I'm trying to help a friend of mine on his naturalization application. We have encountered a roadblock that has to do with his not registering for the selective service.
My friend came from south america in 1984 at 24 years of age, stayed in the country for eleven years and went back to his country.
Eleven years after , he decided to come back and found a girl and married her. He went trough his bureaucratic nightmare an got his green card. Now, 3 years have passed and is time to continue the nightmare, apply for citizenship and, my friends, here is where he needs help:
1) when he lived in the country for the first time, he never registered for the selective service, We went to the selective service website and there is a letter stating that:
Applicants over 31 years of Age:
If you are age 31 or older, and applying for naturalization, there is no need to get a status information letter from the Selective Service System. The U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) Application for Naturalization Form N-400, Part 12 (44)(c)(2), only asks applicants age 26 to 31 to provide a status information letter , if they did not register with Selective Service. In addition, in accordance with USCIS Policy Manual - Volume 12 - Part D - Chapter 7(B), applicants for naturalization who are over age 31 are eligible for naturalization even if they knowingly and willfully failed to register (attached). This is because the applicant s failure to register would be outside of the statutory period during which the applicant must show that he is of good moral character and disposed to the good order and happiness of the United States. Thus, your failure to register with the Selective Service System does not make you ineligible for naturalization because you are age 31 or older. Nevertheless, if you are requested to provide a status information letter, you should present this letter to the USCIS examiner handling your file. A USCIS officer's decision that you are ineligible for naturalization because you failed to register with the Selective Service System may be appealed within the USCIS.
My friend is 59 yo. and, according to the letter on the SSS website he does not need the "status information letter" (at least, that's what we gather from the letter) question is:
Are we correct on assuming that?
If he needs the letter, none of the documents that are required to get it are available to him, he does not remember the exact date of his arrival in 1984. question is:
what could he do to obtain the letter without any of the documents in the SSS List? (He arrived in New York in 1984 via POE)
thank you for your help