Traffic tickets and naturalization (threads merged)

I was curious. Page 8 still has 10.D.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?"

That's the traffic ticket question (tickets being thought by many as "citations").

The instructions still say (under "What Do I Send With My Application?"):

"Note that unless a traffic incident was alcohol or 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 a fine of less than $500 and/or points on your driver's license."

So, what do you think has changed? This seems the same as it was in Sept 2005 when I filled in my N-400
 
Well who the hell knows now. Either way it just seemed like I didn't have to write any speeding tickets down unless it involved drugs and alcohol. I didn't put mine down, during my interview he asked if I had ever gotten a traffic ticket for something that included drugs and or alcohol and then moved on. I just said I've had a few speeding tickets, and he just said I'm not looking for those and went on to something else.

So just noticed the new edition date and figured that was what might have been the cause for this huge debate on here and other immigration boards. And all the experts say a different thing, most have said NO you do not need to put speeding tickets down.

I could swear my form in Oct only said to put down traffic violations if I was charged with drugs or alcohol. I'll see if I still have a copy of it. Who knows, maybe I had one of their trial run versions that they were testing out for a month or so. It's not unlike the USCIS to do test runs of forms and things. Maybe mine was a trial of a new format or something?

Anyways I didn't need to put down simple traffic tickets and I was fine. So who knows, guess people do whatever they think they need to. I'm just happy I didn't need to go throug this hassle finding all the documents of my previous tickets, that would have been a nightmare...
 
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These might be a trivial/basic questions for most of you..

What exactly "reporting traffic citation on N400" mean by? I know the N400 form only has the yes/no for this, and instructions says no need of documentation for this? So Is this means check "Yes" and provide detail in what form??

I do have one speeding tickect (I don't have any records of this at all) before I got GC and 2 speeding tckets after I got GC. All are minor (with fines of less than $150). Do I need to mention all three?? Or only two (which I got after GC)?? If so, How I need to mention this?

Please clarify.

Thanks,
SRK
 
But, right after the Yes/No questions it says:

N-400 Form said:
If you answered "Yes" to any of Questions 15 through 21, complete the following table. If you need more space, use a separate sheet(s) of paper to give the same information.
Click to expand...

I took that to mean I was supposed to detail the information, but that I didn't need to send any supporting documentation about this with the form.
 
Flydog, Thanks for poining out that to me. You are very helpful..

I don't have the exact details for all my tickets(1 before GC, 2 after GC).

Can I go ahead and send the details (Fill the table on N400) to the best of knwledge now, and get the court disposition/DMV records later.

I am hoping I can correct if there is any major descripencies(mostly fine amount and date etc..) during the interview.

Please clarify!

Thanks a lot
SRK
 
Yes, that's my understanding of the "you don't need to send any documentation for non-dui, sub $500 traffic tickets" means.

I didn't even bring any "disposition" information to my interview, only a Texas driving record (that showed my last two infractions, showed what I had done to clear them up and that said my record was clean).

The IO never brought it up.
 
My form just said only put down tickets that were in excess fines of $500 or any that had drugs and alcohol involved. Since living in the US I've racked up a lot of speeding tickets throughout the country, but because none fell in the catagory, I didn't need to document them.

During my interview, he just asked if I had ever been to court, I told him yes, that one time where I lived it was mandatory to go to court for any speeding tickets. He just asked any drugs or alchohol and I said no, and that was it we moved on.

From what I've seen from laywers sites (the majority) and from my personal experience is that you only put down any speeding tickets that exceed the $500 and or drugs/alcohol.

If you feel safer though getting the court docs then go for it, in my experience I didn't need to...
 
Speeding Ticket question for N400

I am sure this topic is debated to death in these forums, but I am not able to get a proper response searching. I had a speeding ticket in 2002. I paid the fine ($145) to state of VA and it is done.

I think I know answers to 2 questions, please let me know how I should answer.

[15] have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested?

[NO]

[16] Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law
enforcement officer?

[YES, I was cited with a ticket]

[17] Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or offense?

[18] Have you ever been convicted of a crime or offense?

For 17 and 18, what should I put. Is ticket, citation a crime or offense ? If not the answer will be NO, otherwise whether we are charged or convicted for it. I am not sure how to interpret these questions.

Thanks!
 
I too had a few simple traffic tickets years ago. I answered the following.

