Register With the Selective Service???

[Donna and Ali 0]

hello brothers and sisters,

recently i got my conditional permanent resident card, and the welcome to the United states Of America letter along with a small guide for new residents in the US...under the rights and responsibilities in the small guide something caught my eye which is "REGISTERING WITH THE SELECTIVE SERVICE FOR MALES AGED 18 TO 26"...and here what it says on the welcome guide that i downloaded on internet from uscis website :

"Register With the Selective Service

If you are a man and you are 18 to 26 years old, you

must register with the Selective Service.When you register,

you tell the government that you are available to serve

in the U.S. Armed

Forces.The United

States does not have

a military draft now.

This means that

permanent residents

and citizens do not

have to serve in the Armed Forces unless they want to."

well to make my question clear about that matter...is that means that i must register even if i'm not wishing to serve...in other words : i must register but still have the right to reply "NO I CAN'T FOR THE MOMENT" in case i registered and received a call or a letter from the army themselves to join right away.

i always liked to join the army myself but my wife doesn't want me to.

thanks in advance for any info or advises about that matter.

[JeroenAndMichelle 28]

Hiya,

You will need to register yourself so they know that you are available for active duty (which is the law basically, every male between 18 and 26 needs to register themselves) but this does not mean you will actually have to fulfill active duty.

Thing is, as soon as the US hits a big war and they need to draft people (like for example happened during WW2), then you are very likely to receive a letter that you will need to fulfill active duty. This is basically the only reason that they need you to register. Also, when they actually draft you, you cannot say 'sorry but this isn't a good time' as that is considered illegal also.

Your wife might not like this, but it is the law.. any male between 18 and 26 needs to be registered, if they want or not. It just does not mean they actually have to fulfill duty

Edited March 30, 2009 by JeroenAndMichelle

[Donna and Ali 0]

Hiya,

You will need to register yourself so they know that you are available for active duty (which is the law basically, every male between 18 and 26 needs to register themselves) but this does not mean you will actually have to fulfill active duty.

Thing is, as soon as the US hits a big war and they need to draft people (like for example happened during WW2), then you are very likely to receive a letter that you will need to fulfill active duty. This is basically the only reason that they need you to register. Also, when they actually draft you, you cannot say 'sorry but this isn't a good time' as that is considered illegal also.

Your wife might not like this, but it is the law.. any male between 18 and 26 needs to be registered, if they want or not. It just does not mean they actually have to fulfill duty

i understand that thx but the big question is that i turned 26 years old 2 weeks prior to the date when i received my green card...and when i checked on the sss web site it says you must register before ur 26th birthday!!!...so wht do you thiink the case is?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Hiya,

You will need to register yourself so they know that you are available for active duty (which is the law basically, every male between 18 and 26 needs to register themselves) but this does not mean you will actually have to fulfill active duty.

Thing is, as soon as the US hits a big war and they need to draft people (like for example happened during WW2), then you are very likely to receive a letter that you will need to fulfill active duty. This is basically the only reason that they need you to register. Also, when they actually draft you, you cannot say 'sorry but this isn't a good time' as that is considered illegal also.

Your wife might not like this, but it is the law.. any male between 18 and 26 needs to be registered, if they want or not. It just does not mean they actually have to fulfill duty

i understand that thx but the big question is that i turned 26 years old 2 weeks prior to the date when i received my green card...and when i checked on the sss web site it says you must register before ur 26th birthday!!!...so wht do you thiink the case is?

Go down and register right away. You only have less than a year before your draft eligibility ends. Just get the paperwork done. I doubt they will draft you anyways.

[jm&mcs 2]

It is based on the date you entered the United States, not the date you receive your Green Card.

[l.j./1999 1]

You might already be registered. If you apply for AOS and are a man under the age of 26, they are supposed to register you automatically when they process your AOS application. That's what happened to my husband -- he got a confirmation from Selective Service around the same time as his green card.

However I've also heard that the automatic registration doesn't always happen, so if you don't hear from them soon, it's a good idea to be proactive and contact them to make sure you get registered.

[fozzie 41]

Go to www.sss.gov and check if you are already rgistered. They wil ask for your SSN, dob and last name.

Unfortunately you have to register. However it is not likely that you will ever have to serve, warfare is different thesedays and is not quite so troop intensive.

[Texanadian 10]

DO NOT REGISTER!

If you're 18-25 you'd need to do it. But you're 26.

Non immigrant people (I-94's, student visas etc) don't need to do it. This means that it's not based on when you entered the country.

People who are citizens or green card holders and who fall into the 18-25 bracket are supposed to register....You are not in this category since you turned 26 before you got your green card.

There is a chart on their website that explains all of the above.

