Speeding tickets

O

OMFSmolar

Registered Users (C)
Dear Friends,

I have already submitted my application, and got my biometrics done on November 22.
I have just received notification that I am going through my pre-interview review, and they have asked me to bring many items including my greencard, driver's license, etc.

Another thing they asked me to bring is my documentation regarding my 2 traffic violations.
Note: I wrote down in my application that I got 1 speeding ticket, and I also ran through a stop sign without stopping.

How am I supposed to get documentation for this? I unfortunately threw away all of my tickets after I paid for one of them, and did traffic school for the other one.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanking you and Happy New Year.
 
I am in the same boat. I have my interview second week in Jan 2011, and was asked to bring court records to show how my traffic citations were resolved. One thing i have done is written to the DMV of my city to request my complete driving record. I hope it shows my record is "clean".
 
just get the dmv driving record paper .. if it's clean then you have no problem. uscis only cares about the major accidents in the past and stuff like dui and hit and run, if you had a traffic ticket it shows only for 3 years on the driving record. things like dui theft and felonies show for upto 10 years now.. it used to be 7
 
speakamericano said:
just get the dmv driving record paper .. if it's clean then you have no problem. uscis only cares about the major accidents in the past and stuff like dui and hit and run, if you had a traffic ticket it shows only for 3 years on the driving record. things like dui theft and felonies show for upto 10 years now.. it used to be 7
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USCIS does not care about accidents, unless criminal charges were involved. Also, theft and felonies do not appear on driving records. They do, however, appear on criminal records.
 
Vorpal said:
USCIS does not care about accidents, unless criminal charges were involved. Also, theft and felonies do not appear on driving records. They do, however, appear on criminal records.
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then what does it mean by ques 17.. have you ever been arrested, cited, or detained by ... and so on... in the n-400 instruction booklet, it says if your fine was more than 500 bucks and/or points on the record, you need the record from the dmv..

the IO may not check for it depending on the officer, but it's always better to have a dmv record's copy so your application gets cleared on the same day as the interview
 
I believe, if they are specifically asking for court documents, then you take the court documents in order to avoid returning from your interview without a decision and further delaying the process. They did not ask for your driving record so you can take it as additional evidence but do get the court documents. You need to go the country courthouse where you appeared for your ticket and request a certified copy of the disposition of your ticket/s. It costs may be 2-3 bux. You can also call them first to confirm how exactly the process works for you to obtain a certified disposition.

I understand that they don't care about speeding tickets and we are not required to send supporting documents along with our appliction for all traffic violations under $500, but keep in mind in this case they are asking for a particular piece of document. So you should take it with you regardless of whether they normally care about it or not. The adjudication officers are not restricted in terms of what they can ask for. They can ask you for anything and everything and failure to provide them evidence/documents to satisfy their requests can easily result in denial or further delay of your application.
 
N-400 q 16

Gents and Ladies,
I need help with answering Question 16 from N-400
16. Have you ever been arrested, cited, or detained by any law enforcement officer (including USCIS or former INS and military officers) for any reason?
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Scenario 1. I have been issued warning for speeding but was not fined. Would that be considered as a citation? And if so, should I answer YES or NO to this question? (I do not have the warning document with me)
Scenario 2. A friend of mine got two speeding tickets but he took defensive driving course for both occurrences and the cases were dismissed. Should he answer YES to this question? If he does so then what documentation does he need to furnish?
 
OMFSmolar said:
Another thing they asked me to bring is my documentation regarding my 2 traffic violations.
Note: I wrote down in my application that I got 1 speeding ticket, and I also ran through a stop sign without stopping.

How am I supposed to get documentation for this? I unfortunately threw away all of my tickets after I paid for one of them, and did traffic school for the other one.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanking you and Happy New Year.
Click to expand...

It must be that yellow letter. For your traffic violation, you can ignore it
if you cannot get documents. You just tell USCIS that you do not have documents
Of course, if you still know which court handle yout ticket, you can easily get records
from that court. They usually keep it for some years.
 
AK1975 said:
Gents and Ladies,
I need help with answering Question 16 from N-400
16. Have you ever been arrested, cited, or detained by any law enforcement officer (including USCIS or former INS and military officers) for any reason?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Scenario 1. I have been issued warning for speeding but was not fined. Would that be considered as a citation? And if so, should I answer YES or NO to this question? (I do not have the warning document with me)
Scenario 2. A friend of mine got two speeding tickets but he took defensive driving course for both occurrences and the cases were dismissed. Should he answer YES to this question? If he does so then what documentation does he need to furnish?
Click to expand...

Scenario 1 : No , you were not cited you were given a warning. But when interviewed you should mention the incident.

Scenario 2: Yes , because its a citation. Doesn't matter if they were dropped from court.
 
speakamericano said:
then what does it mean by ques 17.. have you ever been arrested, cited, or detained by ... and so on... in the n-400 instruction booklet, it says if your fine was more than 500 bucks and/or points on the record, you need the record from the dmv..

the IO may not check for it depending on the officer, but it's always better to have a dmv record's copy so your application gets cleared on the same day as the interview
Click to expand...

