never registered for selective service help !

[rmd415 0]

hi im helping my boyfriend fill out his natrualization papers and asked him where his selective service number was he said he wasnt sure check his passport nothing was there so i seen i can look it up online . it says there is nothing filed under his ssn and he is now over the age of 25 . will he still be able to become a citizen or is this a problem he had no idea he thought he was registered when he first came over

[NigeriaorBust 4,087]

^{Yes it is a problem. It is one of the requirements that you sign that you understand in getting your green card. Some people are able to convince the immigration officer that they didn't understand but most will have to wait 5 years to show good moral character. Is he still at an age where he can register now ?}

[aleful 1,905]

hi

is he 26? if so, he can still register, if not, he will have to wait until he is 31

[rmd415 0]

He is 26 until next month . Will they question why he waited so long . Is there any chance the system is wrong and he is registered but just not showing ? The only thing about waiting until he is 31 is his green card expires October of 2016 . We've been together for 6 years had I known this would have been taken care of I'm so upset .

[rmd415 0]

He thought all of his paperwork was taken care of by his mother and never thought anything of it . Do u think if he wrote a letter explaining the situation they would let it go ? He has otherwise never broken any laws, he has been at the same job for 5.5 years which he now is in a management position, has been in the same relationship for 6 years ,has a 4 year old child with me and has always paid his taxes and bills .

Edited January 6, 2015 by rmd415

[Ontarkie 13,916]

~~Moved to US Citizenship General Discussion from Military Immigration-Related Discussion - As the topic is about Citizenship and selective services.~~

[JimmyHou 610]

He is 26 until next month . Will they question why he waited so long . Is there any chance the system is wrong and he is registered but just not showing ? The only thing about waiting until he is 31 is his green card expires October of 2016 . We've been together for 6 years had I known this would have been taken care of I'm so upset .

I'm not sure what "he is 26 until next month" means, but if he is not yet 26, then he must register immediately.

Failure to do so will complicate his application.

If he is over 26, then he will have to wait until he is 31 to apply for naturalization (or 29 if applying based on marriage), UNLESS he can convince the interviewer that he had no knowledge of the SS requirement. People do get away with it, but it's not very straight-forward because the requirement is in the welcome letter that you get with your green card and (as someone else mentioned) it is also on some of the forms that we all sign.

[JimmyHou 610]

He thought all of his paperwork was taken care of by his mother and never thought anything of it . Do u think if he wrote a letter explaining the situation they would let it go ? He has otherwise never broken any laws, he has been at the same job for 5.5 years which he now is in a management position, has been in the same relationship for 6 years ,has a 4 year old child with me and has always paid his taxes and bills .

None of this is related to registering for selective service unfortunately. He can try to convince the interviewer that he's never heard of this requirement (some people have done it) but honestly, I don't know how they ever accept that explanation, since it's on several documents that he would have received and maybe even signed. If he had his mother sign all the paperwork as his legal guardian (for whatever reason) then he may have a stronger case. First thing to do is determine if he can stil register. USCIS doesn't care when you do it as long as you register between the ages of 18 and 26.

[rmd415 0]

I'm getting mixed answers with the age he is 26 about to be 27 should he just try to register . If he waits til he is 31 then he will have to renew his greencard .is that easy like is there any requirements? He honestly thought he was registered . His mom filled everything out here and I'm sure he had to sign stuff too but he doesn't remember the paperwork at all.

[JimmyHou 610]

I'm getting mixed answers with the age he is 26 about to be 27 should he just try to register . If he waits til he is 31 then he will have to renew his greencard .is that easy like is there any requirements? He honestly thought he was registered . His mom filled everything out here and I'm sure he had to sign stuff too but he doesn't remember the paperwork at all.

If he's already 26 then it's too late to register I know you said you've already checked but you might want to go ahead and double check that he isn't already in the system There've been many cases where people were automatically registered without knowing.

It's easy to renew a green card You can find the application form on the USCIS website, but it is expensive and it does take several months. Note that if his green card expires before he receives the new one, he is not out of status. You can continue to live with an expired green card and that does not affect your legal status in the United States. This will however make it impossible to travel internationally and in many states difficult to obtain employment for to renew her drivers license.

He also could consider going ahead and applying for naturalization now There is a significant chance that he may get denied because of the selective service issue however, as I said before, I have seen several people with the same issue manage to get naturalized. I've also seen people say that they were denied for this issue. Of course what's at risk is the $680 but that's your call. If I were in your position to be perfectly honest I would probably go ahead and apply and do my best to convince the officer that I didn't know about the requirements If you read carefully you'll see that the grounds for denial are "knowingly" failing to register for selective service.

Finally, note that the USCIS policy manual states that if you knowingly fail to register for selective service then you must wait until after the statutory period is up before applying for naturalization. The statutory period is normally five years but is supposed to be only three years if you're applying based on marriage, however whether he has to wait until he is 29 or 31 seems to be unclear which usually means that it's up to the interview to decide whether he will except the application or not. If you were to apply based on marriage at the age of 29 and he is denied he would probably have a strong case for an appeal.

Edited January 6, 2015 by JimmyHou

[rmd415 0]

If he is denied citizenship due to this reason could he be forced to leave? Or would he just have to wait until 31 to retry on a green card ?

[JimmyHou 610]

He would not have to leave; his green card would still be valid. It would be free to reapply for naturalization in the future.

Edited January 7, 2015 by JimmyHou

[JimmyHou 610]

Read through this thread; it's long but it might help prepare you for the interview.

http://www.visajourney.com/forums/topic/495417-application-denied-a-day-before-oath-ceremony-no-notices-received/

[Ontarkie 13,916]

Don't just look online to see if he is registered call them.

Both my boys are registered. When the oldest lost his card he logged on to get a replacement and the system couldn't find him. He called them up and the person asked some questions and found him in the system.