Please help with Form N-400 and Document Checklist

D

DreamyBunny45

Registered Users (C)
On the Document Checklist mentioned:

1. If you answer “Yes” to any of Questions 1 through 15 in Part 7 of Form N-400, Application for Naturalization, send: A written explanation on a separate sheet of paper.

I am not quite sure what that means. Part 7 on N-400 ask Time outside the United States. There's no such answer Yes or No and no Questions 1 through 15.
I spent total 26 days outside the US during the past 5 years and total 2 trips. Does that means I have to explain that on a separate sheet of paper?

2. If you answer “No” to any of Questions 1 through 5 in Part 8 on Form N-400, send: A written explanation on a separate sheet of paper.

I am not quite sure what that means. Part 8 on N-400 ask Information About Your Marital History. There's no such answer Yes or No and no Questions 1 through 5.
I married once and got divorced. Do I have to explain that on a separate sheet of paper?

3. I had an At Fault Accident back in January 2007(the insurance company had covered all the damages. I went to the court as well, and my case has been dismissed by the judge) and an HOV traffic ticket in October 2009 (the ticket have already been paid to the court. I do have the paid receipt from the court with me).

My question is, do I have to check YES on Part 10 section D question 16?

4. I lived in South Carolina for 6 years, and moved to Virginia for over 2 years now.

My question is, where can I request my State Tax Return Transcript from? or do I really need it? I know I can call IRS 1-800 number to request my Tax Return Transcript for the last 5 years.

5. On the N-400 Instruction Page says Answer all questions fully and accurately. State that is not applicable with "N/A". If the answer is none, write "None"

My question is, do I have to write on every blank. For instance, Part 9 Information About Your Children. I don't have any, do I write "None" on every blank?
On Part 8 Information About Your Marital History, I have to fill out section F question 1 through 5 since I have divorced once. What about the rest of the sections? Do I write "N/A" on every blank?


Thank you for your assistance in advance!
 
Just get and thoroughly read guidelines for filling the N-400 form. You will find everything straight foward. It is safer to follow USCIS guidance than our posts here.
 
Complete your application following the N-400 instruction sheet which clearly tells you how to answer each section: http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/n-400instr.pdf

For your specific questions:

1. Agree that this mixed up in someway. I wonder if there is an updated version of the N-400 application form that this Document Checklist refers to. This Document Checklist shows that it is 3/16/2010 version, however, the current N-400 form on the USCIS website says on it that it expired on 12/31/2009.

2. Also agree that this is mixed up and same as above.

3. Different IOs seem to interpret this differently. You may want to answer yes to this question and in the details table below, state both cases and their outcomes. Hopefully you also have the disposition that the judge dismissed as well. It is useful to possess the proof of outcomes for both incidents. For me, I had just one traffic accident that I was at fault for and paid a $85 fine and so I answered yes to this and stated that I paid this fine. At my interview, the IO said that she didn't consider this incident to apply to that question and so she changed my yes answer to no and signed off on it.

4. You do not need your state tax returns, just your federal returns.

5. Use the instructions sheet above to fill out the form. I did not fill in every single field on the N-400 form, just only those that applied. So in your case, for instance since you don't have children, in the section where they ask for the number of children you have (Part 9 A), you would enter "0" and just ignore the Children details table (Part 9 B) below. If you are not remarried, then just fill up the ex-spouse details on the form and ignore the questions for current spouse. I think once you go through the form and enter your answers (following the instructions), things become clearer.
 
JPBoston said:
Complete your application following the N-400 instruction sheet which clearly tells you how to answer each section:

For your specific questions:

1. Agree that this mixed up in someway. I wonder if there is an updated version of the N-400 application form that this Document Checklist refers to. This Document Checklist shows that it is 3/16/2010 version, however, the current N-400 form on the USCIS website says on it that it expired on 12/31/2009.

2. Also agree that this is mixed up and same as above.

3. Different IOs seem to interpret this differently. You may want to answer yes to this question and in the details table below, state both cases and their outcomes. Hopefully you also have the disposition that the judge dismissed as well. It is useful to possess the proof of outcomes for both incidents. For me, I had just one traffic accident that I was at fault for and paid a $85 fine and so I answered yes to this and stated that I paid this fine. At my interview, the IO said that she didn't consider this incident to apply to that question and so she changed my yes answer to no and signed off on it.

4. You do not need your state tax returns, just your federal returns.

5. Use the instructions sheet above to fill out the form. I did not fill in every single field on the N-400 form, just only those that applied. So in your case, for instance since you don't have children, in the section where they ask for the number of children you have (Part 9 A), you would enter "0" and just ignore the Children details table (Part 9 B) below. If you are not remarried, then just fill up the ex-spouse details on the form and ignore the questions for current spouse. I think once you go through the form and enter your answers (following the instructions), things become clearer.
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Thank you JPBoston. It is very informative!
So, on question number 3 I have to answer "Yes". Where and how would I get the disposition that the judge dismissed?
 
