Selective Service registration at eighteen

The Selective Service System says almost all male U.S. citizens and male immigrants who are 18 through 25 must register. That includes immigrant men, not only citizens. U.S. dual citizens and citizens living abroad must register too, online or at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

The agency's own website is direct about the rest. There is no draft right now. Registering does not put you in the military.

Registration was stopped in 1975. In 1980, President Carter restarted it, and Congress paid only for registering men. In Rostker v. Goldberg (1981), a group of men argued that registering only men was unfair under the Constitution. The Supreme Court disagreed. It held that Congress acted within its power to raise and regulate the armed forces when it required men, and not women, to register.

That decision is why the duty today still falls on men. Congress could change it with a new law. The 2025 law described below kept the focus on men.

Failing to register is a felony, which is a serious crime. Selective Service says the penalty can be a fine of up to $250,000, up to 5 years in prison, or both.

The more common problem shows up years later. The agency says a man must be registered to qualify for most federal jobs and for job training under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. In many states he also needs it for state-funded student financial aid and some state jobs. For immigrant men, registration is tied to eligibility for U.S. citizenship.