Traffic tickets and naturalization (threads merged)

When I tried to search my ticket for amount owed, it says no amount due. Then I search the Ticket Status, it says online hearing is 'Admin granted claim' and balance is credit to Zero. Defense reason is just what I stated in this forum - State and Color of the vehicle is wrong. No trick at all.

Well...it's a small thing AFTER the fact that the issue is over...but it seems like people are sometimes....rather than telling the person what to do next, they are interested in giving moral lecture, suspecting the intention, arguing over something, or giving some sorts of negative inputs on this forum (I don't mean my case particularly). But overall, it's a great forum to give some insights here.

So go back to that N-400 form question -

1) "Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason?"
---> is it a "Yes" or "No" answer for me?
2) Ever means since the day you were born in this world, not just the 5 years time period??
3) Did they mean in USA only or includes other countries too??? (This one is just for curosity, I only had 1 ticket in my life)

Sometimes I feel this kind of question in the immigration form is confusing and it's all up to each individual on how they want to answer. In my opinion, questions should be very specific and should not be up to each individual's interpretation especially if it can cause someone to deny the application over small matter. It's sad to hear that people get denial because they did not disclose some small information.
 
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Many years ago, I think in 1992, I got a parking ticket in New York when I went there for a visit. At that time, I was a graduate student with very limited means. What I did was instead of paying the ticket, I wrote the judge a letter requesting him to waive the ticket. And guess what, a few days later, I got a notice from the court stating that the ticket was dismissed. I even took that notice to my local police station to make sure that the ticket was actually dismissed and was informed that it was.
MGM
 
I was also expecting them to send me a notice that they have already dismissed my ticket but I did not because that's what I asked for.
 
Traffic Tickets and naturalization

I do have some tickets, for more than two years (seatbelt, parking, but no speeding tickets), that I did not pay and I wondering if they have any negative affect upon the decision on my naturalization.

Thanks
 
you better pay it. I was asked about tickets and if they have been paid. Also asked about any outstanding debt(taxes etc) to government.
 
Enkur said:
you better pay it. I was asked about tickets and if they have been paid. Also asked about any outstanding debt(taxes etc) to government.
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Same here... they are not worried about those tickets.. they only want to make sure that you have paid them. My suggestion- don't lie to them and pay.
 
Pay ALL the tickets NOW. It is actually silly to entertain these infractions. You run the risk of getting arrested for these petty charges. And it WILL come up at the interview, and they will reject the application if you answer the question honestly.
 
Record for speeding tickets

Hi all.
I have 7 speeding tickets last 10 years. I know it's a lot.:eek:
The problem is, I don't exactly remember when I got each tickets. I roughly remember only year of each ticket.
So, I tried to get driving record from DMV and found there is only one record on DMV's driving record among 7 tickets. Do I have to contact each municipal court that I got tickets from? Unfortunately, I got those 7 tickets from 7 different cities. Moreover, one of them, I don't even remember the name of the town. It was speeding ticket that I got from some rural town while I was traveling. So, what should I do in this case?
Thanks in advance.

fuz
 
Are these in the same State you currently hold license?

If so, it should appear on your record. If it does not appear then probably officer did not submitted...

Why do care anyways? Just pay the one on your record.
 
Thank you for your answer, m ing.
Yes, they are all from the state that I am residing now, Texas.
Is it pretty common that local court not reporting to DMV as long as it is minor and all paid or dischraged? Just curious.
Thank you.
fuz
 
fuzzy said:
Thank you for your answer, m ing.
Yes, they are all from the state that I am residing now, Texas.
Is it pretty common that local court not reporting to DMV as long as it is minor and all paid or dischraged? Just curious.
Thank you.
fuz
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Are all your tickets under $500 and not related to DWI? You mentioned that they are all speeding, so I assume no alcohol was involved. If you can't locate records of some of your tickets, you may want to consider not disclosing them. I've had numerous minor traffic tickets that I didn't disclose. As you can see, my application was approved and I have my oath coming up in about 3 weeks. The USCIS really doesn't care about traffic tickets, unless the fine is over $500 and the violation is DWI/DUI/reckless driving.
 
They only want to make sure that you have paid for your tickets if you tell them you have tickets. In my case I said I have couple of speeding tickets... she asked me when did I get the ticket, I gave her the year and she marked 'No' in question 16, wrote 2 speeding tickets next to it and year. I did have records from court that i had paid for the tickets, but she did not look at it. However, I know a person whose case was delayed... she had not paid for the ticket then and was waiting for the court date... the interviewer asked her to get the court paper that she paid and re-scheduled the interview... she lost 3 months of her Citizen life. So be prepared to show that you have paid for the tickets if you are going to tell them about the tickets and you should. You might get ticket info from websites... some of the courts put records in website and that even say when was ticket paid and how much was it. And yeah they really don't care of any tickets with fine below $500 unless they are for reckless/DUI/DWI.
 
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What to do if you are in the foll. situation.

Driving record shows no tickets (clean history). But you had received tickets some 8 years (These have been paid and dont show up in the driving record, may be because driving record show only 5 years on data).

During the interview, if an IO asks you about traffic tickets, do you tell him/her 'I have received NO TICKETS'??

Thanks
ncc
 
I had 5 or 6 tickets in the last 16 years in the U.S. Since the DMV records of non-alchohol citations in my state (Utah) go back only three years, only one of those tickets showed up on the record.

Nonetheless I mentioned them all with approximate dates, attached (on a separate sheet) an explanation to the effect that (1) I do not remember all the dates and even cities where I received those tickets, (2) none of the tickets were over $500 or involved DUIs, and (3) that my answer to this question is to the best of my remembrance.

I do not have an interview date yet, but I will post here what happens. I did obtain the DMV record and a print-out from one of the courts of the most recent citation (which was still on my record).
 
ncc said:
During the interview, if an IO asks you about traffic tickets, do you tell him/her 'I have received NO TICKETS'??
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Tought one. I'd say (as I did) try to get papers from as many courts you could locate (related to you tickets you paid) - if you can't remember exact city/court, call all vicinity and ask them to search by you last name, DL number, car licence plate.

This is what I did for my 14 tickets (speeding, parking, u-turn, stop-sign, etc) - the only 1 I couldn't find was 2001 parking ticket for which (luckily!) I have paid with check and BOfA gave me copy of my check that says "For: parking ticket" and deposited by Parking Dept (but all my calls to all kind of parking authorities in that area produced no result - no record)

On top of that, many courts in California (may be other states as well) destroys records about minor traffic violations after 3/4/5 years - I had to INSIST that Santa Barbara court gives me paper saying I don't owe any outstanding ticket fees because they no longer had me in system (3 year purge)

So, gather ALL you can, get printout from DMV and when you be asked to "say truth and nothing but the truth" that these are the only tickets "to the best of you knowledge" you have ever had, because you tried your best and could not find proof of existence of any other tickets.

PS. Yes, I'm going with lawyer on my N-400 Interview. 14 traffic tickets is too much for me to handle alone :)
 
I'm in the same boat as you man. Applied in Feb 2007. Missed FP, got it done later in Jan 2008. Still waiting for IL. I guess I cannot be a citizen before presidential election.
ncc
 
i had numerous tickets, even a reckless (went to court knocked down to careless)....didn't dislcose even one ticket since they were all under 500 bucks...i got my citizenship no problem.

like the military. don't ask don't tell
 
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