DreamyBunny45 said:
Thank you JPBoston. It is very informative!
So, on question number 3 I have to answer "Yes". Where and how would I get the disposition that the judge dismissed?
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I think it makes sense to answer yes to that question and have peace of mind about having disclosed all but different people feel differently about traffic citations. Your IO may dismiss it in the end, like mine did. Do you have anything on you that proves that the judge dismissed the case for that first incident? If you don't then try contacting the district/local court that you went to where the judge dismissed your case and ask them for a disposition copy of that outcome. Just curious about this incident ... what exactly did the judge dismiss if your insurance company paid the damages for your at-fault accident?
 
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JPBoston said:
I think it makes sense to answer yes to that question and have peace of mind about having disclosed all but different people feel differently about traffic citations. Your IO may dismiss it in the end, like mine did. Do you have anything on you that proves that the judge dismissed the case for that first incident? If you don't then try contacting the district/local court that you went to where the judge dismissed your case and ask them for a disposition copy of that outcome. Just curious about this incident ... what exactly did the judge dismiss if your insurance company paid the damages for your at-fault accident?
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Hi JPBoston,

I do not have any proves that the judge dismissed my At Fault Accident back in 01-17-2007. I went to the court on the court date stated on the ticket, but the other party did not show up, so the judge dismissed my case. I didn't even pay the fund.

What about my HOV traffic violation ticket? the only thing I have is the receipt shows that I have paid the fund. Do I need the disposition for my traffic ticket as well?

JPBoston, I really apreciate your assistance in this matter. :)
 
I assume that you will be answering yes and putting these two incidents in the details table. Based on this:

1. For the at-fault accident that was dismissed, do try contact the court you went to and ask for a copy of the dismissal charges. Try your best to get this but if for whatever reason, they aren't able to give you anything, then at the interview explain clearly to the IO that you could not get the copy from the court but explain how this ended up being dismissed by the judge. In my own case regarding the traffic ticket, I had no proof whatsoever that I paid the ticket because it happened 12 years ago and I lost my proof somewhere along the way. I explained to the IO that I paid my fine and she did not ask for proof of it. What may also make sense if you can't get a copy of your dismissed charges is to obtain your driving record from the both the VA and SC DMVs to show that these were your only issues (assuming these were the only ones).

You could describe this one as "Cited: traffic ticket" and resolution as "Ticket dismissed"

2. The receipt that shows that you paid the HOV violation ticket is all you need for that incident. So you're good for this one.

You could describe this one as "Cited: traffic ticket" and resolution as "Ticket paid"
 
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JPBoston said:
I assume that you will be answering yes and putting these two incidents in the details table. Based on this:

1. For the at-fault accident that was dismissed, do try contact the court you went to and ask for a copy of the dismissal charges. Try your best to get this but if for whatever reason, they aren't able to give you anything, then at the interview explain clearly to the IO that you could not get the copy from the court but explain how this ended up being dismissed by the judge. In my own case regarding the traffic ticket, I had no proof whatsoever that I paid the ticket because it happened 12 years ago and I lost my proof somewhere along the way. I explained to the IO that I paid my fine and she did not ask for proof of it. What may also make sense if you can't get a copy of your dismissed charges is to obtain your driving record from the both the VA and SC DMVs to show that these were your only issues (assuming these were the only ones).

You could describe this one as "Cited: traffic ticket" and resolution as "Ticket dismissed"

2. The receipt that shows that you paid the HOV violation ticket is all you need for that incident. So you're good for this one.

You could describe this one as "Cited: traffic ticket" and resolution as "Ticket paid"
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Thank you JPBoston,
You're a very detail oriented person.
I will contact South Carolina court house see if I can request a disposition copy of my accident.
Will let you know the result. Keep in touch! :)
 
JPBoston,

One more question. Have you received a yellow letter after you submitted the application since you ckecked YES on on Part 10 section D question 16? What did the yellow letter say? and how did you respond to it? Thank you.

I called the court house in SC, they are going to mail out the dismissal charges tomorrow. One less thing to do on the checklist! JPBoston, I can't thank you enough for helping me get through this. :)
 
DreamyBunny45 said:
JPBoston,

One more question. Have you received a yellow letter after you submitted the application since you ckecked YES on on Part 10 section D question 16? What did the yellow letter say? and how did you respond to it? Thank you.
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Yes, I think everyone almost everyone gets a yellow letter which is standard templatized letter and in it, they check off documents to bring based on what you had said in the N-400 application. So in my case since I put yes for that question due to my traffic ticket, my yellow letter said since you said you got arrested (which of course was not true, I only said I was cited a traffic ticket), bring evidence of how this was resolved. So like I had said earlier, I lost my proof of ticket payment and so I just got my MA driving record and in the end, I explained the traffic citation at the interview but the IO did not ask for evidence of resolution. The yellow letter just uses the word "arrested" as a general term to cover any yes answer to this question so don't get alarmed when you see that in the yellow letter.

DreamyBunny45 said:
I called the court house in SC, they are going to mail out the dismissal charges tomorrow. One less thing to do on the checklist! JPBoston, I can't thank you enough for helping me get through this. :)
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You're very welcome, glad to have helped. This forum has helped me out tremendously in my own naturalization journey and so I'm only giving back where I can.
 
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