Committed a crime but not arrested question on form

I

immi-newbie

New Member
All -

Am new here so apologize if this question has been asked before. What is the purpose of the "committed a crime but not arrested" question on the form? Is this an honor system kind of "yeah, I drove drunk that one time, but no one caught me"? Or is it more a question related to whether you ever were detained but not charged or something more concretely defined?

Thanks!

NI
 
If taken literally, everybody would have to answer Yes to that question.

In practice, the question amounts to something more like "have you committed an offense for which you have not been arrested but may be arrested for it in the future"? It is sort of a backhanded way to prevent or revoke citizenship of who did something wrong but haven't been caught yet.

So for example, suppose you burglarized somebody's house and were not caught. Then some months later you apply for citizenship. If you answer Yes to that question and mention the burglary, you'll probably get denied. If you say No, and you sail through the process and get citizenship, then later on based on fingerprinting/witnesses/surveillance the police find out it was you and arrest you for it and you're convicted, they can say you lied on that question and revoke your citizenship for that lie.
 
Or another example is having an arrest warrant against you for a crime you committed, like eluding an officer during a traffic stop.
 
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