cheezy

I didn't know until today that my husband will have to register for the draft. He is 25. We are at the beginning, just filed our I-130. I haven't told him that I found this out yet and i know he's going to freak. By the time we get thru all the visa layers he will be 25-1/2. So what I'm trying to figure out is...

I read that he can have problems if he doesn't register when he goes to get citizenship. If he comes here and has only 6 mos left until he is 26, and (hypothetically) they reinstate the draft, once he turns 26 would he not be on the block to be sent to war? I know this is a BIG hypothetical, but I want to understand before I {eek} tell him this part of the program.

I also read that if the Pres decided to reinstate the draft that they wouldn't pull numbers for 6 months, and that they start at 20 y/o and go up.

I guess I'm just wondering if that was to happen would his name be in the lottery even after he turns 26?

I thought I had enough worries about this whole process until today.

CaliforniaBride

You could have a look here:

http://www.sss.gov/

They do have a FAQ section.

cheezy

thanks i've been all over that faq. I can find that the registration for draft cuts off at 26 y/o, I cannot find anywhere that if you do register and they start drafting again what happens if you are at that time older than 26.

olliewat

Read this page: http://www.sss.gov/FSaliens.htm

It should help answer your questions.

Folinskyinla

Hi:

The only thing in place now is REGISTRATION. There has been no active conscription in place since 1973.

I'm of an age when there WAS active conscription AND I did some time in green because of that. Back when I was young the cry was "Hell no, I won't go!" -- the game was not to avoid registration, it was not to go in.

Right now the only obligation imposed on young men to put their name on the list.

BTW, aliens have ALWAYS had the privilige, as a matter of RIGHT to say LEGALLY say "Hell no, I won't go! I'm not a citizen." At that point, the only "penalty" imposed was to kiss any chance at naturalization good bye.

AlmostThere1

AFAIK Right now he would "age out" out of the system. If you don't have to register you can't be drafted. However in his case it is important because certain benefits can be denied if he doesn't register.

http://www.sss.gov/FSbenefits.htm

Actually when you file your I-485 from the instructions page:
Selective Service Registration.Decision.When your signed application is filed and accepted by USCIS, we will transmit to the Selective Service System your name, current address, Social Security number, date of birth and the date you filed the application.
This action will enable the Selective Service System to record your registration as of the filing date of your application. (NOTE: Men 18 through 25 years old who are applying for student financial aid, government employment or job training benefits should register directly with the Selective Service System or such benefits may be denied. Men can register at a local post office or on the internet at http://www.sss.gov).
If USCIS does not accept your application and, if still so required, you are responsible to register with the Selective Service System by using other means, provided you are under 26 years of age. If you have already registered, the Selective Service System will check its records to avoid any duplication.

Jim Battista

cheezy <member46480@british_expats.com> wrote in
news:[email protected] m:

    > I read that he can have problems if he doesn't register when he
    > goes to get citizenship. If he comes here and has only 6 mos left
    > until he is 26, and (hypothetically) they reinstate the draft,
    > once he turns 26 would he not be on the block to be sent to war? I
    > know this is a BIG hypothetical, but I want to understand before I
    > {eek} tell him this part of the program.

The registration program is basically a symbolic gesture.

There's a description of the process on the wikipedia page here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_Service_System

if you want to believe it.

But *IF* they reinstated the draft, they could do it any way they
felt like. They could go by the system described in the wikipedia
link, so your husband would be basically safe. They could draft all
men under 29 all at once, so he wouldn't. They could draft every man
and woman with useful skills no matter how old they were, no matter
whether or not they'd ever registered for the draft, and no matter
what country they were a citizen of, so neither he nor you would be
safe. Or they could draft all the telephone sanitizers and the like
first for special cannon-fodder brigades, so neither of you would be
safe even if neither of you have any useful skills.

None of this really matters unless the US falls through a time-warp
back to 1942. Your husband is as safe from involuntary service in
the US military as he is from involuntary service in the sugar-mines
of mutant ant overlords, from attack by Martians, or from a wild
three-way with Angelina Jolie and the Virgin Mary.

--
Jim Battista
A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man.

cheezy

Now that blurb made my day...

scrubbedexpat099

Usually they would not draft coal miners or similar reserved positions, so if you are really concerned you may want to look into job opportunities in that area.

Or have a return ticket to hand.

cheezy

He's a chef, are you saying we should have him look into being a coalminer? oh my.

scrubbedexpat099

Well as a Chef he should be OK, volunteer for the NAAFI.

Denis

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 07:32:05 +0000, Boiler
<member22431@british_expats.com> wrote:

    >> He's a chef, are you saying we should have him look into being a
    >> coalminer? oh my.
    >Well as a Chef he should be OK, volunteer for the NAAFI.

Totally OT but many years ago on the Frigate I was on somebody
rearranged the letters on the door to read NAFIA!

cheezy

Can I ask another Q please.

In the June 18, 1999, Memorandum re: Effect of Failure to Register for Selective Service on Eligibility for Naturalization

It states that the requirement to register "does not apply to aliens present in the United States in a lawful nonimmigrant status."

My husband will be here non-immigrant (k3) at the tail end of his 25th year. Does this mean he is not required, as he will be a "lawful nonimmigrant" and then will be 26 when he adjusts status? Also, he will be 31 by the time he would apply to Naturalize, I read 31 years being the cut off for them denying someone their naturalization who didn't register. I was wondering if at that time he could show he was still "lawful nonimmigrant" at 25 years and 10 months old whether that would cover him not registering.

I am sorry if I'm beating a dead horse on this subject, but finding that Memo made me curious -

Just Jenney

Forgive me, but that's exactly what you're doing. The horse has been long gone and you're working yourself up over something that is really just a technicality.

According to you, your husband will be two months shy of his 26th birthday when he emigrates to the US. Once a man is 26 years old, he can no longer register for the draft. That makes him ineligible for several things, the most significant in your husband's case being naturalization.

The only question he needs to ask himself is, "Do I want to have the option of becoming a US citizen one day?" If the answer is yes, then he needs to register when he gets here. If the answer is no, then he doesn't need to register and then that's that.

As others have said, the chances of him being drafted are extremely slim. No one's been drafted into US military service in over 30 years -- and the United States HAS been involved in miltary conflicts, several times, since then. If your husband was 22 years old or something, then I think you'd have more reason to be concerned. But you're stressing over whether he could be drafted in a two-month timespan, something which has very little chance of happening anyway. You're stressing over something that's got very little chance of happening, and yet wobbling on the issue could actually prevent him from being able to become a US citizen later on if he wants to.

My advice: Have him ask that question I mentioned above to himself and determine the answer, then act on it. Then move on to something that's really worth stressing about, whatever that may be.

~ Jenney

lovenlife

Question as I am not clear on this point, WHEN does one actually have to reg for SS, before or after the Adjustment of Status? It's one thing to have your I-485 application accepted, it's a totally different date and time to have it adjudicated.