Selective service "status information letter" questions

[Mike E]

Mike E If you read the very first post... the whole reason for this thread is because the OP doesn't know how to get answers to the questions that are required as a part of getting the "Status Letter". So from his perspective it is VERY hard to do. That's the essence of his dilemma. It may have been easy for YOU to do because you knew the answers to those questions. In the OP case... he doesn't know the answers and doesn't know how to get those answers. Hence all the debate about whether it is or is not essential to do so.

I am referring here to your most recent post where you said..
"If you were required to register for selective service and didn’t, then you need to ask selective service to send you a status letter. It isn’t hard to do. Any advice to the contrary is wrong."

1. I have successfully obtained a status letter and no I didn’t have all the information.

2. The process the selective service has makes it clear that it knows the requester might not have all the information. Here from the selective service web site is the process:
You can also download the Selective Service System status of information form directly from the official Selective Service System website here: https://www.sss.gov/Portals/0/PDFs/Status.pdf

Once you have downloaded their form, fill it out completely in as much detail as possible, and mail it to their official address listed on the form. We have found that it can take up to 90 days to receive an official response from them for your Status of Information request, but typically see our customers receiving responses via mail around the 30-45 day mark.


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I recommend OP stop trying to bargain here and get on with it.

Not everything in life is done online. I know it should be.

I think what you and others fail to understand is that USCIS wants to see your best effort here. You say you will defend the USA from enemies. Well OP and I blew it big time when we were age 25. Now USCIS is saying “well are you willing to go though some red tape that provides more light on your failure.”

In my interview the status letter did come up.

[Mike E]

But if they got permanent residency while under 26, then they were likely automatically registered by USCIS, which you give permission for them to do for on your AOS application. And if USCIS fails to register you, it does not count as your willing failure to register. See here, "Failure on the part of USCIS or SSS to complete the process on behalf of the applicant, however, will not constitute a willful failure to register on the part of the applicant."

But the green card doesn't take 5 months to come after AOS approval; I think the OP just means they were able to stay in the US due to a pending I-485 before that. So I presume that he got permanent residency after turning 26.

Automatic selective service registration is the norm today. It was not in 1985. Regardless as I wrote, he should check online to see if he was registered. If that comes up empty then he needs to write to the Selective Service. There is a slim chance that he was registered without his SSN and selective service would know. More likely, he was not registered. And the status letter will say. All that matters is getting that letter.

[Mike E]

Also OP, if after attempting to get a selective service status letter, you are refused because you don’t know the precise dates, Selective Service advises you to print this letter and include it in your N-400 packet and your interview:

https://www.sss.gov/LinkClick.aspx?f...%3d&portalid=0

The objective is to show some minimal effort here.

[N400questions]

Mike E

If we look at the pdf file that was contained in your previous post you will notice the following...

NOTE:No action will be taken on this request unless ALL REQUIRED information / documentation with an asterisk (*) are received (where applicable). KEEP a copy of all documents and correspondence submitted.

It doesn't say "Give us your best effort and we'll worry about the missing details"

It clearly and categorically states that you must supply all required answers (where applicable) otherwise "No action will be taken".
In other words... if you don't supply the required answers... USCIS will not supply the "Status Letter".

If we then look deeper into the application form, we will notice that the questions that the OP cannot currently answer are marked with an asterisk meaning they are required.

That's the OP's dilemma.

I suppose he could send the form in and leave those questions blank and just see what happens... it might be an interesting experiment to try. However my reading of that form suggests to me that they will remain true to their word and that "No action will be taken". If there is any other outcome then it makes a mockery of the whole business of flagging questions with asterisks and making the initial assertion that "No action will be taken".

$0.02

EDIT: you just posted several more responses while I was typing.... my comments here relate to the pdf form here: https://www.sss.gov/Portals/0/PDFs/Status.pdf

[N400questions]

vaindioux

Earlier (in post #12) when discussing ages over 31 I said "I wish I could point to a DEFINITIVE reference to confirm this... but I can't.... nevertheless I believe it's true."

I now have that definitive reference.. I knew I'd seen it but couldn't remember where. I recommend you take a copy of this to your interview in case the USCIS adjudicator is not familiar with it.

