Citizenship and N-400 related Questions

[Wrangler]

1. For some reason if my Citizenship application has been denied and at that time if my Green Card (GC) has expired, will there be any issues in renewing my GC?
2. I have obtained my GC in April 2005. From 2006 until 2012 I owned and operated a consulting firm. The company didn't generate much revenue in 2010 and NO revenue for 2011 and 2012. However, I have properly filed the company tax returns (under loss) and also my personal returns. As a result, my W-2 statements will have very low amount for 2010 and $0 for 2011. Beginning Nov 2012, I took a job and have W-2 for 2 months in 2012 and for the whole year in 2013 and will get for 201 as well. At the time of interview will this W-2 situation, cause any issues?
3. This week, my Home Owners Association (HOA) has filed a case in Superior Court (in my county) for non-payment of a fee (around $2000) dispute. I am yet to file my response. Will this case "With" or "Without" a "Judgement" have any impact to my Citizenship application, interview, background check etc.?
4. In the next few days, I will be filing my N-400 application. Since no decision (Judgement) has been arrived for the above mentioned case, do I have to mention about this case in the application?
5. Last year, I have received a citation (ticket) for traffic violation (speeding: 50 mph or a 35 mph zone) and paid the fine. have the copy of citation and paid receipt. Also 3 or 4 years back received a similar ticket for speeding. paid the fine, but not sure if I have the copies. Do I have to mention this in the N-400 application?
Please let me know.
Thanks!

 

[baikal3]

1. For some reason if my Citizenship application has been denied and at that time if my Green Card (GC) has expired, will there be any issues in renewing my GC?

The denial of an N-400 has no immediate effect on the validity of the LPR status, and the latter remains valid even if an N-400 application is denied.

There are some, fairly rare, circumstances, where the denial of an N-400 application may be followed by the USCIS initiating the GC revocation proceedings. This happens, for example, if during an N-400 process it is uncovered that the original GC was obtained through fraud, or if the applicant has become deportable after receiving GC, e.g. because of being convicted of an aggravated felony.

2. I have obtained my GC in April 2005. From 2006 until 2012 I owned and operated a consulting firm. The company didn't generate much revenue in 2010 and NO revenue for 2011 and 2012. However, I have properly filed the company tax returns (under loss) and also my personal returns. As a result, my W-2 statements will have very low amount for 2010 and $0 for 2011. Beginning Nov 2012, I took a job and have W-2 for 2 months in 2012 and for the whole year in 2013 and will get for 201 as well. At the time of interview will this W-2 situation, cause any issues?

Should not cause any problems.

3. This week, my Home Owners Association (HOA) has filed a case in Superior Court (in my county) for non-payment of a fee (around $2000) dispute. I am yet to file my response. Will this case "With" or "Without" a "Judgement" have any impact to my Citizenship application, interview, background check etc.?
4. In the next few days, I will be filing my N-400 application. Since no decision (Judgement) has been arrived for the above mentioned case, do I have to mention about this case in the application?

Civil judgements, even if they do become final, do not have to be reported on N-400 and do not affect your naturalization eligibility.
In fact, if you read N-400 carefully, you will see that there is no specific question on N-400 in response to which you could report a civil judgement, even if you really really wanted to do so.

5. Last year, I have received a citation (ticket) for traffic violation (speeding: 50 mph or a 35 mph zone) and paid the fine. have the copy of citation and paid receipt. Also 3 or 4 years back received a similar ticket for speeding. paid the fine, but not sure if I have the copies. Do I have to mention this in the N-400 application?

There is no consensus on this point.

You could either
1) not report it on N-400 but bring the documentation related to the ticket to the interview and ask the IO there if the ticket needs to be reported.
or
2) report the ticket on N-400 (in responding to Q23 in part 11 of of N-400) and attach documentation proving that the ticket has been properly disposed of.

