I was sued by somebody - where should I mention this in N400?

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jamborees

Registered Users (C)
I was sued by somebody in a civil law suit.
As a result I got a citation from a court.
The case was dismissed by the judge on first hearing (Summary judgement).

Where should I mention this in N400?

Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested - I guess this is NO. My reasoning: I committed no crime or offense. Somebody thought I did something wrong and sued me. The Judge thought like me too.

Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enofircement officer for any reason? - Should I say YES here? The CITATION came from the clerk of a court. Should I say I was cited even though this was just a random malicious act by an out-of-mind individual? Or should I say I was cited only if the court decided against me?

Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or offense? - I guess this is NO. But not sure - What does "Charge" mean? Does this citation from the court count as a "charge"?

I tried searching all over in the internet for an answer, but could not find any similar question. If you have seen anything similar, please point me to the link.

Thank you in advance for any help,
Jamborees
 
jamborees said:
I was sued by somebody in a civil law suit.
As a result I got a citation from a court.
The case was dismissed by the judge on first hearing (Summary judgement).

Where should I mention this in N400?

Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were not arrested - I guess this is NO. My reasoning: I committed no crime or offense. Somebody thought I did something wrong and sued me. The Judge thought like me too.

Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enofircement officer for any reason? - Should I say YES here? The CITATION came from the clerk of a court. Should I say I was cited even though this was just a random malicious act by an out-of-mind individual? Or should I say I was cited only if the court decided against me?

Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or offense? - I guess this is NO. But not sure - What does "Charge" mean? Does this citation from the court count as a "charge"?

I tried searching all over in the internet for an answer, but could not find any similar question. If you have seen anything similar, please point me to the link.

Thank you in advance for any help,
Jamborees
Click to expand...

Civil suits are of no concern to USCIS so no need to disclose.
 
Thank you vdostoi1.
The question in the form is simply: Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enofircement officer for any reason? It does not talk about civil/criminal nature of the citation! Do you think it is safer to just mention this civil citation? Will they say I lied if I do not mention it?

Thanks,
 
jamborees said:
Thank you vdostoi1.
The question in the form is simply: Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enofircement officer for any reason? It does not talk about civil/criminal nature of the citation! Do you think it is safer to just mention this civil citation? Will they say I lied if I do not mention it?

Thanks,
Click to expand...

And how do you figure a civil lawsuit falls under arrest, citation or detainment?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Bobsmyth, I got a citation from the clerk of the judge (This is the letter from the clerk starting with: "You have been sued. Blah Blah Blah ... ... ...". It has a seal or something on the first page which clearly states that this is a citation). That is why I am in doubt as to whether I should answer yes to "Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason?".

If, as eltoro says, a Judge is not a law enforcement officer, then I can say NO to the question.
 
What you received is a summons, not a citation. If you refuse to go to the court the case will be decided in your absence.

A judge is not a law enforcement officer; he does not have power to arrest you. (He can order that you be arrested but he cannot arrest you himself)
 
nkm, it is very clearly marked on the paper I received - CITATION. But, basically, it was the papers that let me know that I have been sued.
 
Citation is a summons, notice to appear. You have been summoned to the court by clerk of court who is NOT a law enforcement officer. The question asks whether you have been cited by a law enforcement officer. The answer should be no.
 
jamborees said:
nkm, it is very clearly marked on the paper I received - CITATION. But, basically, it was the papers that let me know that I have been sued.
Click to expand...

As was already mentioned above, this is a court summons. Even if you wanted to get technical about it, the N-400 asks if you've ever been cited by a law enforcement officer. A court clerk is not a law enforcement officer. There's no need to disclose this at all.
 
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