Please Advice: N-400 and Failure to appear

Q

qfamci

New Member
Hi,

Appreciate your valuable advice.

Here is my scenario:
In 2002 I receieved a citation for speeding and failure to show car insurance as I was not carrying my insurance paper with me on that day. (NOTE: I had insurance but was not carrying the proof with me)

- I went to the court and paid fine for speeding ticket.
- However I did not realize that I was carrying an old insurance copy and it was expired. The clerk told me that I have to come back and demostrate proof that I had insurance on the day of citation.
- I forgot to show the proof of insurance by going tback to the court clerks office.

A month later I received a voice mail at work from the police saying that an arrest warrant has been issued against me for "Failure to appear" in court to show financial responsibility (car insurance paper). The voice mail also stated that to avoid arrest I have to take care of the charge immediately.

I rushed to the court the same day and showed the prrof of insurance and paid fine
(< $300) for "Failure to appear".

I got my Permanent Resident (GC) in 2003. I mentioned this incident in my GC application and the Consular Officer joked about it.

This incident happened about 9 years ago.

My question to you:
1. Do I need to mention this again on my N-400 application?
2. Will this cause any issues during interview?
3. How far should I go back to report traffic citations? 5 years, 10 years or for my stay in US (about 15 years).

Thanks a lot for your advice.
 
qfamci said:
Hi,

Appreciate your valuable advice.

Here is my scenario:
In 2002 I receieved a citation for speeding and failure to show car insurance as I was not carrying my insurance paper with me on that day. (NOTE: I had insurance but was not carrying the proof with me)

- I went to the court and paid fine for speeding ticket.
- However I did not realize that I was carrying an old insurance copy and it was expired. The clerk told me that I have to come back and demostrate proof that I had insurance on the day of citation.
- I forgot to show the proof of insurance by going tback to the court clerks office.

A month later I received a voice mail at work from the police saying that an arrest warrant has been issued against me for "Failure to appear" in court to show financial responsibility (car insurance paper). The voice mail also stated that to avoid arrest I have to take care of the charge immediately.

I rushed to the court the same day and showed the prrof of insurance and paid fine
(< $300) for "Failure to appear".

I got my Permanent Resident (GC) in 2003. I mentioned this incident in my GC application and the Consular Officer joked about it.

This incident happened about 9 years ago.

My question to you:
1. Do I need to mention this again on my N-400 application?
2. Will this cause any issues during interview?
3. How far should I go back to report traffic citations? 5 years, 10 years or for my stay in US (about 15 years).

Thanks a lot for your advice.
Click to expand...

1. Yes.
2. Probably not, especially since the incident was disclosed at the GC application stage. Still, you'll need to provide documentation regarding disposition of that charge.
3. There are varying opinions on that. The safest thing would be to disclose all traffic tickets you ever received in the U.S.
 
Thanks Baikal3 and nkm-oct23 for your quick reply.

How to go about finding out all the tickets I ever received. I had not saved records on any of them. I may have about 7 or 8 in the last 15 years. My driving record only shows 2 citations.

Thanks.
 
nkm-oct23 said:
You will have to disclose it since an arrest warrant was issued against you.
Click to expand...

The OP may need to disclose it but the arrest warrant certainly wouldn't be the reason. N-400 doesn't ask about arrest warrants. In general it is actually a bit unusual for the police to extend the courtesy (as happened in this case) of giving notice of the warrant, and providing an opportunity to remedy it, before actually serving the warrant. I think it is more common for it simply to be understood that when you fail to meet your obligations to a court, a warrant may be issued--but no notice is given when that actually happens.

In general I don't believe that minor traffic infractions (under $500 and no other penalty except 'points' on the record) need to be disclosed. This has been the subject of extensive debate for years; but see the following USCIS document which seems to indicate that no disclosure is required (see p60):

Benefits for Permanent Residents and Naturalization

However the "Failure to Appear" is not, itself, a traffic infraction and so likely needs to be disclosed. The citations for speeding and failure to show insurance should probably also be disclosed because otherwise the context of the "Failure to Appear" would not be clear.

However IMHO other traffic citations which were resolved cleanly with at most a fine <$500 and points on the record (but not arrest) do NOT need to be disclosed.
 
qfamci said:
Hi,

Appreciate your valuable advice.

Here is my scenario:
In 2002 I receieved a citation for speeding and failure to show car insurance as I was not carrying my insurance paper with me on that day. (NOTE: I had insurance but was not carrying the proof with me)

- I went to the court and paid fine for speeding ticket.
- However I did not realize that I was carrying an old insurance copy and it was expired. The clerk told me that I have to come back and demostrate proof that I had insurance on the day of citation.
-I forgot to show the proof of insurance by going tback to the court clerks office.

A month later I received a voice mail at work from the police saying that an arrest warrant has been issued against me for "Failure to appear" in court to show financial responsibility (car insurance paper). The voice mail also stated that to avoid arrest I have to take care of the charge immediately.

I rushed to the court the same day and showed the prrof of insurance and paid fine
(< $300) for "Failure to appear".

I got my Permanent Resident (GC) in 2003. I mentioned this incident in my GC application and the Consular Officer joked about it.

This incident happened about 9 years ago.

My question to you:
1. Do I need to mention this again on my N-400 application?
2. Will this cause any issues during interview?
3. How far should I go back to report traffic citations? 5 years, 10 years or for my stay in US (about 15 years).

Thanks a lot for your advice.
Click to expand...

Are you kidding me ?
 
qfamci said:
Thanks CalGreenCrad for your suggestion. Appreciate your response.
Click to expand...

You should be fine. I dont think you've racked up a bunch of tickets with fines over $500 in the past 12 years right? Worst case scenario, the DMV should have a record. But yes, you have very little to worry about especially since you stated it on your green card application. Good luck.
 
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