a failure to demonstrate good moral chracter in consideration for naturalisation.

Persons with suspended drivers licences, reckeless driving records, and misdemeanour criminal RAP (Records of Arrests and Prosecutions) sheet routinely get naturalised while such offences are within their statutory periods.

All US citizens and permanent residents between the ages of 18 and 26 are required to register for selective service. There's some good news and bad news for you.

The good news is that your status as a permanent resident will almost certainly not be affected by this. You'll still be able to sponsor any relatives that are eligible for sponsorship by permanent residents (this will be slower than if you were a citizen). More good news: you'll also be able to eventually apply for citizenship.

The bad news is that you probably won't be able to apply for citizenship anytime soon. Failing to apply for Selective Service is seen as a failure to "demonstrate good moral character". To overcome this, you need to wait 5 years (or 3 years if you are applying based on marriage to a US citizen) from the date of the offense. This means that if you want a relatively smooth application process, you'll need to wait until after your 31st birthday to send in your application. You can still apply before then, but there is a big chance that you'll be denied.

The information below is from an immigration legal advice website, not from an official USCIS document. It addresses the situation you're in. If you use the search tool on Visa Journey, you'll find many cases similar to your own. Most people wait until they have turned 31 (or 29), but there are exceptions.

The following is from: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/naturalization-eligibility-men-who-failed-register-with-the-selective-service.html

Proving Good Moral Character If It’s Too Late to Register

If you’ve passed age 26, it’s too late for you to register for the Selective Service. Your chances of qualifying for U.S. citizenship depend on how many years have passed since you were supposed to register and how many years of good moral character you need to show. If you need to show five years of good moral character, then the easiest thing might be to wait until you are age 31 to apply for citizenship.

Or if you need to show only three years of good moral character (because you have been married to and living with a U.S. citizen all that time), you should wait until you are 29 years of age to submit your N-400 citizenship application.

Proving That You Didn’t Know You Were Supposed to Register

If you are eager to apply for citizenship before you turn 29 or 31 (as applicable), you may be able to show USCIS that you had no idea that registering was expected of you, and that you therefore didn’t “willfully” fail to register, by submitting these along with your naturalization application:

• a Status Information Letter from the Selective Service System
• your sworn declaration, and
• sworn declarations from people who knew you.

[Ian H. 207]

Oh trust me it happens and a lot. Fortunately, they don't make a big deal about it.

I agree... honestly, I'm surprised more people aren't tripped up by this requirement.

And just to clarify two things that were missing from my post:

- This only applies to male applicants.

- If you became a permanent resident after you turned 26, there's no issue and you can apply as soon as you are eligible (even if you lived in the US as a non-immigrant before you turned 26).