How does failing to enroll in selective service affect N-400 interview?

choyty

Registered Users (C)
A friend of mine was residing illegally here, but later he adjusted his status and currently waiting for his N-400 interview. He didn’t know until today when he got a reply from Selective Service System stating:

“We have received your inquiry concerning your eligibility for a right, benefit, or privilege which is subject to your registration with the Selective Service System. A search of our files, and an examination of the information you provided reveal that you were required to register with Selective Service, but you have not registered. -------- -----------

------- --------- ---------- --------------
Any explanation to justify your failure to register must me made to the agency administering the right, benefit, or privilege you seek. You should submit this letter to them for consideration along with a copy of any documentation you believe may be helpful to your case. The final decision regarding your eligibility is with the authority of that agency. “

Sincerely,

I also checked the following sites http://www.sss.gov/must.htm and confirmed that a person residing illegally in the U.S is also required by law to register with Selective Service System. So in the ( N-400 ) interview if he says he was not aware of the fact that he was required by law to register, would that be a good excuse or what better way can he answer this question. How his failing to register with Selective Service System will affect his entire Naturalization process? Any advice, suggestion is be appreciated.

Thanks
Choyty
 
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Please share your experience if any one has encountered similar to this situation. ---Thanks---

Choty
 
My friend have similar situation. He won DV lottery bun never registered for selective service since he did not know about it( sounds lame but...). He is ready to apply for citizenship but freaking out right know. Any comments?
 
I got following reply from a different post ( http://www.immigration-information.com/showthread.php?p=15009#post15009 )

There is no excuse for not registering. "I forgot" or "I didn't know" won't cut it. Besides, he needs to take care of the RFE before he gets called for an interview anyway. He has to contact the selective service people and ask them what to do. If they are tough about it, he won't get to be a citizen.
Does anyone know what " RFE " means? Can someone please verify if this is true. Are there any other options open for my friend to get by with this issue? Please help. Thanks
Choty
 
choyty said:
I got following reply from a different post ( http://www.immigration-information.com/showthread.php?p=15009#post15009 )


Does anyone know what " RFE " means? Can someone please verify if this is true. Are there any other options open for my friend to get by with this issue? Please help. Thanks
Choty

Here is the exact text from the Selective Services website...

If you are being denied a right, benefit, or privilege because you are not registered, submit a copy of your Status Information Letter and an explanation for your failure to register, to the Agency administering the right, benefit, or privilege. That Agency will make the final determination regarding your eligibility. The Selective Service System does not determine your eligibility for any right, benefit, or privilege.
 
A little bit of info i found.

Applicants Under 26 Years of Age:
A man under 26 years of age who refuses to register for Selective Service cannot demonstrate that he is eligible for naturalization. Every male naturalization applicant under 26 years of age must provide evidence of registration for Selective Service. The examination of a naturalization application filed by a man under 26 years of age who has not registered for Selective Service by the time of the naturalization examination must be continued to afford the applicant an opportunity to register. If the applicant refuses to register for Selective Service after being afforded a reasonable opportunity to register, the naturalization application must be denied. The decision denying the application must state specifically that the applicant has refused, after given an opportunity to do so, to register with Selective Service, and that the person, therefore, is not eligible for naturalization because he is not well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. The decision must cite § 316(a)(3).

Applicants Between 26 and 31 Years of Age:
A man between 26 and 31 years of age[1] who was required to register for Selective Service and who knowingly and willfully failed to register cannot demonstrate that he is eligible for naturalization. Every male naturalization applicant between 26 and 31 years of age who failed to register for Selective Service must provide evidence that his failure to register was not knowing and willful or that he was not required to register. If a male naturalization applicant between 26 and 31 years of age failed to register with Selective Service, the naturalization examination must be continued to give the applicant an opportunity to obtain evidence that his failure to register was not knowing and willful or that he was not required to register. If the applicant is unable to demonstrate that his failure to register was not knowing and willful or that he was not required to register, his naturalization application must be denied. Again, the decision must state explicitly that the INS has found that his willful failure to register with Selective Service means he cannot show that, during the requisite period before filing his application, he was not well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. The decision must cite § 316(a)(3).

