CASE: N-400 (Citizenship / Naturalization)
APPLICANT: South Korean
LOCATION: Cleveland, OH
Our client contacted us to seek legal assistance for his naturalization matters. He came to the United States from South Korea and obtained his green card in 1999. However, he was concerned for his naturalization due to his failure to register for Selective Service during the required time period. He retained our office to assist in his citizenship application.
After we were retained, our office contacted the Selective Service office and requested a status letter for our client. We explained that our client became a green card holder when he was a minor and no one informed him of the Selective Service registration requirements. Thus, his failure to register was not knowing and willful. The Selective Service issued a status letter for our client, thereby allowing him to apply for naturalization.
The N-400 application was filed on May 1, 2012 with all required supporting documents. We included a brief explaining that our client’s failure to register for Selective Service was not willful. Although the Military Selective Service Act provides for civil penalties for failure to register, Section 12 of the Military Service Act also provides some relief from the adverse civil effects of failure to register:
(g) A person may not be denied a right, privilege, or benefit under Federal law by reason of failure to present himself for and submit to registration under section 3 if:
(1) The requirement for the person to so register has terminated or become inapplicable to the person; and
(2) The person shows by a preponderance of the evidence that the failure of the person to register was not a knowing and willful failure to register.
Our client’s registration requirement has become inapplicable due to his age. Moreover, he has never been informed by anyone during 11 years of his residence in the U.S. with regard to the selective service system registration requirement. Therefore, our client clearly did not knowingly and willfully fail to register during the requested period of time.
Our office prepared him before the interview, and our client was scheduled to appear before the Cleveland USCIS office on July 13, 2012. Our attorney Sung Hee yu accompanied him as well. Our client answered all questions correctly and passed him citizenship interview. Eventually, his N-400 was approved. His oath taking will be scheduled soon in which he will be a naturalized Citizen.
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