Citizenship application denied!

C

citizenship_app

Registered Users (C)
Hi All,

I had a few traffic tickets, 6 in total. One of them took three years to get resolved and it was because court was busy and they got to my ticket only in three years. For another cell phone ticket, again I did not get the letter because my address was changed. My license got suspended because of this ticket and I was not aware. When I came to know, I paid the ticket and suspension was lifted. Because of these two incidents, my citizenship application is denied.

Any one knows what to do next? What are my chances of getting citizenship? Does this decision impact my green card status?

Thanks
 
citizenship_app said:
Hi All,

I had a few traffic tickets, 6 in total. One of them took three years to get resolved and it was because court was busy and they got to my ticket only in three years. For another cell phone ticket, again I did not get the letter because my address was changed. My license got suspended because of this ticket and I was not aware. When I came to know, I paid the ticket and suspension was lifted. Because of these two incidents, my citizenship application is denied.

Any one knows what to do next? What are my chances of getting citizenship? Does this decision impact my green card status?

Thanks
Click to expand...

for Citizenship - try in few years with clean records
 
No, I am not!!! Three of those 6 tickets are cell phone tickets. I have no DUI, no arrest etc. I am baffeled!! We want to adop a child and hence it is necessary for one of us to become a citizen or else I would not have even cared to apply.
 
Hi:

There is something in your post that doesn't make sense or is at least not a norm :confused:. Even I got an impression initially that you were kidding. Are you sure you are not forgetting or hiding something? People on this forum are very helpful provided they have complete and correct information.

3 years to clear a traffic ticket because of the courts delay :eek:? Were you charged or sentenced in the criminal court in any of these 6 cases? It may be better to be a bit more specific and descriptive.
 
citizenship_app said:
Hi All,

I had a few traffic tickets, 6 in total. One of them took three years to get resolved and it was because court was busy and they got to my ticket only in three years. For another cell phone ticket, again I did not get the letter because my address was changed. My license got suspended because of this ticket and I was not aware. When I came to know, I paid the ticket and suspension was lifted. Because of these two incidents, my citizenship application is denied.

Any one knows what to do next? What are my chances of getting citizenship? Does this decision impact my green card status?

Thanks
Click to expand...

What exactly (I mean the precise wording) does the denial letter gives as the reason the application was denied?

Also, what do you mean by a cell phone ticket? A traffic ticket for talking on a cell-phone while driving?
 
I agree - please give us some more specifics. It's unlike the courts to take 3 years to resolve a ticket for to ANY reason. Are there tickets currently that are pending adjudication?
 
Facts:

3 cell phone tickets
4 speeding tickets
1 cell phone ticket was not processed by the court for 2.5 years because they were backed up. None of these tickets had fine more than 500$. May be I should not have been so honest and disclosed everything.

I pleaded not guilty for the 2nd cell phone ticket. Trial date was given but it was not possible for me to go on that date because I was going to be out of town. So, I requested them to move the date. I never heard anything from them. I had moved also around the same time and my address had changed. Since I did not hear anything, I forgot about it. 6 months later I was stopped for turning on a red light and cop told me that my license was suspended for not answering the cell phone ticket. I never got any notice from court saying that my license was being suspended. I paid the fine next day and got suspension lifted.



This is the reason they have cited for denial:

"You have committed unlawful acts, which adversly reflect upon your moral character. In addition, your DMV abstract reveals you failed to answer two traffic violations during the time set by the court. You receieved a ticket for utilizing a mobile phone on July 29, 2006 and you took nearly 3 years to resolve it. On a different occasion, your drivers license was suspended on july 28, 2008 due to your failure to answer the summons issued for utilizing a mobile phone on March 11, 2008. The ticket was resolved only after you were issued another traffic summons in Northvale, NJ for making an improper turn and driving on an expired license on February 22, 2009.

Considering your past driving history/record and taking into account the standards of the average citizen in the community of residence, you have failed to satisfy the good moral character requirement under the Act.

You have not established your eligibility for citizenship under the provisions of section 316 of the Act, supra. This denial is without prejudice to filing your application for citizenship when you become eligible under the applicable provisions".
 
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this is unreal. I never thought they might deny citizenship based on bad driving history or habbit unless it is seriouse issue like DUI or similar situation.
Now we can say that we have seen them all.
 
...

6 traffic tickets = unsafe driver = threat to the community = morally unfit

Hence Citizenship deniel. Am i missing something?
 