Applicants Over 31 Years of Age:
Failure to register for Selective Service will generally not prevent a man who was over 31 years of age on the day he filed his naturalization application from demonstrating that he is eligible for naturalization. Even if the applicant was required to register and the applicant's failure to register was knowing and willful, the failure occurred outside of the statutory period during which the applicant is required to establish his attachment to the good order and happiness of the United States. The INS may, of course, consider a person's conduct before the beginning of this period. INA § 101(f) (last sentence) and § 316(e). If the INS denies naturalization to a man who is at least 31, based on his failure to register with Selective Service, the decision must state explicitly the basis for finding that the failure to register warrants denial of naturalization. As a practical matter, a male applicant over 31 years of age who failed to register with Selective Service should, ordinarily, be found eligible for naturalization unless INS has other evidence, in addition to the past failure to register, that demonstrates that the applicant is not well disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States.
 
over 26

Are you saying we need to register even if one was over 26 yrs old when he/she got GC.. Im confuded now :-(

Thought it was required only if one got GC before 26th Bday.
 
Got my GC when was 25
Did not register because DID NOT KNOW!

Got a Status Letter from SS
Wrote them back saying I never received a notice to register
Got a reply saying they sent me a letter to first address in the US
Wrote them back saying 'never got a letter' since was already at a different addres AND was on F-1 and was not required to register anyway
Got a reply saying 'it is up to agence that administers the benefit bla bla'

Applied for Cit and had interview in Newark on Sep 14 2004
Passed the test, was told that my SS case will be 'investigated' and I will get a decision in 7 days
Still sitting here 3 month later and waiting for a decision
The InfoPass says there no available appointments
Should I write them? What are my chances? THANKS!
 
karabas said:
Got my GC when was 25
Did not register because DID NOT KNOW!

Got a Status Letter from SS
Wrote them back saying I never received a notice to register
Got a reply saying they sent me a letter to first address in the US
Wrote them back saying 'never got a letter' since was already at a different addres AND was on F-1 and was not required to register anyway
Got a reply saying 'it is up to agence that administers the benefit bla bla'

Applied for Cit and had interview in Newark on Sep 14 2004
Passed the test, was told that my SS case will be 'investigated' and I will get a decision in 7 days
Still sitting here 3 month later and waiting for a decision
The InfoPass says there no available appointments
Should I write them? What are my chances? THANKS!
Karabas,
Have you heard anything from CIS?
 
I applied for and received my GC while living outside the country, entered the country while I was 23 years old - did not know about SSS registration, few months after I entered I received registration card (Which I forgot about). It appears that they automatically registered me when I entered, this may be the case for others who entered in the same way I did. When time for naturalization came I thought I was in trouble cause I did not register - but I called SSS and they had my registration on file (no SSecurity number tied to it though).
 
Selective Service is not a deal-breaker but it is upto you to make a convincing case as to why you did not regeister and upto the examiner to decide if they believe you or not.

When you apply to naturalize, the BCIS is required to examine your behaviour in the 5 years immediately preceeding your application for natz rigorously. This means that if you apply when you are over 31 years old, then failure to register for Selective Service CANNOT, by itself, be sufficient to deny you naturalization. This is because the 5 years immediately preceeding your application do not include your 26th birthday and things that happened before your 26th birthday. (31 - 5 = 26). And because you are only required to register with Selective Service upto your 26th birthday things that happened before your 26th birthday fall outside the 5 year rigorous examining period and hence carry less weight.

If, however, you apply when you are under 31 years old, then failure to register for Selective Service can, by itself, be suffecient to deny you naturalization because your 26th birthday and all the things you were required to do by your 26th birthday (like register for Selective Service) are within the 5 year period where they examine your record closely.

So if you are close to 31 and there is no other reason ro rush to naturalize then wait until your 31st birthday and then apply because the standard of scrutiny will be lower for things that occured before your 26th birthday. If you can't wait till you are 31 then apply anyway and just be prepared to explain why you did not register and hope that they accept your explanantion. If they don't, then wait till you are 31 and apply again and at least this time selective service will not be an issue any more.
 
JoeF said:
Hmm, no. You may have received an Immigrant Visa, but you can't get a GC while outside the US. When you entered with the IV, you became a PR.

Quite correct - I merely mentioned GC because I could not remember what that IV was called, but yeah some big envelope that I had to hand to immigration officer when I arrived.

Yeah, for CP cases, they usually do that. But then, that's the Department of State, not CIS...

What is a CP case?

Thanks for the input JoeF
 
Just to update my post about a year ago in the same thread (page one). My friend was freaking out but had no choice just to try. Guess what? He has not been asked about selective service in the interview. Got the his papers. Case closed.
 
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