page_title: Selective Service System
section_title: Who must register
hierarchical_section_title: Selective Service System / Who must register
caption_attribution_description: English: Selective service information available in a local post office in Boston, Massachusetts.
context_page_description: The Selective Service System is an independent agency of the United States government that maintains information on those potentially subject to military conscription. All male U.S. citizens who are between the ages of 18 and 26 are required by law to have registered within 30 days of their 18th birthdays, and must notify the Selective Service within ten days of any changes to any of the information they provided on their registration cards, such as a change of address. The Selective Service System is a contingency mechanism for the possibility that conscription becomes necessary.
  Registration with Selective Service is required for various federal programs and benefits, including the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, student loans and Pell Grants, job training, federal employment, and naturalization.
  The Selective Service System provides the names of all registrants to the Joint Advertising Marketing Research & Studies program for inclusion in the JAMRS Consolidated Recruitment Database. The names are distributed to the Services for recruiting purposes on a quarterly basis.
  Regulations are codified at Title 32 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Chapter XVI.
context_section_description: Under current law, all male U.S. citizens between 18–25 (inclusive) years of age are required to register within 30 days of their 18th birthday. In addition, certain categories of non-US citizen men between 18–25 living in the United States must register, particularly permanent residents, refugees, asylum seekers, and illegal immigrants. Foreign men lawfully present in the United States who are non-immigrants, such as international students, visitors, and diplomats, are not required to register, so long as they remain in that status. If an alien's non-immigrant status lapses while he is in the United States, he will be required to register. Failure to register as required is grounds for denying a petition for U.S. citizenship. Currently, citizens who are as young as 17 years and 3 months old can pre-register so when they turn 18 their information will automatically be added into the system.
  In the current registration system, a man cannot indicate that he is a conscientious objector (CO) to war when registering, but he can make such a claim when being drafted. Some men choose to write on the registration card "I am a conscientious objector to war" to  document their conviction, even though the government will not have such a classification until there is a draft. A number of private organizations have programs for conscientious objectors to file a written record stating their beliefs.
  In 1987, Congress ordered the Selective Service System to put in place a system capable of drafting "persons qualified for practice or employment in a health care occupation" in case such a special-skills draft should be ordered by Congress. In response, the Selective Service published plans for the "Health Care Personnel Delivery System" (HCPDS) in 1989, and has had them ready ever since. The concept underwent a preliminary field exercise in Fiscal Year 1998, followed by a more extensive nationwide readiness exercise in Fiscal Year 1999. The HCPDS plans include women and men age 20–54 in 57 job categories.
  Until their 26th birthday, registered men must notify Selective Service within 10 days of any changes to information regarding their status, such as name, current mailing address, permanent residence address, and "all information concerning his status ... which the classifying authority mails him a request therefor."
caption: Selective service information available in a local post office in Boston, Massachusetts.
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