Traffic tickets and naturalization (threads merged)

For NewlyMinted,

You seem to have strong opinion on this apparently controversial question. Clearly people have different opinion on this. My point is that if you mention it, they are going to ask for document proof, and that would contradict to the notation on N400 instruction. Did you see it?

I respect your opinion based on honesty. But can I ask you to provide one single case that someone ran into trouble ONLY because he failed to mention minor traffic citation on N400?
 
I don't mean to offend anyone. I just don't want anyone to be denied or see their citizenship revoked because of such a small thing that has no bearing on their application so long as the asnwer honestly.

I don't know of anyone who have been denied because they failed to mention a citation, but I've heard cases where the person was denied to failing to answer that question which included arrest, citation.....

Down the line, let's say you step on some powerful toes. These people can somehow go into your records and determine that you lied on N400 application and they can give a lot of headaches. You can prevent any future headche by answering the questions honestly. I am in no way saying that people have easy access to your files. But we know how things seem to find their way in the media without proper authorization.

As you may already know, there has been some high profile revoked citizenship. The most recent one was on Moral character.
 
FairfaxVAN400 said:
btw,

how to fill in this part?
"Outcome or disposition of the arrest, citation, detention or charge (No charges filed, charges dismissed, jail, probation, etc.)"

paid or No charges filed or charges dismissed?


I have 5 moving violation traffic tickets for all these years. So I even need a seperate sheet of paper to give information of all the minor traffic citation!?

I would imagine that the court disposition would mention whether the charges have been paid or not. I had an attorney represent me in court for a $100 traffic violation back in 2002, because I couldn't attend the court at that time for some personal reasons. Recently when I contacted the attorney he was able to log into the court system while I was on the phone, pull out the record and fax it for me. In the document, there was a column which said, "charges paid" against which it showed "Yes".

Other coulmns like "arrainged", "Date of arrainment" etc were empty.

Hope this helps.
 
I appreciate your explanation and good-will effort. If I have documents available, I'd be willingly listing all my trafffic citations (2 in total) on my N400.

Can you explain a bit more on recent high profile revoked citizenship cases? I'm not familiar with those cases since I just came back to US recently, and I don't watch much TV or newspapers. :-( Thanks!
 
NewlyMinted said:
A speeding ticket is a citation.

Not necessarily. Traffic tickets issued in New Jersey are complaints. You can't find the word "citation" any where on a New Jersey ticket.
 
baikal3 said:
I will be eligible to file N-400 in early January 2007, based on 5 years as an LPR.

I live in Illinois since the summer of 2000, and before that I was in New Jersey for 4 years. I have not had any traffic tickets for the last 6 years, but I did have 3 tickets, non-DUI, in the 90s: one for a red light (New York city), one for speeding (somewhere in Nebraska or Iowa) and one for not making a complete stop at a stop sign (New Jersey). I had a NJ driver's licence at that time.


The problem is that I did not keep any records regarding these tickets and in all but one case I don't remember the exact dates.
In the case of a speeding ticket I am not even sure about the state; I got it somewhere on I-80, either in Iowa or Nebraska, driving from the west to New Jersey in 1998.
My NJ bank account (which I used to write checks to pay for these tickets) has been closed since 2000 and by now these violtions have been expunged from my driving record in New Jersey. Moreover, my NJ licence was cancelled after I moved to Illinois in 2000 and got an Illinois driver's licence.


I think that I do have to mention these tickets in response to question D.16 on N-400.

I would like to know, based on other people's experiences, if USCIS is going to give me a hard time about the lack of documentation for these traffic tickets.

Thanks!

USCIS doesn't give a dime about traffic tickets, except DUI. I had 3 speeding tickets that I didn't bother to mention on my N-400. I have 2 parking tickets in NYC that I never paid. My interviewer wasn't interested in hearing about them.
Unless you were arrested (took a ride to the police station in the cops car), it's no value to USCIS. However, if it helps your conscience, mention the tickets on your application. The interviewer won't care about the records.
 
in VA, it's called "Virginia Uniform Summons" for traffic tickets. there is no word "citation" either. but citation means legal summon.

Now i am really hesistating.
when i file my N400 next january, i plan to answer "No" but take dmv record and case disposition to interview.

NJGoose said:
Not necessarily. Traffic tickets issued in New Jersey are complaints. You can't find the word "citation" any where on a New Jersey ticket.
 
In virginia these traffic court records are available online for anyone. guess "charge paid" will be good enough in this column for people who put in the traffic violation records

speedy1027 said:
I would imagine that the court disposition would mention whether the charges have been paid or not. I had an attorney represent me in court for a $100 traffic violation back in 2002, because I couldn't attend the court at that time for some personal reasons. Recently when I contacted the attorney he was able to log into the court system while I was on the phone, pull out the record and fax it for me. In the document, there was a column which said, "charges paid" against which it showed "Yes".

Other coulmns like "arrainged", "Date of arrainment" etc were empty.

Hope this helps.
 
I had answered no the question in the form as I didn't even think about driving violations. But when asked in the interview about violations, I did tell them that I have had a few over the period of the past 10 years and I was asked to provide the depositions. I tried getting these from the Local offices and am not getting any info on these. couple of them were in IA & Illinois and I am not sure I can even check them.. Any help on as to how to proceed now for me, Please?

