Automatic Disqualification for Citizenship

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immigrat123

Registered Users (C)
Question 31 on the N-400 form states:

Have you ever applied for any kind of exemption from Military Service in the US Armed Forces? Which is an automatic disqualification for Citizenship from my understanding.

Does anyone know if having a Selective Service Classification 4C, "Aliens not currently Liable for Military Service" would require to check that question "Yes"?

Thanks for any info anyone can provide.
 
I am pretty sure that the 4C Selective Service classification, in and of itself, does not require you to answer "Yes" to Q31.
The ineligibility provision in question is a relic of the draft era and is not really an issue currently, since, in the absence of the draft, nobody gets involuntarily inducted into military service. Consequently nobody needs to apply for exemption from such induction and, presumably, nobody does.

The text of the relevant provision of INA is available at http://law.justia.com/us/cfr/title08/8-1.0.1.3.67.html
 
immigrat123 said:
Question 31 on the N-400 form states:

Have you ever applied for any kind of exemption from Military Service in the US Armed Forces? Which is an automatic disqualification for Citizenship from my understanding.

Does anyone know if having a Selective Service Classification 4C, "Aliens not currently Liable for Military Service" would require to check that question "Yes"?

Thanks for any info anyone can provide.
Click to expand...
Having a 4C classification in itself does not equate to applying for an exemption to military service, so you would answer NO. Having been drafted in the past (ie Vietnam) and applying for an exemption based on not being a US citizen would disqualify you from naturalization.
 
baikal3 said:
I am pretty sure that the 4C Selective Service classification, in and of itself, does not require you to answer "Yes" to Q31.
The ineligibility provision in question is a relic of the draft era and is not really an issue currently, since, in the absence of the draft, nobody gets involuntarily inducted into military service. Consequently nobody needs to apply for exemption from such induction and, presumably, nobody does.
Click to expand...
It still is a current issue for some LPRs who did seek an exemption during the Vietnam war and now wish to apply for citizenship.
 
Bobsmyth said:
It still is a current issue for some LPRs who did seek an exemption during the Vietnam war and now wish to apply for citizenship.
Click to expand...
Agreed. I would assume that this, by now, is a fairly small group of people.

Even for those people who were LPRs during the Vietnam war and who applied for exemption from the draft then, such an application does not necessarily makes them ineligible for naturalization. 8 C.F.R. part 315.2(b) provides a whole bunch of exceptions from such ineligibility, including the following, fairly broad, exception: "(4) In claiming an exemption from military service, the applicant did not knowingly and intentionally waive his or her eligibility for naturalization because he or she was misled by advice from a competent United States government authority, or from a competent authority of the government of his or her country of nationality, of the consequences of applying for an exemption from military service and was, therefore, unable to make an intelligent choice between exemption and citizenship".
 
immigrat123 said:
Question 31 on the N-400 form states:

Have you ever applied for any kind of exemption from Military Service in the US Armed Forces? Which is an automatic disqualification for Citizenship from my understanding.
Click to expand...

Actually, your understanding is incorrect. Even for those people who, while the draft existed, applied for exemption from military service, such an application disqualifies them from eligibility for naturalization only under a fairly narrow set of circumstances. See the text of the relevant law at http://law.justia.com/us/cfr/title08/8-1.0.1.3.67.html
 
Thanks everyone for the info. I guess I'll need copies of my Selective Service files for the interview when that arrives.
Does anyone know where I can get those copies.

Thanks.
 
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