Selective Service

[citiinfo_74]

All,
I came into this country when I was 21 years old. I am ready to file my citizenship form but there is a section on Selective Service. I came in on a
B-1- visa and then convereted to a H-1. I have had a green card for 5 years.
2 Questions:
Question 1:
On the form there is a question:
Are you a male who lived in the United States at any time between your 18th and 26th birthdays
in any status except as a lawful nonimmigrant?
The answer is YES.

Question 2:
If you answered "YES," but you did not register with the Selective Service and you are now 26 years old or older, attach a
statement explaining why you did not register.
Has anybody done this and is there a standard somewhere of what you write??

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[9jaMan]

As a male between 18- 26 you are required to register form Selective service by law. Since you have not there may be a problem. But, every problem always has a solution. What you need to do is prove ignorant, contact Selective Service to explain your situation, they are nice and should be able to help you. All you got to do is fill a form {Status Information Letter} and then they will tell you what you need to do.Most important prove "IGNORANCE" {you did not know}. I have called them before but for my case i dont need the "Status information letter", because i was already registered to be eligible for student loan/ financial aid for school.

here is the website ;

http://www.sss.gov/instructions.html

Good luck

 

[9jaMan]

Adden:
Answer "YES" and attach the "Status information letter" you got from selective service to your form.

 

[N400Atl]

Important question is how old were you when you got GC.

If you got your GC at age of 27, then you would be fine (Since B-1,H-1 are not required to register but GC does)

If you got your GC at age 25 but you had not registered, then you could have problem. Even the letter from SSS will sy you should have registered.

Based on what I read in these forums, if you are over 31 years old (26+5) then usually it is not a problem since they look for previous 5 year window for such problems and say you are 33 years old now, they will not even ask you about it. (They did not ask me though I had letter from SSS that I was not required since I was on H-1 till after 28).

Hope that helps

 

[9jaMan]

I agree with what N400Atl said. if you got your greencard after age 26 you dont have to register.{with reference to what i said in previous post}. you are only required to registered as a GC holder and citizen.

 

[boatbod]

On the form there is a question:
Are you a male who lived in the United States at any time between your 18th and 26th birthdays
in any status except as a lawful nonimmigrant?
The answer is YES.

If you were on a valid B-1 and converted to an H-1B with no gaps in status, I don't see why you would answer "yes" to this question. Both the B1 and H1 are lawful NONIMMIGRANT visas, so unless you either went out of status or received your GC before your 26th birthday, your answer is "NO".

If however you were granted LPR prior to your 26th birthday, your answer will be 'yes' as you should have registered with selective services. All you can do at this point is ask for a status information letter, and hope USCIS doesn't deny your application. Worst case, you will have to wait until you are 31yrs old to reapply for N-400.

 

[citiinfo_74]

Thanks!

Guys, thanks! Thanks for letting me know that the answer should be NO. For some reason I was not reading the question correctly. I have never been out of status. I got my green card at the age of 29 so I should be ok.

Another question: My 5 years on GC finish end of January 2008. Can I allpy before that??

Thanks again!

 

[boatbod]

Another question: My 5 years on GC finish end of January 2008. Can I apply before that??

You can apply 90 days prior to the 5yr anniversary, however its better if you wait a few extra days just in case USCIS math is different than yours. Sounds like you can already send the N-400!