Non US Citizen voted and applied for N-400

baikal3 said:
In general, long passage of time with a clean record usually serves as an ameliorating factor in the eyes of an adjudication IO, and if you serve in the U.S. military, that will definitely be a big plus.
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No need to serve in the military to ameliorate this particular offense. What if he's blown to pieces while serving in Iraq? Did you consider how that is going to bolster his shredded body parts? :rolleyes:

You earlier suggestion is fine, consulting a good competent and knowledgeable immigration lawyer is the best step.
 
Bobsmyth said:
Calm down and don't panic. Get all your facts together and go from there.
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Bob is right, stay calm and focused.

Try searching the website for Secretary of State in the State you are living. In 2006 it became Federal Law that all States had to keep a Voter registration list for the entire State.

You should be able to search there and it will give you all of the details about your registration status and details.
 
Hi,
First of all, you need to know if this happened outside the 5 year period from the date you have your interview. It is extremely important in this case.
2- How did you register? was there a box for you to check YES or No for citizenship? Very very very important. If you claimed to be a citizen on purpose to obtain some sort of benefit, then you are in big trouble, but if this was intentionally, which the Immigration Officer has to determine, then you will be fine.
3- Get all your voting records that shows when and how many times you voted
4- remove your name from voting registry (which you did already)
5- write a detailed letter that explains the circumstances and convince the IO that you did not do this on purpose. Show your good moral, your clean records, your job title, your family, church involvement and how you are and have always been a good person who contribute to the society.
Do not believe lawyers who want to charge you $1000 for a letter you can write yourself.
You will be fine man don't worry too much if you did not do this on purpose. This is a great country and they know people make mistakes
I forgot to mention that you must check YES in the bos where they ask you if you have ever registered or voted? Vey very very very very important. If you don't, you will be taking a 50/50 chance, they may never find out and they may find out and have you deported for two things, lying and claiming to be a US citizen by voting.
 
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The Presidential Election was on November 2, 2004. My Interview is on November 17, 2009. From when do they count the 5 years? What should I say to the IO about me checking no on the Question 10 a 1, 2, and 3? I have friends which are high ranking people in the Military, Government, and etc who can confirm my good morals.
 
Bobsmyth said:
It is possible the OP was added to voter registration list without ever claiming to be a citizen, hence the need to verify how OP was added first.
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In my state you hen you getting your DL or renewing DL, that form has question regarding your citizenship status for voting purpose only. OP probably checked the "Yes" Block, got his/her voters card and went to the election pool.
 
One more thing
Listen only to WBH, Al Southern, Bobysmith, whichway2go and may be one more that I could not remember, they followed my case all the way and they know what they are talking about. Some new people here may start you from scratch with the scary information. Save yourself time and headaches and collect all documents you need
1- registration form that you signed
2- Voting Records
3- Proof that you have been de-registered (Removed from voter registry)
You can get all this from Board of Election office in your state.
I see that you answered NO to question if you had ever voted or registered to vote. I think you need to come clean here. So you have two choices as I stated in my previous vote: 1- Keep quiet and don't mention it in your interview (which is not a good thing at all) 2- Mention it to IO during the interview and tell him/her that you forgot completely about it until few weeks ago when you just remembered it and you have all the documents with you. You need to be very persuading and calm when you talk about this.
I wish you all the good luck. I think you should answered Yes to that question.
 
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Introuble2009 said:
The Presidential Election was on November 2, 2004. My Interview is on November 17, 2009. From when do they count the 5 years?
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They count 5 years backwards from when from when you file the application, and again when you are interviewed and again when you go for the oath.

You already applied, so the date you voted is within the 5 year window, which means your denial is 99% guaranteed. It also makes you deportable, if they choose to go that route. Your best option, in my opinion, is to withdraw the application, don't go to the interview, and then consult a lawyer if you ever think about reapplying sometime after November 2, 2009.
 
Introuble2009 said:
The Presidential Election was on November 2, 2004. My Interview is on November 17, 2009. From when do they count the 5 years? What should I say to the IO about me checking no on the Question 10 a 1, 2, and 3? I have friends which are high ranking people in the Military, Government, and etc who can confirm my good morals.
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It doesn't when the presidential election was taking place. There is no time frame for that. You were participating in election without having right to do so. It's against the law for non-citizen aliens to vote on presidential election. High ranking military official or Gov. employee can confirm your good morals, but it will not help you to dispute the voting issues. USCIS has the right to ban you from getting citizenship permanently and it will happen most likely and can deport you regardless if you have high ranking friends in Military or Government. It doesn't work this way.
In your case, you have to worry about keep your LPR status first.
 
Jackolantern said:
They count 5 years backwards from when from when you file the application, and again when you are interviewed and again when you go for the oath.