15. yes (a speeding ticket IS an offense for which I was not arrested)
16. yes (yes I was given a citation for speeding)
17. no (a traffic ticket is not a charge unless you were arrested)
18. yes (yes I was convicted and fined for speeding in administrative court)

Do not consider this advice. I answered the questions based on MY understanding of them.
 
speeding tickets

I have had 3 speeding tickets so far, but didn't mention in my N400 as they have mentioned it in guide that if the ticket is less than 500 and not a DUI, it shud be ok. i was planning to get my driving record from dmv as i dont have the ticket receipts to the interview. What else can i do to correct this mistake.
thanks
 
I answered no to all questions except the "citation" question. I listed my tickets in explanation of my "yes".

But, I included no documentation about the tickets (since they were <<$500 and non-dui) with the N-400.

No one agrees what the right thing to do is here.
 
Flydog said:
I answered no to all questions except the "citation" question. I listed my tickets in explanation of my "yes".
Click to expand...

I also agree with your response now that I think traffic citation is not a crime or offense. If we a previous poster mentioned, citation is an offense then last two questions will be yes. I will also go with citation yes, and rest no. I have all paperwork and letter from the court that I paid the ticket in full. As you rightly mention, different people give different reasons.
 
desihai said:
I am sure this topic is debated to death in these forums, but I am not able to get a proper response searching. I had a speeding ticket in 2002. I paid the fine ($145) to state of VA and it is done.

I think I know answers to 2 questions, please let me know how I should answer.

[15] have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested?

[NO]

[16] Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law
enforcement officer?

[YES, I was cited with a ticket]

[17] Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or offense?

[18] Have you ever been convicted of a crime or offense?

For 17 and 18, what should I put. Is ticket, citation a crime or offense ? If not the answer will be NO, otherwise whether we are charged or convicted for it. I am not sure how to interpret these questions.

Thanks!
Click to expand...
[15] have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested?

[NO] [This is the correct answer].

[16] Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law
enforcement officer?

[YES, I was cited with a ticket] [This is the correct answer]

[17] Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or offense?
[No]

[18] Have you ever been convicted of a crime or offense?
[No]

Also please obtain all documentation pertaining to the ticket along with proof that the ticket was paid. Do this right away. If you do not have a copy of your ticket you can obtain a Court Certified copy for a few dollars. You MAY be asked for this during your interview.
 
I don't remember where I paid the fine as I moved to a different city. Do you think my driving record from DMV will help.
thanks
 
I never needed to write down any of my tickets as they weren't in excess of $500 and none had alcohol or drugs involved. Even though I have had quite a lot of speeding tickets since I've lived here, none qualified to be written down on the N-400 form. And was even told in the interview when asked if I ever went to court, I answered yes (it was mandatory at the time for all speeding tickets to go to court where I lived) and he said, I only need to know about any that were over $500 or included drugs/alcohol.

So my answer to that, just like the N-400 was no. Now I've been approved and have my oath ceremony comming up...
 
ajaz said:
I don't remember where I paid the fine as I moved to a different city. Do you think my driving record from DMV will help.
thanks
Click to expand...

you must remember where you send the fine, right? either a cancelled check or credit card statement will give clue. sometimes DMV record will not indicate any. in my case the virginia county did not pass the record to dmv,
 
traffic tickets question..help please

I never declared my traffic tickets in N400.

I had 2-minor violation tickets and 2-parking tickets, and all paid.

1.Traffic ticket in 97 in CA. I have a copy of my ticket. When I sent the copy to CA and asked them for payment proof, they sent me a letter saying ‘NO RECORD FOUND’

2.Parking ticket in 2001 in Newark. Paid, Newark traffic court has sent me ‘NO RECORD FOUND’ letter.

3.Minor violation ticket in 2002, paid and got the proof

4.Parking ticket in 2006, paid and got the proof


My question is, as I have not mentioned in form, if officer asks me about any traffic violations, what should I say? Your input is very welcome.
 
Chances are that if you haven't mentioned the traffic violations in the N400, they won't ask.

I had mentioned the one traffic violation (speeding) that i had in my N400. The officer asked me for proof of payment (which I didn't have). After checking with other officers, she let it go...

Interview was a breeze after that.

Good Luck.
 
If they are not drug or alcohol related incidents and they're not over $500 you don't need to worry about them at all. Only ones that have drug/alcohol and/or are over $500 needs to be mentioned in the N-400.

There are many topics on this. This is from my research and even asking at my own interview as to the correct proceedure...
 
Bring a complete list with you to your interview (and any proof you might have). If the IO asks says "I never realized that I needed to report these on my N-400 because of the '$500 or DUI' rule mentioned in the instructions. Someone later told me that I should have listed them out". Then produce the list.

If it never comes up, don't mention it.
 
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