Selective Service is the system the United States military uses to identify potential soldiers.  The government keeps a registry of all men between the ages of 18 and 25 who could be summoned to military service quickly—in a fair and random order—in the event of a national emergency.  If Congress passed a draft law, also known as a conscription act, it would probably require the military to use a lottery to identify citizens for mandatory service.  Currently, there is no draft law in effect, but Selective Service registration is still required.

For more information on the Selective Service and to register, visit the Selective Service System website here.

If you are a male U.S. citizen or male immigrant living in the United States, you generally must register with the Selective Service System within 30 days of your 18th birthday, even if you do not want to serve in the military. Women are exempt, but all eligible young men ages 18 through 25 must be registered.  

As of January 2025, if you a transgender female (assigned male at birth), you are still required to register for Selective Service.

The federal government has not had a draft (where men who registered were required to serve) since 1973.  If you object to war based on moral or religious beliefs, you may qualify as a “conscientious objector” at the time of the draft, which means you would not have to serve in combat. 

You can:

• Register online at sss.gov;
• Pick up a form at your local post office, complete it, and mail it in;
• Mail in a completed Selective Service reminder card (a card is sent to most young men around their 18th birthdays);
• Check the appropriate box on a Federal Student Financial Aid form; the Department of Education will then supply the necessary registration information to the Selective Service;
• Register at your local high school; many high schools have staff members who are Selective Service Registrars; or
• Register at any S. embassy or consular officer if you are living overseas.

If you are a male immigrant between the age of 18 and 25, you must register for the selective service. This includes males who are lawful permanent residents, those seeking asylum, and refugees. It is especially important for these groups to register because if you do not register before you turn 26 years old, it can delay your ability to become a U.S. citizen. 

Usually, when you apply for U.S. citizenship (called applying for naturalization), if you did not know you had to register for selective service and you are already age 26 or older, you can explain that you did not know. If you were not trying to avoid military service by not registering, you may still qualify for naturalization, or you may wait to apply until you are 31 years old. If you are applying for citizenship and are between 18 and 25 years old, you should make sure to register, even if you did not do so right when you turned 18.  

In addition, undocumented males (those without papers or legal status in the U.S.) who are between 18 and 26 years old are required to register for Selective Service. However, you should talk with an immigration attorney first if you are undocumented.  

If you are here on a short-term visa (called a “nonimmigrant visa”) the whole time that you were ages 18 through 25, then you do not have to register for Selective Service. Some examples of those who do not have to register include those temporarily in the U.S. on a:

• Student visa (F-1 visa)
• Visitor visa (B-1/B-2 visa), or
• Exchange visitor visa (J visa).

If you were required to register for Selective Service and did not register, you may lose your ability to qualify for:

• Certain federal job training programs,
• Federal jobs,
• Some state, county and city jobs, and
• All Federal and some state college loans and grants

If you did not know you were required to register, and you are now being denied one of the benefits above, you can explain to the official handling your case (such as the person in charge of hiring or granting a loan) that your failure was not “knowing and willful.” It will be up to the official to decide if you have shown that it is more likely than not that this is true.  

If you cannot remember if you registered for Selective Service, you can check online at the Selective Service System website here.  If you are applying for naturalization or certain government jobs, you may need a “Status Information Letter,” which proves you registered. You can get that letter online at the same website. 

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