Incorrect. This is what it says in the N-400 instructions: "Note that unless a traffic incident was alcoholor drug related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that didnot involve an actual arrest if the only penalty was afine of less than $500 and/or points on your driver's license". If the outcome was points on your driver license and/or a fine of less than $500, then there is NO NEED to submit documentation.

Moreover, there is an extensive document on the USCIS website that clearly states that minor traffic violations that did not result in an arrest do not need to be disclosed. Take a look at the top section of page 60: http://www.uscis.gov/USCIS/About Us... Guide/Permanent_Residents_Naturalization.pdf
 
Just to chime in, I had a traffic incident in 2008 when a lousy state trooper pulled me over and gave me a summons. Serveral months later I went to court with my attorney who beat the charge down to "speeding (traffic infraction)" form "reckless driving (misdemeanor)". The VA courts still wanted me to paya a fine as well as spend a weekend behind bars as part of the deal by indicating that "they revoked bail of $1000" so that even though they did not sentence me to jail I still spent a few days behind bars. They could not aply points or revoke my license being a DC license. Technically, it may not be a physical arrest but an arrest of some sort as I read on the summons having a "date of arest", so in order to avoid any confusion of non-disclosure on the N400 and the fact that I was subsequently detained I disclosed it on my N400. I put this (speeding traffic infraction) on my N400 and on the day of the interview the IO asked me for the disposition even though he clearly sees on the N400 that the outcome was a $165 fine plus cost, which I gave to him.
 
jayoa said:
Just to chime in, I had a traffic incident in 2008 when a lousy state trooper pulled me over and gave me a summons. Serveral months later I went to court with my attorney who beat the charge down to "speeding (traffic infraction)" form "reckless driving (misdemeanor)". The VA courts still wanted me to paya a fine as well as spend a weekend behind bars as part of the deal by indicating that "they revoked bail of $1000" so that even though they did not sentence me to jail I still spent a few days behind bars. They could not aply points or revoke my license being a DC license. Technically, it may not be a physical arrest but an arrest of some sort as I read on the summons having a "date of arest", so in order to avoid any confusion of non-disclosure on the N400 and the fact that I was subsequently detained I disclosed it on my N400. I put this (speeding traffic infraction) on my N400 and on the day of the interview the IO asked me for the disposition even though he clearly sees on the N400 that the outcome was a $165 fine plus cost, which I gave to him.
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In many cases, if you disclose a traffic ticket, the IO will ask for a disposition. They'll add it to the applicant's case file and let the supervisor decide.
 
When I had applied for my naturalization, I had disclosed on my N-400 form that I had had a traffic accident in 1998 and had paid a fine for about $80. I did not have any proof of anything because it was so far back. I did get my MA driving record which was clean and had that as backup. At the interview last year, when we came to that, I explained to the IO that I had answered yes because the question asked if I had any citations. The IO lady said that the question really did not apply to traffic tickets like this and she changed my response on the N-400 form from yes to no and then initialed it. She also wrote in the margin of the N-400 form that I had paid the traffic ticket. I was not asked for any kind of proof or anything. Again, different IOs may interpret this differently but this is what I had experienced with mine.
 
Maybe I missed it, but have we ever heard any news on that case last year a lady said she answered YES to "have you ever claimed to be a US citizen" question because she told her neighbor she was
a citizen when she was tired of being asked about her visa status on social occasions?
 
WBH said:
Maybe I missed it, but have we ever heard any news on that case last year a lady said she answered YES to "have you ever claimed to be a US citizen" question because she told her neighbor she was
a citizen when she was tired of being asked about her visa status on social occasions?
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That does not count and should not be mentioned in an interview.
 
jayoa said:
That does not count and should not be mentioned in an interview.
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That is why I wonder and I am very curious what happened to that lady at last. But there is another thread where a poster did mention his interview officer asked specifically whether he ever claimed to be
a citizen on informal occasions just like that. Maybe they are the same IO who interviewed thatlady first
and then could npt help himself from asking about such things from taht time on
 
WBH said:
That is why I wonder and I am very curious what happened to that lady at last. But there is another thread where a poster did mention his interview officer asked specifically whether he ever claimed to be
a citizen on informal occasions just like that. Maybe they are the same IO who interviewed thatlady first
and then could npt help himself from asking about such things from taht time on
Click to expand...

In any such case, the answer should always be a resounding NO, there is simply no way an IO can find out if you said any such thing in an informal occasion and it simply makes no sense for an IO to ask such a question (assuming the story is true, which I doubt).
 
jayoa said:
In any such case, the answer should always be a resounding NO, there is simply no way an IO can find out if you said any such thing in an informal occasion and it simply makes no sense for an IO to ask such a question (assuming the story is true, which I doubt).
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The issue is if someone already answered YES, how can he/she remedy the situation if the IO
does not see the difference and insist a citizen claim is a claim no matter how it is claimed?

A similar situation can arise if an applicant answers YES to the question "Have you ever commited a crime for which you were not arrested?" and explained that
when he worked at Microsoft 10 years ago, he took a pen home for personal use and now he repent that is a theft.
 
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