If you are applying to become a U.S. citizen and you never registered for the U.S. military draft through the U.S. Selective Service System, you could have a problem. An applicant for citizenship who refused to or knowingly and willfully failed to register can be denied on various grounds: not having the disposition to the good order and happiness of the United States, not being attached to the principles of the U.S. Constitution, lacking good moral character, and not be willing to bear arms on behalf of the United States. This article will explain whether failure to register is going to be a problem for you, and what you should do before you send your application.
First of all, if you’re a female, you have nothing to worry about. You have never been required to register for the draft.
If you are a male, the first thing to find out is whether you were ever required to register for the draft. As a broad rule, if you were living in the United States any time between your 18th and 26th birthdays, and you had a green card or no legal status at any point during that time, you were required to register.
If you were living in the United States between your 18th and 26th birthdays but all of that time you had some legal nonimmigrant status, such as a F-1 student or H-1B, you were not required to register.
If you have some doubt about whether you were required to register, consult with an attorney who specializes in military law (Selective Service law in particular).
If you were required to register but think you didn’t, make sure you’re right before going any further. Often people were registered without their even knowing it, or remembering it. This happens a lot with people who were students for a time before getting their green card. They needed to register with Selective Service in order to get a student loan and the registration process was just part of some paperwork they don’t remember. It’s easy to check whether you’re registered or not. Just call 847-688-6888 or use the verification tool at the Selective Service System website, www.sss.gov.
Once you’re sure you never registered, your next steps depend on how old you are now. If you’re still under 26, you need to register with Selective Service before applying for citizenship. You can do that at your local post office, by returning a Selective Service registration card received by mail, or online at www.sss.gov. Once you receive your Selective Service number, you can go ahead with your N-400 Application for Naturalization.
If you have already turned 31 (or 29, if you’re applying for citizenship after three years as the spouse of a U.S. citizen), you are in the clear, and you don’t need to send to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) with your N-400 citizenship application any explanation or proof of your failure to register. The reason is because you only need to show good moral character for five years (or three, if you’re applying for citizenship after three years as the spouse of a U.S. citizen), and your failure to register will have happened more than five (or three) years before you applied for citizenship.
If you already turned 26 but are still under 31 (or still under 29, if you’re applying for citizenship after three years as the spouse of a U.S. citizen), it’s too late to register, but you need to explain to USCIS, in an attachment to your N-400, why you didn’t register. USCIS also wants you to get and send with your N-400 a status information letter from the Selective Service System. That letter proves that you were supposed to register but didn’t. You can order the status letter on the Selective Service website, www.sss.gov.
Your explanation for why you didn’t register can be as simple as you didn’t realize you had to, but it should be truthful. If your explanation makes clear that you knowingly or willfully refused to register, your citizenship will be denied. Otherwise, you should not have a problem.
