Please help me deciding whether to answer yes/no to the citation Q on N-400??

A

Aakash28

Registered Users (C)
Hello experts,

Please help me out on this one.

After going through the forum in detail I am still leaning towards answering "no" to be on the safe side. I have received 3 speeding tickets, 2 seat belt violations, and couple of car-part related citations in the past 12 years in US. I have always appealed and had to pay fine on 3 (less than $500), and the rest have been dismissed, mostly because of officer not showing up or missing supporting deposition in court.

Now I do understand, USCIS does suggest not to submit any supporting documentation for fines lower than $500, but they do not mention not to specify them in your n-400. But I have seen from the forum that most of the people who end up mentioning this on n-400 get a YL and then the whole process getting delayed by couple of months. On the other hand I know of people who have not mentioned this in their application and have went through the citizenship process pretty fast.

Logically speaking, why whould USCIS care about wasting time and resources for small traffic violations... So I am leaning towards not mentioning it in my n-400 app.

I am thinking that if IO knows about my traffic violations during the interview and sees that I have not mentioned it in my n-400 app.. then is'nt IO supposed to ask me about them if IO thinks it's important. And if IO does ask then I will be prepared to show him whatever documentation I have regarding my citations. And if the IO does'nt ask than I will not bother about letting him/her know.


Experts please suggest, will I be making a wrong decision?? Are there any risks as such. If the IO does'nt ask then should I let him/her know anyhow?

I am planning to file n-400 as soon as I have your advises.


Thanks
 
Aakash28 said:
Hello experts,

Please help me out on this one.

After going through the forum in detail I am still leaning towards answering "no" to be on the safe side. I have received 3 speeding tickets, 2 seat belt violations, and couple of car-part related citations in the past 12 years in US. I have always appealed and had to pay fine on 3 (less than $500), and the rest have been dismissed, mostly because of officer not showing up or missing supporting deposition in court.

Now I do understand, USCIS does suggest not to submit any supporting documentation for fines lower than $500, but they do not mention not to specify them in your n-400. But I have seen from the forum that most of the people who end up mentioning this on n-400 get a YL and then the whole process getting delayed by couple of months. On the other hand I know of people who have not mentioned this in their application and have went through the citizenship process pretty fast.

Logically speaking, why whould USCIS care about wasting time and resources for small traffic violations... So I am leaning towards not mentioning it in my n-400 app.

I am thinking that if IO knows about my traffic violations during the interview and sees that I have not mentioned it in my n-400 app.. then is'nt IO supposed to ask me about them if IO thinks it's important. And if IO does ask then I will be prepared to show him whatever documentation I have regarding my citations. And if the IO does'nt ask than I will not bother about letting him/her know.


Experts please suggest, will I be making a wrong decision?? Are there any risks as such. If the IO does'nt ask then should I let him/her know anyhow?

I am planning to file n-400 as soon as I have your advises.


Thanks
Click to expand...
>>why whould USCIS care about wasting time and resources for small traffic violations
???!!!

We are talking about your naturalization procedure!

Answer the questions on the N-400 form truthfully. It won't delay your processing time if you have couple of traffic tickets. During your interview most likely IO will ask you that question to confirm your answer, and if you say no, like you did on the form, you will be in deep trouble, so there is no reason to say no in the first place.
 
Aakash28 said:
Hello experts,

Please help me out on this one.

After going through the forum in detail I am still leaning towards answering "no" to be on the safe side. I have received 3 speeding tickets, 2 seat belt violations, and couple of car-part related citations in the past 12 years in US. I have always appealed and had to pay fine on 3 (less than $500), and the rest have been dismissed, mostly because of officer not showing up or missing supporting deposition in court.

Now I do understand, USCIS does suggest not to submit any supporting documentation for fines lower than $500, but they do not mention not to specify them in your n-400. But I have seen from the forum that most of the people who end up mentioning this on n-400 get a YL and then the whole process getting delayed by couple of months. On the other hand I know of people who have not mentioned this in their application and have went through the citizenship process pretty fast.

Logically speaking, why whould USCIS care about wasting time and resources for small traffic violations... So I am leaning towards not mentioning it in my n-400 app.

I am thinking that if IO knows about my traffic violations during the interview and sees that I have not mentioned it in my n-400 app.. then is'nt IO supposed to ask me about them if IO thinks it's important. And if IO does ask then I will be prepared to show him whatever documentation I have regarding my citations. And if the IO does'nt ask than I will not bother about letting him/her know.


Experts please suggest, will I be making a wrong decision?? Are there any risks as such. If the IO does'nt ask then should I let him/her know anyhow?

I am planning to file n-400 as soon as I have your advises.


Thanks
Click to expand...

Minor traffic tickets wouldn't be a big deal either ways. I had mentioned only those that were given after getting green card.

As far as delay goes, I don't think it delayed mine however it would surely affect if it DUI related or something major. Based on what you have mentioned, I don't think, they are big deal. When it comes to interview, it is very procedural. IO will go over your N400 application page by page, line by line and tick what you answer. If you have disclosed everything relevant, he/she will have to just tick and move on..

As they say, don't sweat on small things. I would just keep it that level and answer what is asked for... (you may want to get proof of payment or DMV report to show at the time of i/v just in case it comes up)

and yeah, don't forget to include G1145 with your n400 app.
 
Finally I decided not to mention any of my traffic citations on my N-400 - 3 speeding, 2 seat belt, 1 red-light, 2 car parts (muffler, brake lights) - in the past 12 years. After all N-400 is confusing. They could have just mentioned include all traffic citations, just like they used to specify exclude traffic citations in the other forms and in older n-400 form. I will let IO know about these incase he/she ask about them during the interview. Thanks for your input.
 
please update up after your interview, good luck!

Please update us about your interview experience after you finish it, to see this traffic citation is an issue or not. Good luck to you!

Aakash28 said:
Finally I decided not to mention any of my traffic citations on my N-400 - 3 speeding, 2 seat belt, 1 red-light, 2 car parts (muffler, brake lights) - in the past 12 years. After all N-400 is confusing. They could have just mentioned include all traffic citations, just like they used to specify exclude traffic citations in the other forms and in older n-400 form. I will let IO know about these incase he/she ask about them during the interview. Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...
 
Aakash28 said:
Finally I decided not to mention any of my traffic citations on my N-400 - 3 speeding, 2 seat belt, 1 red-light, 2 car parts (muffler, brake lights) - in the past 12 years. After all N-400 is confusing. They could have just mentioned include all traffic citations, just like they used to specify exclude traffic citations in the other forms and in older n-400 form. I will let IO know about these incase he/she ask about them during the interview. Thanks for your input.
Click to expand...

In my opinion the N-400 is pretty clear with the question and what you have to answer if you have a traffic ticket (any citation). Lots of people come up with explanation why not to include it and most of the IOs do not care about it. I would be worried about the IO who has a bad day and just simply wants to be mean with you.

Of course it is your decision to answer yes and no. My suggestion is if IO will ask you about any citation do not answer no.
 
I am leaning towards no too. I had a speeding (2001) and improper lane change (2007) citations. Both the citations were dropped after completing the STOP defensive driving classe and I did not have to pay the citation. However 2007 had resulted in an accident which my insurance had to pay due to me being cited.
 
The form itself is vague though once you read the directions, it becomes clear that a citation requires marking it 'yes'.
 
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