How to: Check Your Selective Service Registration

TEACHING, INTERPRETING,

& CHANGING LAW SINCE 1979

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WHAT IS IT AND WHY SHOULD YOU DO IT?

The Military Selective Service Act requires that all men (including anyone whose

gender was assigned as male on their birth certificate) living in the United States

The SSS is used by the U.S. government in times of war to draft soldiers into service.

While there are currently no plans to draft soldiers into the military, the U.S.

government views the Selective Service as an important readiness tool in case there

is a significant military conflict that requires more troops than have voluntarily joined

the military. This law applies to all men living in the United States, including U.S.

citizens, green card holders, people in valid immigration status, as well as anyone

whose status has expired or is otherwise undocumented.

Only men who are in the United States between the ages of 18 and 26 years old are

required to register.

ARE THERE ANY EXCEPTIONS?

Yes. First, if you entered the United States after the age of 26 or were not in the

United States between ages 18 and 26, you do not need to register because you

entered after the required age.

Second, if you are in a valid non-immigrant status (such as a student visa) until the

brief explainer about how to gain proof of Selective Service

egistration and why it matters for immigration

JULY 2023

HOW TO: CHECK YOUR SELECTIVE

SERVICE REGISTRATION

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TEACHING, INTERPRETING,

& CHANGING LAW SINCE 1979

COMMUNITY

EXPLAINER

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age of 26, you are seen as living here only temporarily because of the temporary

nature of your visa and not required to register.

Third, men born after March 29, 1957, and before December 31, 1959, are not required

to register.

WHAT DOES SELECTIVE SERVICE HAVE TO DO WITH IMMIGRATION?

The application for naturalization (citizenship) asks male applicants whether or not

they have registered for the Selective Service. Failure to register for the Selective

Service can affect whether a naturalization officer finds you have “good moral

character,” which is required for naturalization, and could lead to the denial of your

naturalization application.

NOTE: Failure to register for the Selective Service will not automatically lead to a denial

of naturalization. In fact, the law states specifically that no one can be denied a

federal benefit – like naturalization – if they can show that the failure to register was

not “knowing” or “willful.” In other words, that it was not on purpose.

The effect of failure to register will depend on how old you are now:

 If you are under the age of 26, and you don’t register before you apply, your

naturalization application could be denied unless you register because you are

still within the age range of people required to register.

 If you are older than 26 but younger than 31, and you didn’t register, you could

be denied because you have to show your “good moral character,” generally

for the past five years, and purposefully failing to register before you turned 26

would count against you.

 If you are older than 31 (or 29 if applying as the spouse of a U.S. citizen) then

failure to register will not cause your naturalization application to be denied.

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HOW CAN I VERIFY MY SELECTIVE SERVICE REGISTRATION STATUS?

If you are a man – or were assigned the gender of male at birth – and you were in

the United States between the ages of 18 and 26 years old, you should check your

Selective Service record to see if you registered. If you became a lawful permanent

resident between the ages of 18 and 26, USCIS may have sent your information to

the SSS based on your permanent residence application, and you may have been

registered that way.

ONLINE:

If you registered for the

Selective Service with your

Social Security number, you

can verify your registration

online at https://www.sss.gov/

verify/. You will need to provide

your last name, Social Security

Number, and date of birth.

If a record is found, you can

download and print an official

Selective Service Registration

Acknowledgement Letter from

the web site and include it with

your application.

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BY PHONE:

If you can’t verify your registration because you

don’t or didn’t have a Social Security number at the

time you filed, you will have to call the SSS at 888-

655-1825.

WHAT IF I WAS SUPPOSED TO REGISTER

AND DIDN’T?

If you have not or did not register and you are

between the ages of 18 and 26, you should register

immediately. If you are over the age of 26 but were

in the United States between the ages of 18 and 26,

and the failure to register was within the good moral

character time period, you will have an opportunity

to submit your statement and other evidence to

USCIS showing that you did not knowingly or willfully

fail to register.

USCIS may also require you to submit a Status Information Letter stating whether you

were required to register. You can find this form online by visiting https://www.sss.

gov/verify/sil/, which you will have to download, complete and mail to the address

below:

SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM

ATTN: SIL

P.O. BOX 94638

PALATINE, IL 60094-4638

You can also call the SSS to request the Status Information Letter by phone at 847-

688-6888.

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& CHANGING LAW SINCE 1979

COMMUNITY

EXPLAINER

ILRC.ORG PG. 5

Discover more community explainers, toolkits,

& alerts about immigration law.

Are you a California Community College (CCC) or a California State University

(CSU) student? If so, you qualify for FREE immigration legal services!

FIND OUT MORE CCC: findyourally.com CSU: findyourally.com/csu

WHEN I REGISTERED FOR SELECTIVE SERVICE, I MAY HAVE USED A

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER (SSN) THAT WAS NOT MY OWN. WHAT

SHOULD I DO?

You can update your Social Security number with the SSS by calling 1-847-688-

6888 during business hours (9am to 5pm Eastern). Changes can take several weeks

to complete, and the SSS will send you a new registration letter with the updated

information.

You can also write to the SSS and request the change:

SELECTIVE SERVICE SYSTEM

P.O. BOX 94638

PALATINE, IL 60064-4638

Lastly, to find a trusted legal services provider in your area, visit ilrc.me/findhelp.