forgot to mention traffic tickets on N400 and interview soon!

Forgot to say "yes" for "cited" question on N400.When officer asks this question in interview:

  • 1) Should I correct my answer to "yes" and tell him about a few speeding tickets obtained in past?

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • 2) Stick to a NO as per my answer in N400 as the question was more about the arrest/detainment.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

USCanada009

New Member
hi all-
My citizenship interview is soon coming in the next few days in Maryland state. While filling up the N-400 form, there was a question : "Have you ever been arrested,cited or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason?" .

I answered a no because I missed the meaning of "cited" . I simply wish, they should have had a separate question for Traffic ticket. How can I put a "yes" for a question that talks about an arrest when I have never been arrested in my life? Anyway, how do I correct this now?

Please note that, I carried the Driving licence from the two states ( NC and ND) so far, but have lived in multiple States. I had got a few speeding tickets where I have lived in last decade , in the states like ND, MN, WY and NY . One brighter side could be, I have not received a speeding tickets for last four years or so ( except there was a citation via mail for an Automated Enforcement for speeding in my current state MD which was just 5 miles above and hence paid minimum fines. This is not even supposed to go official as the letter read). Second good thing ( or bad the way you see it) was, whenever I got these tickets in past I somehow had an out of state licence and hence I hardly might have gathered any points against my driving licence.

I recently collected the online Driving records from my current driving licence state ( NC) and the previous one ( ND). And surprisingly, both seems to be having a very clear record with no mention of a single speeding ticket or points.

I am seeking an advice from some experienced guys on this :

If the officer asks me the same question from the N400 form about arrest/citation, how best I can answer this?
ANSWER 1 :
Please see if this looks like a good answer. I would truly admit that I misssed the "cited" word and was answering NO for the "arrest" or "detain" actually. I would also present my printed driving records to the officer and admit that I had a few speeding tickets in the past, but then fully paid and I do not carry any points at the moment. I truly don't remember any of the dates and I never kept any records of the paid tickets.

ANSWER 2 :
Someone advised me to stick with a "NO" as I have never committed a crime and never been arrested, so overall it is still a correct answer.

Which of the two answers Or any other answers are better? Lastly, is there a faster way to obtain the records of the speeding tickets paid in various states ( listed above) ?

Thanks a lot.
 
No worries...go with ANSWER 1. Honesty is the best policy in this case.

You have the legal right to correct your N400 at the Interview...that is what the Interview is for...to go through your N400 line by line.

Just mention it and show that you paid the fines (if you were required to).
 
No worries...go with ANSWER 1. Honesty is the best policy in this case.

You have the legal right to correct your N400 at the Interview...that is what the Interview is for...to go through your N400 line by line.

Just mention it and show that you paid the fines (if you were required to).

Thank you for the advice, NJN400 ! I have downloaded and printed the Driving records from each of the states websites where I got the tickets. Surprisingly, Only one Speeding ticket and the fine showed up in all of these records. And I am now planning to show this to the Interview officer as soon as he prepares to ask me any question on my N400. Hopefully these printed copies would suffice, as I do not have time to get the original or certified copies from these states.
 
Guys, Ultimately I got the interview call and passed my interview this week. It took around 10 months after getting the biometrics done in Baltimore area.Well the immigration lady patiently corrected mistakes that I had made on my N-400 including no mention of the traffic tickets. I shown her my downloaded driving records including speeding tickets fines. And she was glad that I told her upfront. She of course said, traffic tickets don't matter as far as it;s no severe like DUI etc. Thanks for all the help. Best wishes to all ))
 
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