Gurus kindly answer about reckless driving

G

gc_retrogress

Registered Users (C)
Hello,

Can anybody please comment? I was ticketed in 2005 for reckless driving speeding over 20 mph in VA, I used a lawyer took the driving lesson, the case was dropped and ammended to Infraction lower speeding ticket, fined less than 300 and the fees was paid. Apart from this in the last 10 years I have one other speeding ticket and stop sign ticket. All fines were paid.

I am actually still in I-485 (10 yrs + in us) status pending, can anybody please comment if this going to be a serious booting event for me in Green Card or Citizenship.

After reading the recent washingtonpost articles I am getting paranoid. Please Help!!!

Thanks
:confused:
 
No, it shouldn't be an issue. Traffic tickets are usually (you can read it as ever) not an issue. You should be fine. You might want to put together the documents you have with court dispositions and you might want to take it with you to the interview. Furthermore you should consider that when you apply for naturalization, this ticket will be further away in the past to even influence the good moral character thing. Anyway, I welcome the Washington Post's articles and hope they could move politicians to repeal the 1996 immigration law that so much harm has caused and continues to cause.
 
Unless there is something else in your history to question your moral character, the speeding ticket in itself will have no effect on your case.
 
I don't want to "unmake" you day, but I have to ask whether a Virginia reckless driving ticket carries a potential of 1yr in jail, or a potential fine of $500 or more?

The reason this is important, is because USCIS considers the original charges brought against you, rather than any reduced sentence or diversionary/rehabilitation program (e.g. driving school). So long as the absolute maximum penalty couldn't exceed the $500/1yr cutoff, you should have nothing to worry about.

Worst case, the whole problem becomes moot once the offense and probationary period roll outside of the 5yr "good moral behavior" window.
 
Gosh...

Yes VA reckless driving is considered Misdemeanor with upto 1 yr jail not more than that. I was speeding...was new to va. Anyway tomorrow if you sneeze in public and did not read the sign can also be a misdemeanor ( I am angry with the system that is all). It is not going to help my case now anyway.

I was not arrested, nor jailed, the ticket was issued, had to attend the court, used a lawyer who attended on my behalf and got it reduced/ammended to infraction/speeding.

So in other words charges were there on my behalf. One other guy got 485 approved with this I am not sure about citizenship. They can make my life really hard at any time.
 
gc_retrogress said:
Yes VA reckless driving is considered Misdemeanor with upto 1 yr jail not more than that. I was speeding...was new to va. Anyway tomorrow if you sneeze in public and did not read the sign can also be a misdemeanor ( I am angry with the system that is all). It is not going to help my case now anyway.

I was not arrested, nor jailed, the ticket was issued, had to attend the court, used a lawyer who attended on my behalf and got it reduced/ammended to infraction/speeding.

So in other words charges were there on my behalf. One other guy got 485 approved with this I am not sure about citizenship. They can make my life really hard at any time.
Click to expand...

Ouch. Well I expect you'll be ok eventually, but a really strict IO might have a problem approving your case with this conviction happening during the 5yr CIMT period. Check with an immigration attorney.
 
boatbod, the original poster is still waiting for his green card, so by the time he applies for N-400 it will already be way outside the 5 year period. Do you mean you think he'll have trouble with approving the I-485 or the N-400?
 
Huracan said:
boatbod, the original poster is still waiting for his green card, so by the time he applies for N-400 it will already be way outside the 5 year period. Do you mean you think he'll have trouble with approving the I-485 or the N-400?
Click to expand...

Ooh, I didn't read that right in his first post. Most likely this isn't going to be a big deal for I-485.
 
Don't worry, my friend! You will be OK. Non-DUI traffic violations, and particularly those that are outside the 5-year 'good character & moral' window will NOT have any effect on your citizenship prospects.

Those Virginia cops are extreme! I remember getting a reckless driving ticket in Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1989, and friends told me that that stretch of freeway (is it I95 or I85) was a speed trap.

Anyway, slow down, and drive carefully. Good luck.
 
