Impact of driving citation on naturalization?

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immigrationcom

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Hi! All: I am new in this forum and wonder what the impact of driving ticket on the naturalization. I may got a ticket the other day. Thanks for your response. ic
 
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i've had 1 negligent 2nd degree ticket(still a traffic infraction ticket, not a reckless driving ticket), + 5 other traffic infraction tickets such as speeding, following too closely, and etc....

i applied back in April of 2003 and had my US citizenship interview on Nov 2003. my US application got rejected due to the lack of good moral character.

since my very last ticket i got was back in Feb of 2002, i have to wait 'til Feb 2007 to reapply, and of course, they told me not to get another traffic ticket.

well, there is no right answer to the US immigration laws & rules, but it all depends on how they feel on that day. (at least that was my impression....)

talk to the immigration lawyers and do something before you apply.
good luck!
 
How about reckless driving/driving w/o license cited six years before the GC approval, while still on H1-B? Is that irrelevant to the naturalization case since it happened way before the naturalization statutory period (3 or 5 yrs from becoming GC holder)? If the application shows good moral characters during the period between the GC and naturalization, is that good enough to be approved for citizenship? Or the argument is that, you must have good moral character at all times (no DUI/reckless driving citations, others) prior to naturalization and doesn't matter wether you're on H1-B, student, or B1?
 
JoeF said:
If it is not reckless driving, it shouldn't be a problem. Lots of people have speeding tickets. It has to be listed on the application, though.
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Thanks. Is passing a school bus by accident and not caught by police a reckless driving? IC
 
even applying for nonimmigrant visa need
to disclose past traffic violations
because OF-156 ask "Have you
been arrested and convicted?"
without saying "excluding
traffic violations"

But most of us dared not do that
because nonimmigrant visa is so
dependent on whimsical attitude
of consuls.
 
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waapples said:
i've had 1 negligent 2nd degree ticket(still a traffic infraction ticket, not a reckless driving ticket), + 5 other traffic infraction tickets such as speeding, following too closely, and etc....

i applied back in April of 2003 and had my US citizenship interview on Nov 2003. my US application got rejected due to the lack of good moral character.

since my very last ticket i got was back in Feb of 2002, i have to wait 'til Feb 2007 to reapply, and of course, they told me not to get another traffic ticket.

well, there is no right answer to the US immigration laws & rules, but it all depends on how they feel on that day. (at least that was my impression....)

talk to the immigration lawyers and do something before you apply.
good luck!
Click to expand...
waapples: Thanks for your response and sorry for hearing your experiene. What do you mean second degree ticket? I have no knowledge about this. ic
 
There are 10 states (Massachuseets, Florida, Oregon, etc) whch have completed de-criminalize ordinary traffic offenses. Ordinary
traffic vliolations are considered a civil matter between you
and the state government and are dealt in civil trial courts.

So you don't have to disclose your traffic violations made
in these states.
 
immigrationcom said:
waapples: Thanks for your response and sorry for hearing your experiene. What do you mean second degree ticket? I have no knowledge about this. ic
Click to expand...


in Washington state, where i live, we have a law that differenciate the negligen 1st & 2nd degree.
the negligent driving 1st degree doesn't count as a traffic infraction anymore since you could be using your car as a weapon and could kill people on the road, just like the reckless driving, but the negligent driving 2nd degree is more likely the traffic infraction, meaning that you can simply pay for the ticket w/o going to the court.
 
AmericanWannabe and Others...

"There are 10 states (Massachuseets, Florida, Oregon, etc) whch have completed de-criminalize ordinary traffic offenses. Ordinary
traffic vliolations are considered a civil matter between you
and the state government and are dealt in civil trial courts.

So you don't have to disclose your traffic violations made
in these states."

Are you sure about traffic violations like simple speeding in Florida or Oregon not having to be reported in the N-400? I received a speeding ticket in 2000 in Oregon, which I promptly paid. No arrest or conviction, just stopped for speeding.
 
Harish Krishna said:
"There are 10 states (Massachuseets, Florida, Oregon, etc) whch have completed de-criminalize ordinary traffic offenses. Ordinary
traffic vliolations are considered a civil matter between you
and the state government and are dealt in civil trial courts.

So you don't have to disclose your traffic violations made
in these states."

Are you sure about traffic violations like simple speeding in Florida or Oregon not having to be reported in the N-400? I received a speeding ticket in 2000 in Oregon, which I promptly paid. No arrest or conviction, just stopped for speeding.
Click to expand...

