Traffic tickets and naturalization (threads merged)
- Thread starter patel789
- Start date
I have gone into detail years ago in this forum, but I'll simplify it again. In 2007 I called the USCIS about this. They informed me simple traffic fines do not need to be included on the N-400. I contacted an immigration lawyer and asked him. He stated the same thing.
I did not mention them on my N-400. In my interview, I was asked if I had been to court. I said yes, the IO asked why and I said 2 speeding tickets in a county where court was mandatory. He asked if they were under the $500 and non DUI. I said yes. He then moved on.
I told him I was confused about the N-400 and if I should have reported them on the form and he said the same thing the others did and said no. His response is they don't regard simple traffic tickets such as parking, speeding, rolling through stop signs etc as needed to be documented at all since most people will have those. He stated they are only interested in serious traffic offenses that are in excess of $500 or ones that had a DUI.
This was in 2007, but I doubt very much anything has changed...
I did not mention them on my N-400. In my interview, I was asked if I had been to court. I said yes, the IO asked why and I said 2 speeding tickets in a county where court was mandatory. He asked if they were under the $500 and non DUI. I said yes. He then moved on.
I told him I was confused about the N-400 and if I should have reported them on the form and he said the same thing the others did and said no. His response is they don't regard simple traffic tickets such as parking, speeding, rolling through stop signs etc as needed to be documented at all since most people will have those. He stated they are only interested in serious traffic offenses that are in excess of $500 or ones that had a DUI.
This was in 2007, but I doubt very much anything has changed...
permfiling
Registered Users (C)
IO can get all your info
In this digital age, IO can have all your info based on your SSN etc ...just my thoughts
In this digital age, IO can have all your info based on your SSN etc ...just my thoughts
traffic tickets
I didnt mention in the application about my only one traffic ticket. in my interview last week, officer was going over the items in the N400 and he asked me if i ever cited, arrested etc. I told him no but i had one traffic red light ticket from 2010 and had the receipt. He said they dont care about traffic ticket unless it resulted with arrest or over 500 bucks.
I didnt mention in the application about my only one traffic ticket. in my interview last week, officer was going over the items in the N400 and he asked me if i ever cited, arrested etc. I told him no but i had one traffic red light ticket from 2010 and had the receipt. He said they dont care about traffic ticket unless it resulted with arrest or over 500 bucks.
well I have a different issue. When I apple for the N-400 I had no traffic tickets, my interview was in may, my oath is scheduled for febuary 22nd 2012,
I have received 3 traffic tickets one in june 2011, for not turning right on right turn only lane, one for tinted windows in september of 2011, and one for unsafe lane changing in december of 2011.
All three of them are pending arraingement, after my oath ceremony. Now that I received the N-445 it specifically ask if I have been arrested and to mention any traffic tickets. Now what should I do, pay the tickets at the court and show them proof of payment, all 3 of them are under $500. Or not disclose anything since they are still pending, or just go to the oath and tell them I'm pending arrainement?
I'm lost and confused....
I have received 3 traffic tickets one in june 2011, for not turning right on right turn only lane, one for tinted windows in september of 2011, and one for unsafe lane changing in december of 2011.
All three of them are pending arraingement, after my oath ceremony. Now that I received the N-445 it specifically ask if I have been arrested and to mention any traffic tickets. Now what should I do, pay the tickets at the court and show them proof of payment, all 3 of them are under $500. Or not disclose anything since they are still pending, or just go to the oath and tell them I'm pending arrainement?
I'm lost and confused....
Please help me deciding whether to answer yes/no to the citation Q on N-400??
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
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, this topic is beaten enough in this thread and various others. Looks like you have gone thru' them as well and have your own reasons not to reveal them. I'm sure you are going to get some 'no's and 'yes's like the past discussions. Not sure how it is going to help with your decision.
Strictly_Analog
Registered Users (C)
Sounds straightforward to me. I am helping my GF fill out her N-400 and this had me thinking. She's only had 2 speeding tickets throughout 10 years living in this country. Thank you for the clear and straightforward answer.
My experience:
I have 2 prior parking tickets, not in my name (rental vehicles). My impression was that these do not need to be mentioned since I'm fairly sure USCIS isn't looking for minor traffic violations. There are a lot of anal posters here who think they should be mentioned. They are right that the instructions do not say specifically that minor traffic tickets do not need to be mentioned (only that documentation for violations <$500 is not required), but there's a lot of info not specified by the instructions. My experience is that if you mention anything to USCIS, they will ask for documentation, so best be honest, and have the evidence on-hand, but best not provide any not-required information as it can only cause delays.
In any case, prior to submitting N400, I called USCIS national customer service and told the agent about my parking tickets. His answer, specifically, was 'minor traffic ticket don't count'. That was enough reassurance for me. I wrote down his agent number and the time/date of my call. I did not write down these tickets on my N400, but I did get copies of the tickets from the city (not court dispos since it was just parking tix) as well as evidence that I paid them.
At the interview, when the officer got to that question, he asked: were you ever arrested, received a citation or a ticket? Because he mentioned the ticket specifically, I answered yet, but that I did not put it down because I was previously told it doesn't count. He said that fine, did I have a copy of it, I said yes and provided him with the copy. He said it looked fine and moved on and I was approved. I don't know if he would have approved me if I did not have a copy available.
I have 2 prior parking tickets, not in my name (rental vehicles). My impression was that these do not need to be mentioned since I'm fairly sure USCIS isn't looking for minor traffic violations. There are a lot of anal posters here who think they should be mentioned. They are right that the instructions do not say specifically that minor traffic tickets do not need to be mentioned (only that documentation for violations <$500 is not required), but there's a lot of info not specified by the instructions. My experience is that if you mention anything to USCIS, they will ask for documentation, so best be honest, and have the evidence on-hand, but best not provide any not-required information as it can only cause delays.
