Advice for my interview next month

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wong561hb

Registered Users (C)
Folks, I received my IL yesterday and wanted to seek out the advice of everyone on this forum regarding next month's interview. My DO is San Francisco.

I received a citation for public urination back in August 2002, the original post of can be seen here http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?p=2036495#post2036495

Since this post I have found out that the citation was indeed for Public Urination and the fine paid was $225.00

The City of Chicago has given me copies of the citation, the letter sent to me regarding the citation and a computer screen shot with matching ticket & docket # showing the citation was in paid (in fact it's been over paid, so money is owed back to me)

Will this suffice as proof or do I need something else. I also plan on carrying a notarized affidavit showing what actually happened that day in the event the IO chooses to probe deeper.

Thank you all in advance!
 
wong561hb said:
Folks, I received my IL yesterday and wanted to seek out the advice of everyone on this forum regarding next month's interview. My DO is San Francisco.

I received a citation for public urination back in August 2002, the original post of can be seen here http://forums.immigration.com/showthread.php?p=2036495#post2036495

Since this post I have found out that the citation was indeed for Public Urination and the fine paid was $225.00

The City of Chicago has given me copies of the citation, the letter sent to me regarding the citation and a computer screen shot with matching ticket & docket # showing the citation was in paid (in fact it's been over paid, so money is owed back to me)

Will this suffice as proof or do I need something else. I also plan on carrying a notarized affidavit showing what actually happened that day in the event the IO chooses to probe deeper.

Thank you all in advance!
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I think you should be fine with what you have. Did you disclose this citation when you filed your application?
 
Avoid deeper probing by IO by presenting certified court documents and not divulging more than required.
 
Bob, I have asked the city of chicago for court certified documents and they're telling me there are none to provide because I didn't go to court. The citation was paid by mail......they're telling me that unless I went to court to fight the charges, there are no certified documents to provide. What do you suggest?
 
Try to get a receipt for that payment or some kind of print out from them showing you paid. If you didn't go to court then much better!
 
and I see that you have that already haha.....maybe have them stamp the copies with their official stamp or something but I think what you have is enough.
 
wong561hb said:
Bob, I have asked the city of chicago for court certified documents and they're telling me there are none to provide because I didn't go to court. The citation was paid by mail......they're telling me that unless I went to court to fight the charges, there are no certified documents to provide. What do you suggest?
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You should be fine with the documents you have since you never went to court.
 
wong561hb said:
Understood - thank you all for your advice.
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If you paid by a check, then ask your bank to dig through the archival records and give you a copy, but it will cost you a small administrative fee for them to find this information. If you have a copy of the citation, then you can provide and print a court guidelines which shows that "if you never went to court, then no court documentation can be provided" except that you paid the fine. No public urination until you are a US citizen...:)

As Bob said, be measured in your responses to the IO on this issue. You need to be remorseful, it always massage their ego (IO's) and clear this hurdle for your naturalization. I wish you the best and again...no....u know what...:)
 
wong561hb,

How do you get the copy of court records. I am living in different state (FL)and the citations / court records are in a different state (OH).

Thanks.
 
qazxsw said:
wong561hb,

How do you get the copy of court records. I am living in different state (FL)and the citations / court records are in a different state (OH).

Thanks.
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You call the county clerk where the citation was issued, given them your name or the ticket number if you have one, request that they mail you cerfified copy of court records. I got a speeding ticket in NJ couple of years ago, never went to court in person, but my lawyer did. I called the county about 2-3 years later and asked for court documents, and they charged me $5 to mail them to my house.
 
Al Southener's suggestion is the best way to go. It becomes tough when you don't have a ticket # or a docket # like in my case, however, since I was friends with the ticketing officer, I called him and had him get me that information. In your case I would contact the courts in the city you received the citation in and go from there. They'll need your name, what the citation was for and approximate dates when the violation occured. Without specific ticket or docket #'s it'll take them some time to retrieve the information - goood luck!
 
Or he can go online and research for "court records" In the county clerk website, put your name and last name and it should give you all the information, of course this is just to give them your info, you will still need to have a certified copy to take to the interview so mail the fee and wait for it, do this as soon as possible I had to do this and it took 5 weeks to get it. UGH!
 
wong561hb said:
Al Southener's suggestion is the best way to go. It becomes tough when you don't have a ticket # or a docket # like in my case, however, since I was friends with the ticketing officer, I called him and had him get me that information. In your case I would contact the courts in the city you received the citation in and go from there. They'll need your name, what the citation was for and approximate dates when the violation occured. Without specific ticket or docket #'s it'll take them some time to retrieve the information - goood luck!
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Wong,

I think you should stop being friends with someone who can cause you so much inconvenience because of a stupid exercise. However, I wonder if there is an iota of truth in your original story, because I know that I wouldn't pay any city any money for a crime I never committed. So, unless your modified this story to appear an innocent victim of a fun game with your friend police officer, then you either peed in public and were forced to pay for this crime. In anyway, I will leave it to you to live with this fun story...:D
 
Do you need to have the docs for traffic violation below $500? My traffic violation occured 7 yrs back in another state (IN) where I was travelling. I even don't remember county name.
 
If the violation did not involve drugs, alcohol or excessive bodily harm then you do not need to submit documentation - you do however still need to disclose it in the application. Good luck!
 
qazxsw said:
Do you need to have the docs for traffic violation below $500? My traffic violation occured 7 yrs back in another state (IN) where I was travelling. I even don't remember county name.
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Do you remember the area you were driving in? I would google something in the vicinity of that particular area, and call couple of counties. If you citation was less than $500, it is always good to have documentation in your back pocket. The IO might decide that they would like to see if you paid for this ticket, even though this one fall way outside that scope of their examination relatively speaking. The N400 instruction indicates that if the citation is below $500, then no need to bring documentation, but immigrants have a higher burden to prove their clean living habits. On this forum, we generally advise people to have more evidence than necessary, to avoid being delayed by a nutty IO.
 
Al Southner, I understand your skepticism as the story in and of itself is quite bizzare...but it's the absolute truth. There were others in the car at the time the 'citation' was written......Everyone's story is different and when it comes down to Good Moral Character I have no problem defending my actions!
 
wong561hb said:
Al Southner, I understand your skepticism as the story in and of itself is quite bizzare...but it's the absolute truth. There were others in the car at the time the 'citation' was written......Everyone's story is different and when it comes down to Good Moral Character I have no problem defending my actions!
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I agree. You have to defend yourself against this charge, which should not exist at all if it weren't from your friend. I think public urination is a viewed with much scorn and it should be as it is unacceptable behavior for anyone in civilized society. However, I will take you at your word because I don't see the motive for you to lie, because we aren't going to be the ones adjudicating this case. I have learnt to let people live with your own conscience on issues. I wish you luck in the upcoming interview.

However, don't disclose too information on this issue, only what it asked. Can't your friend write you a letter on the Police station letterhead indicating that he meant this in a jest, but was mistakenly processed by the city? I mean, as an officer of the court, he can have some weight on these issue before USCIS. :confused:
 
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