Three of those are cell phone tickets!!!! If you drive, sooner or later you will get tickets. They even say in the N-400 guideline not to mention tickets less than 500$s and here they are denying citizenship based on that!

None of the tickets are pending jurisdiction, all are resolved. I got my abstract a couple of times from DMV prior to citizenship application to make sure that nothing was outstanding.

Yes, cell phone ticket means getting a ticket for talking on cell phone while driving, without hands free unit.
 
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I believe that the denial is cause of the number of tickets, but due to the fact that he did not take care of those tickets in a timely matter.
 
citizenship_app said:
Facts:

3 cell phone tickets
4 speeding tickets
1 cell phone ticket was not processed by the court for 2.5 years because they were backed up. None of these tickets had fine more than 500$. May be I should not have been so honest and disclosed everything.

I pleaded not guilty for the 2nd cell phone ticket. Trial date was given but it was not possible for me to go on that date because I was going to be out of town. So, I requested them to move the date. I never heard anything from them. I had moved also around the same time and my address had changed. Since I did not hear anything, I forgot about it. 6 months later I was stopped for turning on a red light and cop told me that my license was suspended for not answering the cell phone ticket. I never got any notice from court saying that my license was being suspended. I paid the fine next day and got suspension lifted.



This is the reason they have cited for denial:

"You have committed unlawful acts, which adversly reflect upon your moral character. In addition, your DMV abstract reveals you failed to answer two traffic violations during the time set by the court. You receieved a ticket for utilizing a mobile phone on July 29, 2006 and you took nearly 3 years to resolve it. On a different occasion, your drivers license was suspended on july 28, 2008 due to your failure to answer the summons issued for utilizing a mobile phone on March 11, 2008. The ticket was resolved only after you were issued another traffic summons in Northvale, NJ for making an improper turn and driving on an expired license on February 22, 2009.

Considering your past driving history/record and taking into account the standards of the average citizen in the community of residence, you have failed to satisfy the good moral character requirement under the Act.

You have not established your eligibility for citizenship under the provisions of section 316 of the Act, supra. This denial is without prejudice to filing your application for citizenship when you become eligible under the applicable provisions".
Click to expand...

The key is that USCIS think you "failed to answer traffic violations". Apparently USCIS think three year delay was all your fault perhaps because you did not explain the situation clearly enough.

And three cell phone violations may look very bad too. Unlike speeding
which you could have done without knowing it but three cell phone ticket
amy show you do not have respect for law
 
citizenship_app said:
Three of those are cell phone tickets!!!! If you drive, sooner or later you will get tickets. They even say in the N-400 guideline not to mention tickets less than 500$s and here they are denying citizenship based on that!

None of the tickets are pending jurisdiction, all are resolved. I got my abstract a couple of times from DMV prior to citizenship application to make sure that nothing was outstanding.

Yes, cell phone ticket means getting a ticket for talking on cell phone while driving, without hands free unit.
Click to expand...

Driving under suspended driver license that's the issue.
 
Unless you can show in detail that the events surrounding your multiple citations were out of unfortunate circumstances and not out of deliberate actions on your behalf, there is little point in appealing.

Btw, did the IO ask about citations at interview?
 
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You should have approached a lawyer first, taken consultation and possibly hire his/her presence for the interview. Now the best thing to do is to hire a lawyer first and contest the denial while contuining to discuss your case in this forum. From the IO point of view, you had a suspended license and unpaid tickets for a long time even though you have good reasons why they happened. The problem is, the short interview period did not give you a chance to explain your case. With a lawyer contesting the denial, you will be given an opportunity to explain it in detail with supporting documents. Good luck. Approach a lawyer first more than sitting in this forum now.
 
If you're willing to spend a few thousand dollars to appeal, consult a lawyer to discuss your chances of appeal. Otherwise, wait until 5 years have passed since the last derogatory incident, then reapply.

You might be able to rebut USCIS blaming you for the 3 years of the first cellphone ticket, if you informed the court of your intention to challenge the ticket before the deadline to respond, and you notified them of your change of address and have proof of that notification.

But the other ticket is problematic. When you have a court date, you need to take it seriously. They really don't care that you're going to be out of town, and they're not very willing to grant a postponement of the date for your convenience. If you request a new date and don't hear from them, it means you need to show up at the original date. When it comes to minor offenses, failing to show up in court is often considered worse than the original offense itself.

I bet you didn't promptly change your driver's license (to update the address) when you changed your address. If that's true, that's why you didn't receive notice of the license suspension.
 
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