Declaring customs incident in Citizenship application

C

csb007

New Member
My situation might sound silly, but that is where I am at right now.

When I entered the US 3 years ago, I haven't declared 3 lb food items(dried Lamb) that I am bringing into the country and paid $100 penality at customs.

Well, I am now eligible for applying for Citizenship. Now my question is, I cannot weigh in the seriousness of it and I am not detained or arrested by customs, should I be declaring that incident in the citizenship application and what is the effect?

Thanks for your time.
 
I would. As far as I can tell it is cearly spelled out that meat in most forms is prohibited and if there was any doubt you should have declared it.

You could have stated to the officer that you don't know, if you have anything to declare and simply let him have a look. That would have gotten you off the hook.

On the other hand, I once entered the country w/o my green card and had to pay an administrative fee - I didn't declare that, beause of the fact that I had lost or misplaced my GC during a trip and I didn't hide the fact, nothing else happened.
 
The case of the foreign lamb

You got off light with $100 fine. On this week's Homeland Security show a guy had some sandwich in his suitcase and they charged him $300.

As for declaring incident , secondary inspection at CBP does not count as being detained.
 
Umm Bob, this isn't a secondary inspection.

You are supposed to declare what you have on the customs form and not declaring it causes the fine and (possible) confiscation.

Remember whilst it is USCIS there is customs and immigration in the word, but they are to different things. An immigration officer won't ask you customs questions (except from stamping the form).
 
MartinAub said:
Umm Bob, this isn't a secondary inspection.

You are supposed to declare what you have on the customs form and not declaring it causes the fine and (possible) confiscation.

Remember whilst it is USCIS there is customs and immigration in the word, but they are to different things. An immigration officer won't ask you customs questions (except from stamping the form).
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That's correct MartinAub, what BOB says, there is no presence of USCIS at US POE (ports of entry). Every entry is performed by CBP ( Customs & Border Protection). CBP performs both immigration and agricultural inspections. And CBP as an agency is the manager for IBIS (Interagency Border & Inspection System) database that is used by USCIS for all applications.-
 
Bobsmyth said:
You got off light with $100 fine. On this week's Homeland Security show a guy had some sandwich in his suitcase and they charged him $300.
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I saw that too - what an a&*%$#* she was. I suspect she only fined him because the cameras were there. The whole point of that program is to make Americans think they are safe and secure and that immigrants are nasty people but not to worry because they get turned away at the border.
 
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dms1 said:
I saw that too - what an a&%^$#& she was. I suspect she only fined him because the cameras were there. The whole point of that program is to make Americans think they are safe and secure and that immigrants are nasty people but not to worry because they get turned away at the border.
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Well she fined him because the guy travels frequently enough that he should know better than to carry foreign food in his suitcase , not declaring it on customs form and not declaring it when verbally asked. However, the fine did seem excessive and I wouldn't be surprised if it was brought upon with the presence of camera crews to make a point.
 
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csb007 said:
My situation might sound silly, but that is where I am at right now.

When I entered the US 3 years ago, I haven't declared 3 lb food items(dried Lamb) that I am bringing into the country and paid $100 penality at customs.

Well, I am now eligible for applying for Citizenship. Now my question is, I cannot weigh in the seriousness of it and I am not detained or arrested by customs, should I be declaring that incident in the citizenship application and what is the effect?

Thanks for your time.
Click to expand...

I believe this is a civil penalty just like you are fined for a overdue book
so you don't have to disclose it
 
I never take a risk with any form of food. I travel frequently and whenever I return I bring local chocolates for my wife. I always check the food question on the customs form and I am always asked to clarify what kind of food I am bringing . "Chocolates for the wife", always results in "Have a nice day".
 
Bobsmyth said:
Well she fined him because the guy travels frequently enough that he should know better than to carry foreign food in his suitcase , not declaring it on customs form and not declaring it when verbally asked. However, the fine did seem excessive and I wouldn't be surprised if it was brought upon with the presence of camera crews to make a point.
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Actually, I think the fine is standard. When I came back from a trip last year, my soon-to-be mother-in-law had secretly stuck some food in my luggage "for the trip." I had no idea, and sure enough, it came up as being there. A lady told me that since this is my first such "problem" she was letting me go this time, but that generally the fine is $300. She said next time it happens, you'll get a fine in that amount.
 
List it on the N-400 or at least bring it up at the interview.

If USCIS cares about it, they will already know about it because of their close relationship with CBP, and could give you trouble for failing to list it. If USCIS doesn't care about it, it won't matter if you list it or not.

So you have nothing to lose by listing it, and potential problems if you don't.
 
Hah, I love that show. Sad, but interesting. I'm always honest on my customs form, and I write 'non-perishable' or 'packaged-food.' I've been let through.
 
Thought this might be useful for someone out there.

I happened to declare in my Citizenship application and completed the Oath process. I wasn't asked in particular about the incident. However, one of the questions asked was, have you ever been hand cuffed? I think that is when the issue takes the serious route - Just my assumption.

Conclusion: It didn't hurt to declare it in the application.
 
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