In any case, prior to submitting N400, I called USCIS national customer service and told the agent about my parking tickets. His answer, specifically, was 'minor traffic ticket don't count'. That was enough reassurance for me. I wrote down his agent number and the time/date of my call. I did not write down these tickets on my N400, but I did get copies of the tickets from the city (not court dispos since it was just parking tix) as well as evidence that I paid them.
At the interview, when the officer got to that question, he asked: were you ever arrested, received a citation or a ticket? Because he mentioned the ticket specifically, I answered yet, but that I did not put it down because I was previously told it doesn't count. He said that fine, did I have a copy of it, I said yes and provided him with the copy. He said it looked fine and moved on and I was approved. I don't know if he would have approved me if I did not have a copy available.
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mnprtltt
Guest
I forgot to mention a marijuana ticket in my n-400 and my denial letter states that i failed to submit court evidence/proof of payment or any probation on ticket 23222A(which is a code for alcohol open container) they accidentally wrote the wrong code. In my N-336 i brought proof with me from the court saying i paid a fine of $450.00 for ticket 23222B and was reduced to infraction. Does this ticket fall into the under $500 or it doesn't matter because it was drug related. I was not arrested or put under any probation and i was 17 and had got issued a ticket is there any way that the USCIS can find that information out to see if i'm telling the truth or they wont bother and deny me again because i didn't mention it in my N-400. I was only arrested once and i told them about it in my N-400 and there was no charges filed and they were dropped i had proof of that but it was also drug related controlled substance but it wasn't my fault.. I just forgot to tell them about my marijuana ticket i had received, At the end of my N-336 i was told they couldn't reach a decision right away because it needed to be reviewed by a supervisor do you guys think the supervisor will do an investigation and talk to the hall of justice and see if the information i provided is correct? I also had I had 3 red lights 1 stop sign 2 no seat belts and one for speeding some were over 500 because i took traffic school and there was a fee included but i also submitted proof of payment of the other 7 traffic tickets in my N-336 interview will all these effect my chances of getting my appeal approved even tho i provided proof of payment?
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mnprtltt
Guest
Can anyone that was in the same tricky situation as me or know anyone else that had a similar situation shed some light on this I'm getting worried. I had my N-336 interview on April 5 and still no word but i herd it can take up to 6 months to hear a reply in the mail from USICS. If i was going to get denied again wouldn't they send me something right away like 2weeks or so or they taking so long because they are backed up and have too much other work on their hands and not enough time to go over my file?
most_wanted
Registered Users (C)
Thanks to warlord, voyager99 and imapp for sharing your experience..
Really help me a lot, because I plan to file N-400 for the next incoming month.
Really help me a lot, because I plan to file N-400 for the next incoming month.
Traffic ticket -USCIS website
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/n-400instr.pdf
Go to page 5
Other documents: Depending on the circumstances, some applicants must send certain documents with their application.
For example, if you have been arrested or convicted of a crime you must send a cerified copy of the arrest report, court disposition, senencing and any other relevant documents including any countervailing evidence concerning the circumstances of your arrest or conviction that you wouldlike USCIS to consider. Note that unless a traffic incident was alcohol or drug related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that did not involve an actual arrest it the only penalty was a fine of less than $500 or points on your drivers license.
http://www.uscis.gov/files/form/n-400instr.pdf
Go to page 5
Other documents: Depending on the circumstances, some applicants must send certain documents with their application.
For example, if you have been arrested or convicted of a crime you must send a cerified copy of the arrest report, court disposition, senencing and any other relevant documents including any countervailing evidence concerning the circumstances of your arrest or conviction that you wouldlike USCIS to consider. Note that unless a traffic incident was alcohol or drug related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that did not involve an actual arrest it the only penalty was a fine of less than $500 or points on your drivers license.
And what exactly you are trying to say?
I think he is trying to emphasize the point
Note that unless a traffic incident was alcohol or drug related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that did not involve an actual arrest if the only penalty was a fine of less than $500 or points on your drivers license.
I myself have had a few parking tickets (I live in an urban area of jersey city where I need to move my car every week for street cleaning and its very common to get parking tickets every few months - each of them is about $35 to $40).
I also had one instance of driving while speaking on cell phone for $130.
I am leaning towards not putting anything on the form because I see enough people here mentioning that you don't need to. I will keep driver transcript and copies of the ticket ready with me.
I just realized after going back to the N400 form that they are asking for not just citations in the past 5 years but if you have EVER received a citation. I have been in this country for 14 years - and going back 14 years to recollect every citation is going to be an extremely difficult task!!
I know in the past 5 years I got one "driving while operating cell phone" (a couple of months back) but I do recollect some speeding tickets going back further (like 8 or 10 years back)
So what are the guru's opinion on this?
Even if you want to show every single speeding ticket in the past 10 or 15 years, how do you go about even collecting this information?
I know in the past 5 years I got one "driving while operating cell phone" (a couple of months back) but I do recollect some speeding tickets going back further (like 8 or 10 years back)
So what are the guru's opinion on this?
Even if you want to show every single speeding ticket in the past 10 or 15 years, how do you go about even collecting this information?
You don't; it's a fool's errand. As long as your tickets are minor, you answer NO to Question 10-D-16 and you get on with your life!
Yea - it is an impossible task - to keep track of everything going back a decade or more.
I will likely say No on the form but will still try to get a drivers transcript so at least I know which dates I got tickets.
Does anyone know if there is a way to get a drivers transcript by walk-in to a DMV in Northern NJ?
I will likely say No on the form but will still try to get a drivers transcript so at least I know which dates I got tickets.
Does anyone know if there is a way to get a drivers transcript by walk-in to a DMV in Northern NJ?