N-400 application and very old arrest records

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n400apper

New Member
If a green card holder currently over 70 years old was arrested as a green card holder in the US when in their 20s (sometime during the 1970s) and were not charged, how is this handled?
I notice the documents checklist says that you are supposed to provide original copies of an official statement verifying that you were never charged.

What if they don‘t remember the specific arresting agency (which police department or sheriff etc.) or they do remember the agency, but the agency no longer has records with that detail from 45 or 50 years ago?

Since the documents checklist says “originals,“ does that mean you can’t file your N-400 application online since you would need to scan and upload your documents and then it would no longer be considered original?

Also, what about reporting any speeding tickets or other moving violations from 30-50 years ago? Are they supposed to provide some kind of paper records of those?
 
More details of this arrest: The person was a passenger in a vehicle reported stolen due to some kind of purchase scam by the driver. After being interviewed after the arrest, the person was released without being charged since there was no expectation for the passenger to have known about this and therefore no reason to go forward with also charging the passenger in the vehicle.
 
I would not classify this as an “arrest”. It mostly sounds like a detention. Were they put in handcuffs? If there are no charges filed there is likely no record of the incident. Cops detain people all the time and ask them questions (interview). You can just type ”Yes” and explain the situation in the space provided below the question and say no charges were filed and that they were never presented before a court.

edit: detention vs arrest
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclop...her-you-ve-been-arrested-simply-detained.html
 
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Fin said:
I would not classify this as an “arrest”. It mostly sounds like a detention. Were they put in handcuffs? If there are no charges filed there is likely no record of the incident. Cops detain people all the time and ask them questions (interview). You can just type ”Yes” and explain the situation in the space provided below the question and say no charges were filed and that they were never presented before a court.
Click to expand...

Yes, they were fully arrested and booked before questioning. After questioning, then passengers were released with no charges filed. Only the driver had charges filed.
 
n400apper said:
Yes, they were fully arrested and booked before questioning. After questioning, then passengers were released with no charges filed. Only the driver had charges filed.
Click to expand...

if they were “booked” then there should be a record of that I suppose. Now if they do not know what state/county/city this happened in, it may be a challenge.
 
They do know what state it was and the general region of the state, but not the specific agency from 40-50 years ago.
 
sounds like said individual was questioned then released. Being that it was over 5 Decades ago safe to say a GC was Renewed atleast 4 to 5 times since . And that arrest “detention” if it were a problem would have been known by now . Doesnt sound like an arrest to me though. You can be handcuffed and even placed in a cell without charges being filed. If it was an actuall arrest the record would be in a warehouse somewhere as most aganecies dont keep files over 7 years on hand . Just list it as a detention and Explain further at the interview if its even brought up.
 
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