[caybee 21]

I'm trying to put my hand on the exact link and haven't yet (somewhere on www.sss.gov) but my husband entered the country on a K-1 before his 26th birthday, and he was required to register based on the date he arrived on the K-1, not on the date he got his green card.

However, the Selective Service website says that if a male has already had his 26th birthday, he cannot register, and he may be denied access to certain programs and services. It could interfere with your chances of naturalization and of getting some government jobs or student loans down the road.

If you find you were not registered automatically, you need to try to get an exemption letter from Selective Service, and you may need to prove to them that you were unaware that you were required to register until it was too late. You can read about what to do here: http://www.sss.gov/fsmen.htm

If you were not required to register because you were 26 or older when you entered the U.S., you may still want to get this exemption letter to have on file in case you are ever asked to prove your exempt status to any government agency that may ask. It's free and easy to get. A friend of ours who was over 26 when he entered the U.S. on a K-1 was required by USCIS to provide a copy of this exemption letter from Selective Service before he could adjust status. That's the only time I've ever heard of that happening, but if it happened to him, it's happened to others.

[caybee 21]

he was required to register based on the date he arrived on the K-1, not on the date he got his green card.

Well, now I can't find anything to back this up, so I stand corrected. This link mentions age when entering the country, but as a permanent resident: http://www.sss.gov/inslink.htm

[Mo_Mati 2]

Thanks for this information. We actually threw away that post card when it came because we did not really understand what it was for. I really appreciate this heads up. We are now having my husband register online!

[Dr. Obvious 49]

he was required to register based on the date he arrived on the K-1, not on the date he got his green card.

Well, now I can't find anything to back this up, so I stand corrected. This link mentions age when entering the country, but as a permanent resident: http://www.sss.gov/inslink.htm

We had to call Selective Service because we were confused for my husband who entered the US while he was 26. It says men 18-26...were confused if that actually included the age 26. Turns out it doesn't. According to them the requirement was based on your age at the date of your entry in the US. If you need it, they'll provide a letter proving that your husband did not have to register based on the evidence he provides. You do need it to file for FASFA.

Edited April 1, 2009 by Wacken

[fozzie 41]

NON-CITIZENS

Some non-citizens are required to register. Others are not. Noncitizens who are not required to register with Selective Service include men who are in the U.S. on student or visitor visas, and men who are part of a diplomatic or trade mission and their families. Almost all other male noncitizens are required to register, including illegal aliens, legal permanent residents, and refugees. The general rule is that if a male noncitizen takes up residency in the U.S. before his 26th birthday, he must register with Selective Service.

[Donna and Ali 0]

well im the poster of this tread, and to make my situation clear to you...i was 25 years old when i entered the country on a k1 visa last year and and six months later i filed for the AOS and i did sign that part on the application i-485 that says the uscis will register me on the sss if im eligible...lately on march 28 i received my conditional permanent resident card (green card) that got issued on the 16th and i was born on 14th so when i called the sss and checked if the uscis had registred me (since i seen that welcome to the united states guide stating that 1 of my resposibilities is to register with the sss if im between 18-26), it turned out they didn't so i asked the dude that i was on a k1 visa which is a non-immigrant visa and he said once my visa expired i had to register i told him the visa is valid for 3 months only even when it has 6 months on it and from wht he was saying i knew probably he never heard of that visa type...well then he asked me about the date i have on my green card and i told him the date on my green card is after my birth day by 2 days and i asked him if its too late for me to register even if its only 2 days and he replies "even if your late by 1 day".

[fozzie 41]

well im the poster of this tread, and to make my situation clear to you...i was 25 years old when i entered the country on a k1 visa last year and and six months later i filed for the AOS and i did sign that part on the application i-485 that says the uscis will register me on the sss if im eligible...lately on march 28 i received my conditional permanent resident card (green card) that got issued on the 16th and i was born on 14th so when i called the sss and checked if the uscis had registred me (since i seen that welcome to the united states guide stating that 1 of my resposibilities is to register with the sss if im between 18-26), it turned out they didn't so i asked the dude that i was on a k1 visa which is a non-immigrant visa and he said once my visa expired i had to register i told him the visa is valid for 3 months only even when it has 6 months on it and from wht he was saying i knew probably he never heard of that visa type...well then he asked me about the date i have on my green card and i told him the date on my green card is after my birth day by 2 days and i asked him if its too late for me to register even if its only 2 days and he replies "even if your late by 1 day".

If selective service say you should have registered then you should have registered. USCIS seem to screwed you over there (Shock horror). So far the only instance of needing selective service that I have seen is for getting federal grants and loans to pay for school. If you are planning on going to college here you will need to either get a letter from selective service saying you are exempt (I am sure you will need to provide proof of why you did not register) or you willl need to pay out of pocket or get a private loan to pay for school.