Citizenship Interview

M

mehnik

Registered Users (C)
Hi,

I filed my N-400 from NYC in november. I just received my interview notice for March. However, my driver's license is suspended because I got over 12 points in speeding tickets. I paid all the tickets on time and have no dues with the DMV. Is the suspended license going to cause any problems in my case on the interview day? The license was suspended for 6 months in september and I will be able to reapply for the license a week after my interview.

What should I do? I assume they would already know of my suspended license! Is there anything I can do?

Please advise.

Thanks.
nik
 
mehnik said:
Hi,

I filed my N-400 from NYC in november. I just received my interview notice for March. However, my driver's license is suspended because I got over 12 points in speeding tickets. I paid all the tickets on time and have no dues with the DMV. Is the suspended license going to cause any problems in my case on the interview day? The license was suspended for 6 months in september and I will be able to reapply for the license a week after my interview.

What should I do? I assume they would already know of my suspended license! Is there anything I can do?

Please advise.

Thanks.
nik
Click to expand...

Did you alreayd disclsoe the traffi ctickets and supension of DL in N-400? The suspension of yoru DL occurred in sept before you
filed N-400 in november.

Hope you don't meet the same IO who interviewd nyc_newbie who citizenship applciationwas denied due to have 4 traffic tikets including 2 in the past 5 years)
 
why not? what did the IO do? from what i have heard from other people, getting a license suspended is not a criminal offense and should not have any negative impact on my citizenship process. I just want to know if there is something i can do and take with me for the interview that might help my case?
 
mehnik said:
why not? what did the IO do? from what i have heard from other people, getting a license suspended is not a criminal offense and should not have any negative impact on my citizenship process. I just want to know if there is something i can do and take with me for the interview that might help my case?
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Having a suspended license is most definitely not a crime and shouldn't affect your N-400. Nyc_newbie was a member of this forum whose application was declined because of 2 speeding tickets. Don't take too much stock in this, as the IO who was interviewing him seemed to have a personal vendetta against speeding drivers. You should be fine.
 
Vorpal said:
Having a suspended license is most definitely not a crime and shouldn't affect your N-400. Nyc_newbie was a member of this forum whose application was declined because of 2 speeding tickets. Don't take too much stock in this, as the IO who was interviewing him seemed to have a personal vendetta against speeding drivers. You should be fine.
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Thanks a lot Vorpal. Would getting a letter from DMV that I have no pending fines help my case. What if the IO asks me about the suspension, I can show him the letter that all fines were paid and squared away. Would that help?
 
mehnik said:
Thanks a lot Vorpal. Would getting a letter from DMV that I have no pending fines help my case. What if the IO asks me about the suspension, I can show him the letter that all fines were paid and squared away. Would that help?
Click to expand...

The IO will not ask you about the suspension, as s/he won't know about the status of your driver license. The N-400 doesn't ask about your current DL status. Do NOT volunteer this information to the IO. It's not a part of the interview, so don't worry about withholding information. On a side note, never agree to pay speeding tickets outright. In most cases (at least for your first offense), the administrative law judge will allow you to pay the fine without incurring any points. With out-of-control auto insurance costs in NYC, I'd hate to imagine what your monthly premiums are.
 
Vorpal said:
The IO will not ask you about the suspension, as s/he won't know about the status of your driver license. The N-400 doesn't ask about your current DL status. Do NOT volunteer this information to the IO. It's not a part of the interview, so don't worry about withholding information. On a side note, never agree to pay speeding tickets outright. In most cases (at least for your first offense), the administrative law judge will allow you to pay the fine without incurring any points. With out-of-control auto insurance costs in NYC, I'd hate to imagine what your monthly premiums are.
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True. I agree. I will get the driver license record just in case. For the tickets, i know i should not pay them but most of the ticket i got were in upstate NY on I-87N and just didnt have the time to challenge it appear in court on a weekday so just decided to pay up all the fines. As for insurance, I dont own a car so I havent come to terms with what my premium will be, always used a rental car.
 
1. Driver's license is not a requirement for citizenship interview. Get a state issue ID, so that you do not have to bring up the suspension issue.

2. Ur suspension is not a crime in it self. It is just a consequence of a "crime" getting ticket. So what you really need to do is to answer what is asked on the N400 form.. i.e., you got tickets/moving violations, and leave it there. Why do you want to volenteer an information which is not asked.
 
Vorpal said:
The IO will not ask you about the suspension, as s/he won't know about the status of your driver license. .
Click to expand...

What if suspension is part of "outcome or disposition of teh arrest, citation, detention or charge" one has to disclose in the 4th column of that 4-column table following Q 21 on N-400 form?
 
I thought the IO would have this information as part of the background check they would have done. What if he asks me about the DL just in case, i would have to confess that i have a suspended DL, right?
 
mehnik said:
I thought the IO would have this information as part of the background check they would have done. What if he asks me about the DL just in case, i would have to confess that i have a suspended DL, right?
Click to expand...

The IO will likely not have this information unless your driver's license was suspended because of criminal activity. If the IO for some reason does ask you about it, you have to be truthful, but I doubt he or she will ask you about it. As Vorpal said, do not volunteer this information as it does not pertain to your N-400 application.
 
vdostoi1 said:
The IO will likely not have this information unless your driver's license was suspended because of criminal activity.
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Do local police and local court make that kind of difference? In most of states, traffic violations are technically covered by crminal law instead of civil
laws
 
WBH said:
What if suspension is part of "outcome or disposition of teh arrest, citation, detention or charge" one has to disclose in the 4th column of that 4-column table following Q 21 on N-400 form?
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If an applicant chooses to disclose a traffic ticket on the N-400, then the outcome would be the fine. A driver license suspension results when a driver accumulates a certain amount of points on his/her record within a designated period of time. It's not an outcome/disposition of a summons.
 
mehnik said:
I thought the IO would have this information as part of the background check they would have done. What if he asks me about the DL just in case, i would have to confess that i have a suspended DL, right?
Click to expand...

The FBI/USCIS don't check driver records as part of the background check process.
 
Vorpal said:
The FBI/USCIS don't check driver records as part of the background check process.
Click to expand...

They don't check driver records. But they may have the information on
traffic violation citations and their outcomes.
 
vdostoi1 said:
Be more specific with your question.
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My questions is: if local police do not differentiate between traffic violation
and others offense, they may just report traffic violations and their outcome
to FBI anyway.
 
WBH said:
They don't check driver records. But they may have the information on
traffic violation citations and their outcomes.
Click to expand...

In order to get that information, they would have to include the DMV in the background check process. This is not the case.
 
Vorpal said:
In order to get that information, they would have to include the DMV in the background check process. This is not the case.
Click to expand...

DMV is not the only place that keep track of traffic violations. County courts
and local police who issue tickets have their own records. They may or may not report traffic violatiosn to FBIs.

How did the DMV know a traffic violation? It was reported by local police and local court in the first place.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hey WBH, to answer your question from before, the table after question 21 on the N-400 asks if the applicant has ever been arrested, cited, detained or charged and these relate to questions 15-21, none of which talks of a driving offense, they are all relating to crimes/jail etc. to which I answered "No" in each case hence there was no mention of a suspended license of any traffic tickets on my N-400.
 
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