In either case you need to get actual proof that the ticket has been properly paid and that your DMV record is currently clear.
You can request a copy of your driving record from your state's DMV and it'll probably show information about the ticket and its disposition.
You can also go directly to the local municipal court under whose authority the ticket was issued and paid, and get a copy of the court disposition showing that the ticket has been paid.

Option 1) has some practical advantages since answering yes to Q23 ("Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer") seems to trigger a possibly somewhat longer background check. Most IOs appear not to want the info about ordinary (non-DUI) traffic tickets recorded in N-400, but the relevant practices are not uniform.

 

[Miss_chang]

baikal, I clicked on "no" to questions pertaining to citations. What should I do when the officer goes through my form?

 

[baikal3]

baikal, I clicked on "no" to questions pertaining to citations. What should I do when the officer goes through my form?

At the interview the IO will go over every question in N-400 with you to see if anything needs to be updated or corrected.
When the IO comes to Q23, mention that you were not sure if ordinary traffic tickets need to be reported in response to Q23, and that you answered "No" to Q23 although you did receive some ticket(s).
At that point show the IO documentation proving that the tickets were satisfactorily disposed of.

Most IOs will wave off the info about traffic tickets and leave the answer to Q23 as "No", but some will change it to "Yes" and add the ticket disposition info to the record.

 

[Miss_chang]

Well, the issue is, I don't have tickets/receipts.

I was pulled over for not having the "month" logo on my plate (I thought someone stole it like was the case 3 years ago). I went to the local DMV, paid $15/$20, and then realized that I already had it one in my glove box! A month later, I got a notice for failure to pay ticket $188! I paid that off as I was in a different state (that was a daylight robbery!)

4 months ago. I got a ticket for double parking. And a month later, I made a left turn on "no left" sign. The officer was nice enough to cite me for a mere moving violation, preventing me to acquire ticket points that'd have increased my insurance premium.

I think I have evidence of two. Not sure about third.

 

[baikal3]

Well, the issue is, I don't have tickets/receipts.

I was pulled over for not having the "month" logo on my plate (I thought someone stole it like was the case 3 years ago). I went to the local DMV, paid $15/$20, and then realized that I already had it one in my glove box! A month later, I got a notice for failure to pay ticket $188! I paid that off as I was in a different state (that was a daylight robbery!)

4 months ago. I got a ticket for double parking. And a month later, I made a left turn on "no left" sign. The officer was nice enough to cite me for a mere moving violation, preventing me to acquire ticket points that'd have increased my insurance premium.

I think I have evidence of two. Not sure about third.

You still have time before the interview, so you should get the relevant evidence now while there is still time.
For things that happened within the last year, getting a copy of your current driving record from the DMV should work as these recent tickets and the fact that they were paid should show up there.
If you go to the local DMV in person, you should be able to get a copy of your current driving record right then and there, on the spot (at least that's the case in most states). As I said earlier, for tickets that you received locally, you can also go to the relevant local municipal court and get a copy of the court disposition for those tickets there.
For an out-of-state tickets from years ago for which you have no records and cannot easily get them, I personally would not mention them.

 

[Miss_chang]

Very well. I'm going to try and get my driving record from my local DMV this week. Hopefully, that'll suffice. Thx.

 

[Wrangler]

Thank you baikal3. My Green card will expire in May 2015, so is my Driver's Licence. Once I applied for my Citizenship (planning to apply before end of Oct 2014), I don't have to apply for renewal Green Card. To renew my Driver's License, DMV would need a valid immigration document. However I think DMV will renew my Driver's License only for 120 days, based on the I-797 (Notice of Action) that I would receive after filing the Citizenship application. This will extend my Driver's Licencse until Sep 2105. In case if my Citizenship is not approved before Sep 2015, how do I renew my driver's license? Can I obtain a I-551 (extension) stamp or I HAVE to renew my Green card at that time? If I-551 stamp woruld work, can I get it at the Airport by fixing an appointment with the Airport Officer or have to go to the local immigration office?

Thanks!!