Selective Sevice Issue

L

littlespace

Registered Users (C)
hi,

I just wanted to fill up citizenship's form and noticed that I have never registered with Selective Service Service.

I had a lot of problem when I came to USA and I did not remember that I have to register with Selective Service until now that I want to apply for citizen ship.
Please help me :(


here is my situation:

- I'm 27 years and 6 months old now.

-I went to US embassy in July 2003 to get my Green Card and came to USA and also I signed DS-1810 form (Notice of duty to register with U.S Selective Service System) in July 2003,But they said that you have to be named check (FBI-name check).

- My FBI name check took 2 years and 3 months.

- I came to USA in November 2005 for the first time.

- my green card got lost because of change of address in USA, and then I applied form I-90 in 2006.

- My father was in hospital in 2005 and 2006 and I had to had to came back to my country because I am the only son (I do not have any brother).

- I gave Immigration Office a copy of hospital letter which my father's doctor sent me.(it is on my file) and they helped me to get my Finger printer appointment faster.

- Finally I got my Green Card in 2006.

- I paid TAX every year.
 
littlespace said:
hi,

I just wanted to fill up citizenship's form and noticed that I have never registered with Selective Service Service.

I had a lot of problem when I came to USA and I did not remember that I have to register with Selective Service until now that I want to apply for citizen ship.
Please help me :(


here is my situation:

- I'm 27 years and 6 months old now.

-I went to US embassy in July 2003 to get my Green Card and came to USA and also I signed DS-1810 form (Notice of duty to register with U.S Selective Service System) in July 2003,But they said that you have to be named check (FBI-name check).

- My FBI name check took 2 years and 3 months.

- I came to USA in November 2005 for the first time.

- my green card got lost because of change of address in USA, and then I applied form I-90 in 2006.

- My father was in hospital in 2005 and 2006 and I had to had to came back to my country because I am the only son (I do not have any brother).

- I gave Immigration Office a copy of hospital letter which my father's doctor sent me.(it is on my file) and they helped me to get my Finger printer appointment faster.

- Finally I got my Green Card in 2006.

- I paid TAX every year.
Click to expand...

Since you became in LPR in 2006 (or was it 2005 - from your post it is not very clear), before you turned 26 years old, you were indeed required to register for selective service.
The first thing you should do is check if you are actually registered. In recent years USCIS had been automatically registering with Selective Service all new male green card holders under 26 y.o. and it is quite possible that they registered you, but you just don't know it.

You can check your Selective Service registration status online at https://www.sss.gov/RegVer/wfVerification.aspx
 
As baikal3 said, find out you may be registered and might not know about it although I doubt it, if you are indeed not registered then you are better off not filing for your N-400 until you are 31 years old, at that point non registration with Selective Service could not be used against you for N-400 denial.
 
I just checked it. I do not have any registration record on that web site(www.sss.gov).

Is it a good idea if I get a lawyer and write a letter an explain why I could not sign up with Selective Service System?

Thanks
 
littlespace said:
I just checked it. I do not have any registration record on that web site(www.sss.gov).

Is it a good idea if I get a lawyer and write a letter an explain why I could not sign up with Selective Service System?

Thanks
Click to expand...

You should also call the Selective Service and check your registration status with them directly - the online info is sometimes incomplete.
Assuming that you are in fact, not registered, it seems to me that your chances of having N-400 approved now are fairly slim and you'd have to wait until you are 31 years old (so that the failure to register falls outside of the 5 year statutory period) before submitting N-400.

There is a 1999 memo by INS on this topic that is still in effect, see
http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/natzcitzshp/nc013.htm

For male applicants between 26 and 31 years of age who had to but failed to register with Selective Service, such failure can be viewed as evidence of lacking good moral character, unless the applicant can prove that the failure to register was not "knowing and willful".
The problem in your case is that you definitely knew about the requirement to register and your A-file will contain the DS-1810 form that you signed in 2003, So your failure to register was definitely "knowing" and I do not see how you could plausibly argue otherwise.
 
