Another Speeding Ticket Thread (License Suspended) - Need Advice

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mani99

Registered Users (C)
I live in Chicago area and will be filing N-400 based on marriage to a USC. I am planning to answer 'NO' to questions 15-17 based on the discussions i have read on this forum. However, I would like to know what you guys think.

I have been on F-1->OPT->CPT->H-3->H-1B->GC and have never had an issue.

Below is the list of speeding tickets I have received (All the fines I paid were less than $500):

10/2005 - IA 120 in 65
10/2005 - IA 100 in 55

The above two tickets I received when I was in college. No excuses ofcourse but I was a full time student at a university in IA and also taking classes at a
community college which was about 40 min drive. I got both the tickets on the same day within an hour of each other (going to the class and driving back).

I ended up hiring an attorney. That was my last semester and had a job offer in a different state. My attorney was able to delay the court dates till I got my
license in the new state. State dismissed the first speeding ticket and I plead guilty for the second one and paid the fine. Both the tickets were only for
speeding (no wreckless driving).

Based on the speeding ticket for which I had plead guilty, my license in IA was suspended.

Remaining tickets were 1-10 above the speed limit:

1/2006 - NY
9/2007 - VT
7/2007 - IA
3/2007 - IL

It has been almost 4 years since I had my last ticket. I have been a GC holder since 11/2008.

What do you guys think? Should I be concerned? Should I request my driving history for IA?
 
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In your case a suspended license must definitely be reported. If fact, IMHO any traffic citation must be reported.
Instructions for N-400 do not state that you can omit traffic tickets. It only states that for traffic tickets under $500 documentation need not be provided.
It should not have any negative impact on your citizenship case.
 
Since you're applying based on 3 year rule, the offenses have occurred outside of statutory period and therefore won't go against you establishing GMC. If these are the only blemishes in your case, you don't have anything to worry about.
 
Interesting document. It never refers to citation, but it is definitely "official" and one can print this out to support once's case in court should USCIS deny one's application for failure to declare multiple moving violations short of drunk driving, particularly when there was no arrest.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Since you're applying based on 3 year rule, the offenses have occurred outside of statutory period and therefore won't go against you establishing GMC. If these are the only blemishes in your case, you don't have anything to worry about.
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The ticket i received in NY above was paid off immediately. However, I had received a letter for driver assessment fee from NY DMV (based on the ticket) and the way they had stated in the letter it sounded like they assumed i was a resident of NY/NJ since i lived there in 2005. I ignored it at that time assuming it did not apply to me. However, in 2008 i was going through my documents and did a bit more research on that ticket and found it was still pending in NY online database so I just paid it off on 7/6/2008.

The only other thing i can think of is the registration for SS where i got registered via DMV even though I was not required to. I am planning to say 'No' to the question where it asks if I was required to on form N-400 and mention my SS registration number also. (http://forums.immigration.com/showt...ered-for-Selective-Service-on-F1-!&highlight=)
 
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Vorpal said:
I disagree. The following document, found on USCIS.gov, explicitly states that minor traffic tickets that did not result in an arrest do not need to be disclosed.

http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/About Us... Guide/Permanent_Residents_Naturalization.pdf
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Yes, I saw that too and think it would be not necessary to put traffic tickets. My concern was the 'suspended license' but that was based on the speeding ticket and I was not arrested for it. I paid a 'violation fee' [this is the terminology used in the plea bargain submitted by the attorney] of $130 for that fine.

What do you think? I am planning to prepare to bring any supporting documents at least in case it does come up and IO specifically asks me about speeding tickets.
 
mani99 said:
Yes, I saw that too and think it would be not necessary to put traffic tickets. My concern was the 'suspended license' but that was based on the speeding ticket and I was not arrested for it. I paid a 'violation fee' [this is the terminology used in the plea bargain submitted by the attorney] of $130 for that fine.

What do you think? I am planning to prepare to bring any supporting documents at least in case it does come up and IO specifically asks me about speeding tickets.
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Don't worry about the suspended license. Having your license suspended is not a crime or an offense, so there is no need to disclose it.
 
Vorpal said:
Don't worry about the suspended license. Having your license suspended is not a crime or an offense, so there is no need to disclose it.
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That makes sense to me. However, I would like to be prepared in case it does come up. I am not planning to disclose the information unless the IO specifically asks me about the speeding tickets. How do you think I can go about requesting the correct paper work for the speeding tickets that I have received (along with the driving license suspension)? Or do you think I should wait till after the interview to see how it goes? I will be filing in August. I have only had a license in IL and IA but the speeding tickets I have received have been from other states also. I have been reading here that getting a driving license record might suffice so i will try to request the driving license from both IL and IA. Is there anything else I should get?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, I notice that it took you almost a year to get your citizenship, any particular reason? Does it have to do with where you apply?
 
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mani99 said:
That makes sense to me. However, I would like to be prepared in case it does come up. I am not planning to disclose the information unless the IO specifically asks me about the speeding tickets. How do you think I can go about requesting the correct paper work for the speeding tickets that I have received (along with the driving license suspension)? Or do you think I should wait till after the interview to see how it goes? I will be filing in August. I have only had a license in IL and IA but the speeding tickets I have received have been from other states also. I have been reading here that getting a driving license record might suffice so i will try to request the driving license from both IL and IA. Is there anything else I should get?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, I notice that it took you almost a year to get your citizenship, any particular reason? Does it have to do with where you apply?
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In order to obtain the documentation for your tickets, you would contact either the court where the hearing was held, or, in the event that you paid the ticket and didn't go to court, the DMV of the states where the tickets were issued. Don't bother contacting the NY DMV, as they purge driving records after a violation turns 3 years old. When I was applying for naturalization, I filed a FOIA request with the NY DMV and received a letter stating that no records exist.

The reason for the delay in the processing of my N-400 was that I applied in the sumemr of 2007. In July of that year, the USCIS implemented drastic application fee increases, which resulted in an unprecedented volume of applications being submitted prior to the fee increase taking effect. It took 3 months just to get a receipt for my application, and almost 6 months after fingerprints to get an interview letter. If you look at the timelines of other forum members who applied at around the same time I did (Bobsmyth, for instance), you will see similar processing times.
 
Vorpal said:
In order to obtain the documentation for your tickets, you would contact either the court where the hearing was held, or, in the event that you paid the ticket and didn't go to court, the DMV of the states where the tickets were issued. Don't bother contacting the NY DMV, as they purge driving records after a violation turns 3 years old. When I was applying for naturalization, I filed a FOIA request with the NY DMV and received a letter stating that no records exist.

The reason for the delay in the processing of my N-400 was that I applied in the sumemr of 2007. In July of that year, the USCIS implemented drastic application fee increases, which resulted in an unprecedented volume of applications being submitted prior to the fee increase taking effect. It took 3 months just to get a receipt for my application, and almost 6 months after fingerprints to get an interview letter. If you look at the timelines of other forum members who applied at around the same time I did (Bobsmyth, for instance), you will see similar processing times.
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Thanks for your reply, Vorpal. I will see what I can get.
 
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