Psyman

I am hoping someone here (male) has been down the road of dealing with the issue of registering for Selective Service when they were too old to do so. As you may know, all males in the US have to register between the ages of 18 and 26 for what I would guess is effectively "the draft" if it were to happen. I became a PR in 2002 and a US citizen about 3 years ago. I'd like to have the ability to apply for federal jobs, but to actually be employed by the feds you have to have registered for the selective service between 18 and 26. I was still a resident of the UK then so obviously I didn't do it.

It seems like I can get some kind of Status Information Letter from the Selective Service System that would effectively state that I am exempt from registering due to age and not being eligible to register etc. I just called them and spoke to possibly the rudest person on the planet. He insisted that I need to prove every date that I entered the US and what age I was then. Apparently this includes coming over on holidays to the US. I could probably remember the years of a couple of my holidays but not all of them. I certainly don't have any documentation that shows when I entered/left and if I did, it would be in a box in my brothers attic in England somewhere molding away. The rude guy said I could contact USCIS to get the dates etc of all my visits, which seems a bit of stretch going back 26 years, plus I'm guessing they would take years to find this info. I seem to remember having to tell USCIS when I was on holiday in this country for my citizenship application (I think I guessed), but I didn't have to provide passport stamps etc

Anybody been through this before? I'm not gonna be calling the SS back as the guy berated me and then hung up on me in the end when I suggested it was crazy to demand such info and paperwork from 25+ years ago. I realized just now that the SS is part of the Dept of Defense, so his attitude made sense, being pretty much like a Sgt major on first day of boot camp.

Hoping someone can give me some insight if they've been through this before.

Cheers.

jeffreyhy

Did you get the number to call from this web page:
https://www.sss.gov/FSmen.htm

Even if you did, it would seem that all you need to submit for the letter is your immigration history, which would show that you did not become a Permanent Resident until after you'd passed the age for registration. Try asking for the letter by mail rather than by phone.

Regards, JEff

Psyman

Yes that's the website I went to originally. The form you fill in to apply for the letter asks for the date you entered the US for the first time and all other alien statuses since entering with dates and supporting documentation. I first came here on holiday in 1987 and don't have that passport anymore, had other holidays after, and was on a J-1 in the 90's. No idea if I have anything supporting that last entry/exit. I'm probably going to have to fudge it, but with a recent citizenship application maybe any discrepancies will be picked up (or maybe the USCIS and Dept of Defence don't talk to each other?).

Bob

I'd have thought holidays wouldn't be all that important. Don't think you need to sign up for SS while on a J1 so that wouldn't be important. Date you entered when you got your PR would be, that with your age should be all that you really need.

To get citizenship though, you needed to show this anyway I thought, or at least if you hadn't done SS, to have shown good moral character for 3/5 years after the age of 26 to be eligible.

rpjs

if your route to LPR status involved filing a DS-160, you have to list all your previous visits to the US on that, so if you still have a copy of it that might do the trick.

Psyman

Everything you said Bob is what I said to the guy on the phone, only to be met with outright hostility. When I let out an exasperated laugh at what he said, he started treating me like a new guy outside the barracks at boot camp accusing of me of thinking it was all funny. It certainly was all very strange, particularly as the guy himself was obviously an immigrant by his accent. Basically, it was if you don't provide all the info about dates spent in the US for the SS (I don't think the initials are a coincidence based on his attitude) to do a background check, then I don't deserve to even be in this country. Seems odd having jumped through so many hoops for the green card and then citizenship to have to prove so much and more all over again. Should have got his name, of course, but he put the phone down on me.

Don't remember doing a DS-160, but it seems I'm going to have to dig through a lot of old papers.

md95065

Almost makes me wonder if their call center has been "outsourced" ...

rpjs

Oops, I meant DS-230, the immgrant visa form, if you went that route.

JAJ

Do you even need to speak to Selective Service? If you became a PR in 2002, and were over 26 at the time, won't the agency concerned accept that as evidence that you did not need to register with Selective Service?

Psyman

Well bearing in mind that all the documentation that SS apparently need is almost certainly non existent or in a box in an attic in England, then I would hope that the govt agency that may hire me may be reasonable and accept that I wasn't living in the US between the age of 18 and 26. However, the job application does state that documentary evidence is required from SS that I am exempt. Guess I'll see if I get offered a job and then cross that bridge when I get to it, but it would be nice to know I won't lose a potential job just because I didn't keep track of my holidays 20+ years ago and keep the passports from that time. Thought I was done with so much bureaucracy after becoming a citizen.

JAJ

Are you saying that you cannot locate any of your immigration paperwork or old passports? Perhaps obtain a copy of your immigration file from USCIS:
http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/usc...0045f3d6a1RCRD

Psyman

I have my current and last UK passport which would cover my entry in 2002 when getting permanent residency, but any paperwork from that application would be held by the employer that sponsored me or in my brothers attic in England, neither of which would be accessible very easily. I'll see if that Freedom of Information Act from USCIS can help me out.

Xebedee

I did not register for the SS draft whilst I was on a student visa a long time ago.
After getting a green card and then much later naturalizing, I needed to clear my record in this respects also in order to get a US security clearance for a job.
I do remember filling out a form with dates and places showing when I was here or not in order to "clear things up" with the SS.

This was all before (9-11) and the madness since then.

The SS ended up sending me a letter saying that in any future request (by me) for a security clearance or other Govt benefit, it would be the issuing authorities' decision whether or not to allow or disallow.

Just try to do what they are ordering you to do. They are a bunch of cnuts, just like USCIS are.

My eldest son will be 18 in 3 years. I do not want him to sign up for the SS draft list. He has dual UK/USA nationality and I'm concerned about what they might do to him if he refuses since nowadays there is so much paranoia in Amerika.

jeffreyhy

If he refuses what? To register with Selective Service? Or, having registered, to respond to a non-existant draft?

Regards, JEff

civilservant

If he could, possibly, maybe want a Federal job in the future than he dosen't have a choice. Besides isn't that HIS choice rather than yours?