Here it is: https://www.sss.gov/LinkClick.aspx?f...%3d&portalid=0
Here it is again in the USCIS Policy Manual: https://www.uscis.gov/policy-manual/...rt-d-chapter-7 (scan for reference to age 31)


There is also one final thing that can make this whole Selective Service issue totally irrelevant for you..

Were you born after December 31 1959? In other words, was your birth year before 1960?

If you were born before 1960 then you probably can't get a Status Letter even if you wanted to because the top line of that form asks you to verify....

VERIFY: I am not registered with the Selective Service System and requesting a Status Information Letter. I am now 26 years old or older and was born after December 31, 1959.

So if you were born in the 30s 40s or 50s.. we may have been crawling down a rabbit hole for absolutely no reason. ;-)

[Mike E]

Mike E

If we look at the pdf file that was contained in your previous post you will notice the following...

NOTE:No action will be taken on this request unless ALL REQUIRED information / documentation with an asterisk (*) are received (where applicable). KEEP a copy of all documents and correspondence submitted.

It doesn't say "Give us your best effort and we'll worry about the missing details"

It clearly and categorically states that you must supply all required answers (where applicable) otherwise "No action will be taken".
In other words... if you don't supply the required answers... USCIS will not supply the "Status Letter".

If we then look deeper into the application form, we will notice that the questions that the OP cannot currently answer are marked with an asterisk meaning they are required.

That's the OP's dilemma.

I suppose he could send the form in and leave those questions blank and just see what happens... it might be an interesting experiment to try. However my reading of that form suggests to me that they will remain true to their word and that "No action will be taken". If there is any other outcome then it makes a mockery of the whole business of flagging questions with asterisks and making the initial assertion that "No action will be taken".

$0.02

EDIT: you just posted several more responses while I was typing.... my comments here relate to the pdf form here: https://www.sss.gov/Portals/0/PDFs/Status.pdf

You enter your best guess on the date and include a letter that says these are your best guesses.

And then if that doesn’t work, you print the standard USCIS response for cases of men over age 31 which is in a previous post.

Versus the advice to ignore the requirement all together.

[vaindioux]

Some good points made by both posters.

Thanks so much, I will get something together on that matter.

Pat

[N400questions]

Good Luck Pat

Here's a few fun articles giving all the reasons why Selective Service will probably be abolished and how a male-only draft is unconstitutional.
Gotta laugh (or cry).
Enjoy!

https://www.fedsmith.com/2016/02/11/selective-service-abolished/

https://medium.com/@kuangalia/why-the-military-draft-makes-no-sense-anymore-3180f02fd86c

https://www.npr.org/2019/03/01/699481953/court-ruling-renews-debate-on-women-and-the-draft

https://georgetownvoice.com/2019/03/15/abolish-the-selective-service-system/

[newacct]

The fact that not having registered for Selective Service, even if your failure to register was knowing and willful, doesn't affect your naturalization after you turn 31, is clearly stated here.

The question of whether a status information letter is needed for applicants who are at least 31 who didn't register, is less clear. The N-400 form itself, Part 12 #44C, says what to do if you didn't register, depending on your age, including that if you are between 26 and 31 you need to provide a status information letter and an explanation, but it doesn't say anything about applicants who are at least 31.

In November 2018 there was a 60-day comment period for a revision to the N-400 form, and the draft form and instructions at the time both added a section explicitly saying that if you didn't register and you are at least 31, you don't need to send a status information letter. But later in March 2019 they announced that they were extending the current form without change, to give them time to respond to the comments from November. I am assuming that the text in the draft that people over 31 didn't have to send the status information letter was a clarification of the existing policy that was not clearly stated enough on the current form, instead of a change in policy. But that's just my guess, and you shouldn't rely on a draft form.

[N400questions]

What a pity the new version of the form isn't already in action. It contains exactly the sentence we've been agonizing over in this rabbit hole.

If you are 31 years of age or older (or 29 years of age or older if applying based on being the spouse of a U.S. citizen) at the time you file your Form N-400, you do not need to provide a status information letter or a statement explaining the reason for not registering.

I wish the comments period was still open... I spotted a question that is still not quite right. But that's a totally different topic so I won't go into it here.