You already applied, so the date you voted is within the 5 year window, which means your denial is 99% guaranteed. It also makes you deportable, if they choose to go that route. Your best option, in my opinion, is to withdraw the application, don't go to the interview, and then consult a lawyer if you ever think about reapplying sometime after November 2, 2009.
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He can join the military. Maybe statutory period for military is only one year
 
WBH said:
He can join the military. Maybe statutory period for military is only one year
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Yeah to keep him from deportation for period of service)
Even if he will apply based on Military service, he will faced the same issues.
 
Jackolantern said:
They count 5 years backwards from when from when you file the application, and again when you are interviewed and again when you go for the oath.

You already applied, so the date you voted is within the 5 year window, which means your denial is 99% guaranteed. It also makes you deportable, if they choose to go that route. Your best option, in my opinion, is to withdraw the application, don't go to the interview, and then consult a lawyer if you ever think about reapplying sometime after November 2, 2009.
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Everything is a gamble. Maslouj would not be a citizen now had he listened to
your advice. I did not mean your advice is not good. It is good. But someone want to take risk.

I think the OP should forget about his application now but I think he should
re-apply after voting is outside 5 years. It depends upon individual, but from
my way of thinking, If one can not apply for citizenship, he better give up GC as well. What is the point of living in this country one can not become a citizen of? Many choose not to apply for citizenship but live forever as PRs
but that is on voluntary basis. If you have no mood to live a PR forever
then there is nothing to lose by re-applying for citizenship. The worst thing is they deport you
 
WBH said:
Everything is a gamble. Maslouj would not be a citizen now had he listened to
your advice. I did not mean your advice is not good. It is good. But someone want to take risk.
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Correct, but it is preferable that the person be well informed and understand the risks before taking them.
 
baikal3 said:
I do know that many DMV's routinely ask people applying for driver's licenses if they want to register to vote. However, I was under impression that if someone says "yes" to such an offer, that person still has to fill out a voter registration card.
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Not necessarily. When my wife went to the DMV to change her name after naturalisation, she was asked if she wanted to register to vote. The DMV clerk had her passport but still asked my wife if she was a citizen. My wife said yes, and the clerk immediately registered her on the computer. No forms to fill, and the whole procedure took several seconds.

I don't know any cases in which people were not asked about their citizenship and still were registered to vote. However, given the ethnocentric views of some DMV employees in some not-so-diverse areas, I think such situation would be possible.
 
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:confused:
König said:
Not necessarily. When my wife went to the DOL (aka DMV) to change her name after naturalisation, she was asked if she wanted to register to vote. The DOL clerk had her passport but still asked my wife if she was a citizen. My wife said yes, and the clerk immediately registered her on the computer. No forms to fill, and the whole procedure took several seconds.

I don't know any cases in which people were not asked about their citizenship and still were registered to vote. However, given the ethnocentric views of some DMV employees in some not-so-diverse areas, I think such situation would be possible.
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What does DOL stands for? I am old school...:confused:
 
Introuble2009 said:
The Presidential Election was on November 2, 2004. My Interview is on November 17, 2009. From when do they count the 5 years? What should I say to the IO about me checking no on the Question 10 a 1, 2, and 3? I have friends which are high ranking people in the Military, Government, and etc who can confirm my good morals.
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Introuble,

You are indeed in trouble..:) Friends who are high ranking officials won't make any difference to what the law is. If you don't believe, ask Scooter Libby what happened to him. Worst of all, he worked for a sitting VP of the USA. If you were facing a judge for sentencing, then your friends would be asked to make statements about your character and role in community, to sway the judge to show compassion by giving you less time in prison. We are NOT in this stage here. So, forget about showing moral character because you clearly broke the law. :eek: You should find out when you registered and HOW, pretty quick. There is nothing worse than not knowing something so fundamental to any defense which you WILL be required to put up against USCIS.:rolleyes:

I disagree with Jack on withdrawing your application, the worst that can happen is a denial. However, there are potential risk to this strategy, which means USCIS might initiate removal proceedings against you for voting as this is deemed a deportable offense. This might offer you some comfort: the N400 is deemed incomplete till you are sworn in by the IO, in others words, what USCIS has in their offices is subject to amendment by USCIS or you the applicant. :p However, you will need to chose the right time to bring up your voting offense with the IO, if I were you, I would do the civics test and pass that portion, and wait for him/her to go over the questions. When the voting question ask, indicate that you would like to amend because you voted by mistake. However, this is solely predicated on finding how you were registered and when. I would also pray that the IO received some good news that morning, like his wife is expecting after trying for 18 years, or his home won't be foreclosed on or he's getting a promotion at USCIS, and his good mood crosses over to you. However, proceed knowing all the pitfalls, which can be severe...:cool: I don't envy being in your position. Joining the military isn't going to solve this issue, but it might get you diarrhea...:D

Review the question which Bobsmyth posed, regarding failure to disclose this during the application process, but asking it in the forum.
 
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