Here is a quote from "Beat your ticket" By attorney David Brown, Nolo.com law for all.

------------------------------------------------------------------
A few states - including Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregan and Washingtion- have completely "decriminalized" traffic offenses, technically making them "civil" not"criminal" infractions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 
How hard is it not to get any ticket? I have been driving more than 10 years in three different countries. I have never ever got any tickets - parking ticked included.

on the subject, getting a traffic ticket does not count as 'arrest' or 'conviction'. The police officer needs to tell you loud and clear that you are under arrest and book you in. otherwise, it does not count.

of course, i am not a lawyer.
 
chinabee said:
on the subject, getting a traffic ticket does not count as 'arrest' or 'conviction'. The police officer needs to tell you loud and clear that you are under arrest and book you in. otherwise, it does not count.
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In part 10 if the form N-400 (application for naturalization) question D.16 asks:

"Have you EVER been arrested, cited or detained by a law enforcement officer
(including INS and military officers) for any reason?"

A traffic ticket certainly qualifies as "being cited" by a police officer.
 
baikal3 said:
In part 10 if the form N-400 (application for naturalization) question D.16 asks:

"Have you EVER been arrested, cited or detained by a law enforcement officer
(including INS and military officers) for any reason?"

A traffic ticket certainly qualifies as "being cited" by a police officer.
Click to expand...

Hypertechincally, being stopped by cops
is a kind of arrest because you are deprived of
freedom to move during the process so that it is arrest
but practically you don't have to equat that to arrest
because courts make traffic stop as exceptions.
 
I am sorry, but being stopped by an officer does not count as an arrest. If you have not been read your rights, and the officer did not clearly say that you are under arrest while specifying the reason for that, you are not. You are being stopped to be cited.
As to, should one disclose traffic citations on N400 questionnaire, I would consult an attorney. IO can determine one is not being honest for a simple misunderstanding. I would mention, and let the IO strike it out if it's TMI, or not relevant. By asking this question, I feel they are checking your integrity, and honesty, and are not looking for background records. They have it in their computers and in their endless security background checks they are doing pre-GC, During-GC, and pre applying for citizenship.

Good luck,
 
A traffic ticket does not qualify as "being cited" by a police officer. My interpretation to "have you ever been cited ?... List all other than traffic violation.." Citation means when court order to show up. When cop gives the ticket it merely means you have violated the traffic laws & pay the fine...period end of story (of course if you pleadge guily of traffic law violation). Since on the form it says list all EXCEPT traffic violation, so i personally believe we should not mention traffic tickets specially the ones we get for absolutely violating traffic laws. Some people are chicken hearted & scared so they list all anyway.

So my suggestion will be "READ THE ENGLISH" on the form it specifically says "LIST ALL OTHER THAN TRAFFIC VIOLATION". I think by mentioning this on the form we are basically proving to the USCIS officer that we can't read, understand, interpret english.
 
Handsome1 said:
A traffic ticket does not qualify as "being cited" by a police officer.
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Yes, it does. This is not a matter of interpretation.
In fact the official term for a traffic ticket is "traffic citation".
The same would apply to a ticket you can get for making too much noise in your house or for jaywalking.

This question has been very extensively discussed in the "U.S. citizenship" subforum and there are lots of threads with
detailed discussions about this there.
There was even a thread there with some case where someones N-400 was denied because the guy had too many traffic tickets and this was construed as the evidence that he "lacked good moral character":

You apparently have an old version of the N-400 form. The old version did say "...List all other than traffic violations". But INS revised the form a couple of years ago, and the current version of it does not have this qualifier any longer.
You can download the new version of N-400 from the USCIS website and see for yourself.

However, a traffic ticket does not count as an arrest. Arrest is a legal term with a very specific and well-defined legal meaning. In particular, you have to be told by a law-enforcement officer: "you are under arrest".

Handsome1 said:
My interpretation to "have you ever been cited ?... List all other than traffic violation.." Citation means when court order to show up. When cop gives the ticket it merely means you have violated the traffic laws & pay the fine...period end of story (of course if you pleadge guily of traffic law violation). Since on the form it says list all EXCEPT traffic violation, so i personally believe we should not mention traffic tickets specially the ones we get for absolutely violating traffic laws. Some people are chicken hearted & scared so they list all anyway.

So my suggestion will be "READ THE ENGLISH" on the form it specifically says "LIST ALL OTHER THAN TRAFFIC VIOLATION". I think by mentioning this on the form we are basically proving to the USCIS officer that we can't read, understand, interpret english.
Click to expand...
 
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