Sreeni
 
rsreeni70 said:
I had answered no the question in the form as I didn't even think about driving violations. But when asked in the interview about violations, I did tell them that I have had a few over the period of the past 10 years and I was asked to provide the depositions. I tried getting these from the Local offices and am not getting any info on these. couple of them were in IA & Illinois and I am not sure I can even check them.. Any help on as to how to proceed now for me, Please?

Sreeni

Did he specifically ask for "traffic" violations or violations in general?
 
COurt disposition in CA

How do I get the court disposition?

I live in Santa Clara County, California. I paid the fine <$250 thru my credit card and attended the traffic school. Can someone tell me how do I go about getting the proof of no charges filed and I took care of tickets.
 
usc_sigma said:
How do I get the court disposition?

I live in Santa Clara County, California. I paid the fine <$250 thru my credit card and attended the traffic school. Can someone tell me how do I go about getting the proof of no charges filed and I took care of tickets.

I called the Court in my county here in North Carolina. The rep., said, they need a written request mentioning all the details. Fortunately, I have all the information like citation#, Case#, Date of trial, Traffic Officer name etc in addition to all my other personal information.

Recently I sent the written request along with a $3 processing fees. I requested for 3 things in my written letter: Court disposition, Traffic Ticket, Proof of payment. Hopefully they will provide all the three items. At the minimum, I hope to get the Court Disposition.

I think you should call and speak with the clerk of the superior court in your county. They should tell you the process to obtain a certified copy of the court disposition. I found this site in google for your county http://www.sccsuperiorcourt.org/contact/phonelist.htm

hope this helps.

Cheers
 
Court records for Santa Clara County

usc_sigma said:
How do I get the court disposition?

I live in Santa Clara County, California. I paid the fine <$250 thru my credit card and attended the traffic school. Can someone tell me how do I go about getting the proof of no charges filed and I took care of tickets.


You need to go to the traffic court clerk's office on ruff Drive (Take 880 S from 101N and take coleman exit, coleman south, Lt on Hedding and lt on Ruff). Tell them you need court records for immigration purpose. They will give you a form to fill (you can fill it at the counter) and will call you when they are done 'searching' for your records (which is usually 2-3 weeks). You can then go and pick them up. The records will show the date of violation, court date, and court disposition.
 
kbalabha65 said:
You need to go to the traffic court clerk's office on ruff Drive (Take 880 S from 101N and take coleman exit, coleman south, Lt on Hedding and lt on Ruff). Tell them you need court records for immigration purpose. They will give you a form to fill (you can fill it at the counter) and will call you when they are done 'searching' for your records (which is usually 2-3 weeks). You can then go and pick them up. The records will show the date of violation, court date, and court disposition.

I paid my fine at the Palo alto court for a red light violation about 7 years ago. Do I still need to go to San Jose or do I go to the Palo Alto court?

Thanks
 
I believe it does not matter as long as it is Santa Clara county so you can go to the Palo Alto court as well
 
Traffic Ticket - unable to get payment information

I got a traffic ticket (passing a red light) via mail $351. I paid the ticket using a credit card and went to an online traffic school. I went to LA courthouse to get a copy stating that I paid the fine and went to traffic school. The clerk there said that there is no information that can be printed as my record is clean. All she could give is reference number that I paid the fine. Any suggestions..

Thanks
Gurram
 
Traffic ticket document

I got a speeding ticket back in 2001 from Mass and I paid the ticket without going to the court. Now in order to prepare the proof that I have paid the citation for the interview, Do I still need a "court disposition" even I never went to the court? I contacted the MASS RMV and they said they can mail me a printout from their system showing the ticket being paid. Will this be sufficient?

Please help!

Thanks.

Galvus
 
Success at last

Remember my original post? I was asked for the proof of traffic tickets paid and I didn't have any and I was asked to mail the proof. Well, I waited for 120 days after mailing the proof. Took infopass, waited for 3 hours to be called. My file already had the documents I had mailed but it appeared no one had looked at them. The immigration officer looked at the documents briefly and filed them. Them he printed my oath letter and I took oath same afternoon (yesterday).
 
Speed/moving violation ticket

Hi All,

Sorry for posting unrelated topic in this section,

I got a speeding/moving ticket just now, 74mph in a 55mph, wondering whether it will affect my greencard or future citizenship process?
Do I need to mention that in any future immigration forms?
Does 19mph lead to arrest?( they didnot arrest me), just wondering how bad it is and what are the implications?

Will they arrest me for this?

-Vanisha
 
NIW-Nov 04 said:
Speeding ticket does not affect your greencard or citizenship. However, if you do not appear in court or not pay the fine then you could get arres... and may affect your chances for immigration. Dont worry so much and just hire a traffic ticket lawyer.

Hi NIW-Nov04,

Are you suggesting me to hire a lawyer now?or if I dont pay the fine and get arres...then hire a lawyer? little confused, pls clarify...or anyone clarify.

Moreover do i need to mention in any immigration forms greencard or citizenship....

Thanks in advance,
Vanisha
 
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