How To Defer NYSC Service To Another Batch or Stream?

There are situations whereby a PCM has been mobilized and also issued a call-up letter, but he or she isn’t ready to serve yet. This could be due to health-related issues, lack of money, unfortunate circumstances and more.

Sometimes, it might even be intentional. It could be that you don’t like Batch A and want to join B or C, or you don’t like stream 1 and want to join stream 2, or you don’t like the state you were posted to, which is very common among prospective corps members.

But whatever the reason is, the main thing here is that you aren’t just ready to serve yet. So what can you do if you find yourself in this kind of situation? Well, you can defer your service. Now what is this deferring of NYSC service all about? Let me explain.

What Does It Mean To Defer NYSC Service?

This simply means delaying your participation in NYSC to join a later batch or stream due to reasons that prevent you from serving at the scheduled time. These reasons may be due to health, financial, or personal reasons, as explained earlier.

Now the question here is, how do you defer your service to another batch or stream? Well, in today’s article, I will be telling you how to go about it and also answer other related questions corps members normally ask about deferral.

I will start by telling you how to defer to another batch, then proceed to tell you how to defer to another stream. So without wasting much time, let’s proceed.

How To Defer NYSC To Another Batch?

To defer your NYSC service to another batch after receiving your call-up letter, kindly skip camp for the two streams in that same batch. Anytime you are ready to serve, just do manual revalidation when the registration portal for the batch you wish to join opens, and that’s all.

For example, let’s say John received his call-up letter in Batch A1 but wants to join Batch C. To do this, John will have to defer his NYSC service by skipping camp for Batch A1 and also A2 if he registered for that stream or was automatically revalidated.

So the moment Batch C1 registration starts, John will have to do manual revalidation on the NYSC portal, and that’s all. This way, he has successfully deferred his NYSC from one batch to another different batch.

Now what do I mean by revalidation? Well, for those who don’t know, let me briefly explain it. Revalidation simply means renewing your already registered details on the NYSC portal. This revalidation makes it look like you just freshly registered for NYSC, making you eligible to be added to another batch or stream.

This revalidation can be automatic or manual. If it’s automatic, it means NYSC themselves revalidated you, while if it’s manual, it means you did it yourself.

For deferring from one batch to another, the revalidation is usually done manually and not automatically. So that’s all about deferring from one batch to another. You can see that it’s very easy. I hope you understood all that I explained. Let’s proceed to the next.

How To Defer NYSC To Another Stream?

Now there are two categories of PCMs who think of deferring to another stream. They include the one who wants to;

1. Defer to the next stream in the same batch.
2. Defer to a stream in another batch.

The process to do this for these two categories really differs, so to make things understandable, I will be explaining both of them separately. All you have to do is to navigate to the category you fall under and read the instructions carefully.

i) Defer To The Next Stream In The Same Batch.

To defer your NYSC service to the next stream in a particular batch after your call-up letter is out, all you just have to do is to skip camp. When you skip camp, NYSC will automatically revalidate you to the next stream.

In other words, if you want to defer your service to the next stream in a particular batch, just skip camp, and NYSC themselves will do automatic revalidation for you to the next stream.

I explained the meaning of automatic revalidation earlier in this article, so I don’t think that it should be a problem anymore.

Now take note that the automatic revalidation here can only be done for those who deferred their NYSC in stream 1 of a particular batch. And since a batch contains 2 streams, when you defer your NYSC in stream 1, NYSC will automatically revalidate you to stream 2 in that same batch.

Some of you might ask, “What if I deferred my service in stream 2? Will I be automatically revalidated to a stream in another batch?” The answer to that question is no, and you will find an explanation for it while you read through this article.

ii) Defer To a Stream In Another Batch

To defer your service to a stream in another batch, you will have to skip camp firstly for both streams in that batch. Then when the registration for the stream in the batch you are interested in joining opens, you will have to do manual revalidation, and that’s all.

This means if it’s stream 1, you will have to do manual revalidation when the registration for stream 1 opens. While if you want to join stream 2 in that batch, you will also have to do manual revalidation when the registration for stream 2 opens for that batch.

NOTE:

Take note that you might end up not joining the stream of your choice after deferring, whether you were automatically revalidated or did manual revalidation. Care to know why? Let me explain.

When NYSC start giving PCMs call-up letters in a particular stream, they start with those that they automatically revalidated themselves. After that, they move to those that newly registered for that stream before attending to those that were initially given a call-up letter in a particular stream but skipped camp and were automatically revalidated or did manual revalidation to that current stream.

During this process, if the slot they allocated for the current stream is filled up, they will move some people to another stream, which can be in that current batch or a different one entirely. And sometimes, PCMs who skipped camp after receiving their call-up letter in a stream and were automatically revalidated or did manual revalidation to another stream fall victim to this.

This is the reason why I said you might end up not joining the stream of your choice even after doing revalidation. It happens most times to PCMs who deferred their service, so just get prepared if you want to defer. Now let me answer some questions PCMs who want to defer or have already deferred their service ask.

Can I Still Defer My NYSC Service After I Have Gotten To Camp?

No, you cannot defer your NYSC service after getting to camp. The reason is because when you get to the NYSC orientation camp, you will be required to fill your name in a register called the Book Of Life.

This book contains the names of all youth who have officially started their journey as a corps member. If you write your name on this book, it simply means you have officially started your journey as a corp member, and there is no turning back.

This is the reason why I mentioned earlier that if you want to defer, just skip camp because this way, your name won’t be in the NYSC Book Of Life yet.

Will I Still Need To Register After Deferring NYSC Service?

No, you won’t need to register again after deferring your NYSC service. The only thing you will be required to do is revalidation, which is just like renewing your details on the NYSC portal.

Is There Still a Need to Print Out Your Call-Up Letter?

No, there is no need to print out your call-up letter. When you have been revalidated, you will be issued a new call-up number, and the date on your call-up letter will change, which is the one you will be needing to print out.

Will Your Graduation Date Be Affected?

No, your graduation date will not be affected in any way. As long as you have been mobilized, even if you defer your service by age 30 and by the time you are ready, you will be more than 30 years old, you will still be able to serve.

Since your graduation date cannot be changed, deferring your NYSC service will not have any effect on your graduation date.

Are There Any Penalties For Deferring NYSC Service?

No, there are no penalties for deferring your NYSC service. I saw some people spreading wrong information about this, saying if you defer, it might affect you during job interviews or something. Please don’t be misled and deceived; there is absolutely no effect or penalty for deferring your service.

Will My State Of Deployment Be Changed After Deferring My Service?

Well, this depends on NYSC itself. But most times, the state of deployment always ends up being the same after revalidation. It’s only in rare cases that you will see a PCM state of deployment changed after deferring and doing revalidation.

Even if it was changed, it always ended up being in the same region. Example: from Borno to Kano State, which is still in the northern region of Nigeria.

So in conclusion, deferring your NYSC service to another batch or stream is very easy. Also, there is no penalty for deferring; your graduation date will not be affected, you won’t need to print out your call-up letter and also need to re-register. Rather, you will do revalidation as explained earlier. That will be all for now; thank you for reading this article.