Thanks for your reply

I appreciate your response. I was charged with reckless driving, but it was ammended to a lower infraction/speeding ticket by the judge in court. There was no conviction.

I did some research and found a response by Johnny Cash below. I hope it will help me...this is what he says. I understand he is some type of lawyer. He was replying to one individual named "Girish K"

------------------------------------------
BY JOHNNY CASH
------------------------------------------

There is nothing to worry since you were never found guilty
on initial charge of ‘reckless driving’. Even though you were
initially charged with a ‘reckless driving’, but the fact is
the initial charge got amended later on to a lesser one of
‘improper driving’. Police or Prosecutors do amend charge all
the times, sometimes they reduce to a lesser one, but other
times they upgrade to serious ones. And once a charge is
amended, the initial one doesn’t exist anymore being dropped
out. So now you can never say to anyone that you were ever
charged for a ‘reckless driving’ since that charge was
already amended.

And having tickets for speeding and ‘improper driving’
won’t affect your citizenship application negatively, no
matter how many of them you have. So obviously, you don’t
need to worry on this. On your N-400, you should state that
you were charged for ‘improper driving’. And you should also
include an explanation letter on it that you were fined and
you paid it. That is. Never ever mention about having charged
on ‘reckless driving’. Bring the receipt of paying the fine to
your interview to show the officer. You may also try to get
some kind of court letter from Court clerk that your case
got disposed. They can provide you upon request as it occurred
only last year, otherwise mostly traffic cases in certain States
drop out of system after certain years.

I hope people would understand how an attorney’s presence is
important on serious charges. Attorneys are tending to make a
deal with authorities in the best interest of their clients.
You would have big problem if you had convicted for either DUI
or reckless driving. Now, be careful, at least until you become
a US citizen. Also, never get involved in a domestic violence
with family; otherwise you would get deported without having any
chance of relief. Try to stay away doing anything that would
jeopardize your chances of becoming a US citizen in the future.

Good Luck.
 
gc_retrogress said:
I am actually still in I-485 (10 yrs + in us) status pending, can anybody please comment if this going to be a serious booting event for me in Green Card or Citizenship.
Click to expand...

That's bad. No, that's really bad. They will come after you tomorrow morning, at 4 am. Be ready. Prepare all that you may need for the next 5+ years of jail time and subsequent deportation. This country is a police state, didn't you hear that on NPR? Not only they (ICE) now arrest immigrants for speeding tickets, they also fly them to Abu-Graib and Bagram AFB and leave them there, handing a new U.S. passport and a U.S. flag before releasing out to the mercy of the bloodthirsty natives.

(add smilies where needed)
 
Amerikanus said:
That's bad. No, that's really bad. They will come after you tomorrow morning, at 4 am. Be ready. Prepare all that you may need for the next 5+ years of jail time and subsequent deportation. This country is a police state, didn't you hear that on NPR? Not only they (ICE) now arrest immigrants for speeding tickets, they also fly them to Abu-Graib and Bagram AFB and leave them there, handing a new U.S. passport and a U.S. flag before releasing out to the mercy of the bloodthirsty natives.

(add smilies where needed)
Click to expand...

But don't worry 3:59 comes before 4 am... you can use the backdoor to Mexico and once the officers leave, you can swim back to USA.
 
Thanks

I am happy that my situation has been of great amusement.

In this country, it is easy to fall into such traps. Did you know eating/sleeping in metro is also an offense? One child (minor) was arrested recently because he was found eating. Not sure if that is misdemeanor or felony.


Anyways, no traffic violations for me since 2005, learned a tough lesson.
 
gc_retrogress said:
I am happy that my situation has been of great amusement.

In this country, it is easy to fall into such traps. Did you know eating/sleeping in metro is also an offense? One child (minor) was arrested recently because he was found eating. Not sure if that is misdemeanor or felony.


Anyways, no traffic violations for me since 2005, learned a tough lesson.
Click to expand...

Yeah man I tend to not get traffic violations for a year or two and then when I get it... I kind of get like 2 or 3 in the span of six months.
 
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