Thanks for your information.

I know that I failed to register and signed DS-1810 in 2003 , But I forgot it after 2 years (because of the FBI-Check) when i came to USA in 2005 :(

baikal3 said:
You should also call the Selective Service and check your registration status with them directly - the online info is sometimes incomplete.
Assuming that you are in fact, not registered, it seems to me that your chances of having N-400 approved now are fairly slim and you'd have to wait until you are 31 years old (so that the failure to register falls outside of the 5 year statutory period) before submitting N-400.

There is a 1999 memo by INS on this topic that is still in effect, see
http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/natzcitzshp/nc013.htm

For male applicants between 26 and 31 years of age who had to but failed to register with Selective Service, such failure can be viewed as evidence of lacking good moral character, unless the applicant can prove that the failure to register was not "knowing and willful".
The problem in your case is that you definitely knew about the requirement to register and your A-file will contain the DS-1810 form that you signed in 2003, So your failure to register was definitely "knowing" and I do not see how you could plausibly argue otherwise.
Click to expand...
 
littlespace said:
Thanks for your information.

I know that I failed to register and signed DS-1810 in 2003 , But I forgot it after 2 years (because of the FBI-Check) when i came to USA in 2005 :(
Click to expand...

Well, if you don't mind paying the application fee, you might as well apply now and see what happens. Depending on your luck, you may be able to convince the IO that you simply forgot about the need to register for the Selective Service by the time you came to the U.S. in 2005. However, before you file N-400, you'll still need to get a "status information letter" from the Selective Service (there are instructions at their website regarding how to request one).
In the worst case, if your N-400 is denied, you can still re-apply after you turn 31 y.o. and the Selective Service will no longer be an issue.
 
If you got a DS-1810 and signed it that means they know you were given notice of the requirement to register, so it will be practically impossible to successfully claim that your failure to register was not willful. Which means that if you apply before turning 31, your chances of naturalization are very low if you weren't registered automatically.
 
what about 250K dollar fine and 5 years in prison?
Do I have to take a lawyer or wait until my 31th birthday?

Thanks



baikal3 said:
Well, if you don't mind paying the application fee, you might as well apply now and see what happens. Depending on your luck, you may be able to convince the IO that you simply forgot about the need to register for the Selective Service by the time you came to the U.S. in 2005. However, before you file N-400, you'll still need to get a "status information letter" from the Selective Service (there are instructions at their website regarding how to request one).
In the worst case, if your N-400 is denied, you can still re-apply after you turn 31 y.o. and the Selective Service will no longer be an issue.
Click to expand...
 
littlespace said:
what about 250K dollar fine and 5 years in prison?
Do I have to take a lawyer or wait until my 31th birthday?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Nobody is going to try to put you in prison or make you pay a 250K fine for failing to register with Selective Service - the federal government has better things to do. The worst that could happen to you of you file N-400 now is that it gets denied.
But if you are really worried about the criminal prosecution, waiting until you turn 31 does not help with that in the least.
What does happen after you turn 31 is that the failure to register with Selective Service would fall outside of the 5 year statutory period relevant to the eligibility for naturalization.

Read the INS memo that I mentioned: EVERYTHING of relevance to your situation is explained there and you should be able to make up your own mind about what to do. Again, see http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/natzcitzshp/nc013.htm
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I really appreciated it.

Thanks For your useful help and information.

baikal3 said:
Nobody is going to try to put you in prison or make you pay a 250K fine for failing to register with Selective Service - the federal government has better things to do. The worst that could happen to you of you file N-400 now is that it gets denied.
But if you are really worried about the criminal prosecution, waiting until you turn 31 does not help with that in the least.
What does happen after you turn 31 is that the failure to register with Selective Service would fall outside of the 5 year statutory period relevant to the eligibility for naturalization.

Read the INS memo that I mentioned: EVERYTHING of relevance to your situation is explained there and you should be able to make up your own mind about what to do. Again, see http://www.nilc.org/immlawpolicy/natzcitzshp/nc013.htm
Click to expand...
 
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