How to: Check your Selective Service Registration

This quick guide shares how to check your Selective Service registration status. For various applications with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), providing proof of registration with the Selective Service System is a vital part of qualifying for immigration relief. Learn more with this step-by-step guide.

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 register with the Selective Service System (SSS) within 30 days of their 18th birthday. 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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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