Traffic tickets and naturalization (threads merged)

webcam said:
Since it was my first ticket, went to court, paid fine, and it was taken off the record.

If you contact the Court, they should have a record of the final disposition.
 
It's always best to tell the truth, so, yes, that's what I'd do (list it, say you tried to get information and couldn't get any). If you have had one ticket, it was less than a lot, and it wasn't a DUI, I can't imagine it being much of an issue
 
nanobot said:
If you contact the Court, they should have a record of the final disposition.

So, what kind of document regarding a traffic violation (a ticket) we should bring to the IV? Is it a record of the final disposition, showing that we have paid the fine and the case has been dismissed? I was just wondering when we contact the court, how should we ask for such kind of proofs?
 
citi07 said:
So, what kind of document regarding a traffic violation (a ticket) we should bring to the IV? Is it a record of the final disposition, showing that we have paid the fine and the case has been dismissed? I was just wondering when we contact the court, how should we ask for such kind of proofs?

I think it's called a certified court disposition.
 
Yes, it is called a Certified Court Disposition. The court where you ticket was processed can give it to you. It will cost $10.00-$20.00.
 
traffic ticket report

Hi,

I got a traffic ticket (very minor violation, less than $100) in June, 2005. The only thing I can remember about this accident is the place it happened, and I have lost all the documents about it, such a the receipt for the fine. I am considerring to get a court disposition report and a payment statement from the court. But I don't know where to contact. Does anybody have a good idea on where to start?

Thanks in advance.
 
As per the revised naturalisation guide you no need worry about the documentation for your case.

As per that,no need to provide any documenatation if the trafic ticket is not DUI or drugs and not involved in arrest and fines are less than $500.

Please refer the question 7 of the FAQ.
http://www.immigration.com/newsletter1/newguidenat.pdf

But I am not sure whether we need to report on the N400 form or not. I hear the contradicting openions for this on this forum

Experts please comment!!

--SRK
 
A very minor violation should not be an issue. How you get a court disposition is a very strong function of where you got the ticket. Have you phoned the police department of the town you got the ticket in (or the city/town hall). If it was a state trooper, have you visited the appropriate web site.

If you want more advice, you are really going to need to include the locality/state where this occured.
 
Typically you should go to the traffic court having jurisdiction over the location of the offense/accident. I'd imagine you could verify this by calling the courthouse or town hall of the closest large town.
 
A lawyer said you don't need to put it into your N-400. However, you yourself make the final decision.
 
This issue has had endless discussion on this forum. Do a search to read some of the debate.

Two threads you might want to look at are:

http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=225902 and

http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=223211&highlight=traffic+tickets+poll (remember to check the poll itself on this one)

It is clearly a very ambiguous subject as neither the lawyers nor participants in this forum (incl. many who have been thru' the process) can agree.

I assumed that "the whole truth" was the best way to go and reported about five "minor" traffic violations (no arrests, "small" fines) that occurred between about 1984 - 2004. I have no documentation for any of them but have not yet been thru' the interview process.
 
The answer to this is simple about traffic tickets. I just researched and wondered why it was such a big deal, it was simple when I filed in Oct. That's where it came in.

The N-400 was edited on Nov 1st. The new form states you need to document everything (including traffic violations). The old N-400 prior to Nov 1st, tells you not to put down traffic violations like speeding if it did not deal with drugs or alcohol.

On the USCIS website, they mention they are taken the new N-400 form and will still accept the older version of the N-400. So if you don't want to go throug the hassle about your traffic tickets, see if you can find a prior to Nov 1/2006 N-400 on the web and you won't have to worry about it.

This should now clear up the thing about traffic tickets and the N-400.

The answer of do I need to put speeding tickets down or not is simple. It depends on which version of the N-400 you are using. If post Nov1/2006 then the answer is yes. If it's the prior (still acceptable) version, then the answer is no. You're choice on which form to use (if you can find the older one out there).

I should make a topic to clear this up...
 
N-400 and Traffic Violations: N-400 was Amended Nov 1st

Been seeing way too many posts on this in other boards as well. I did the research and yes the answer is confusing, it all depends on which form you use.

The N-400 was edited on Nov 1st/2006. The new form states you need to document everything (including traffic violations). The old N-400 prior to Nov 1st/2006 (which I used), tells you not to put down traffic violations like speeding if it did not deal with drugs or alcohol.

On the USCIS website, they mention they are taking the new N-400 form and will still accept the older version of the N-400. So if you don't want to go through the hassle about your traffic tickets, see if you can find a prior to Nov 1/2006 N-400 on the web and you won't have to worry about it.

This should now clear up the thing about traffic tickets and the N-400.

The answer of do I need to put speeding tickets down or not is simple. It depends on which version of the N-400 you are using. If post Nov1/2006 then the answer is yes. If it's the prior (still acceptable) version, then the answer is no. You're choice on which form to use (if you can find the older one out there).

In my case I downloaded and sent in my N-400 in mid Oct (the old form), so I didn't have to do anything about it, and I'm thinking many people here are using the new forms now, many of us didn't realize they changed the N-400 just recently.

Hope this clears up the traffic violations information. I got the amendment date from the USCIS...
 
This is what I did....

I had 2 tickets in AZ about 10 years ago. I didnt remember exact dates and place. I Called AZ DMV and almost 10 circuit courts but no one had my records. Finally, I went ahead and put approximate details of both the tickets on N400.

During Interview IO asked me how many tickets I got and I said 5 (I had records for other 3). She didnt ask me anything else.

I think this matter is very subjective. But I believe in precaution so I went ahead put everything I knew about my 5 tickets.


This is my personal experience... Please do not take it as legal or expert advise.
 
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warlord said:
Been seeing way too many posts on this in other boards as well. I did the research and yes the answer is confusing, it all depends on which form you use.

The N-400 was edited on Nov 1st/2006. The new form states you need to document everything (including traffic violations). The old N-400 prior to Nov 1st/2006 (which I used), tells you not to put down traffic violations like speeding if it did not deal with drugs or alcohol.

On the USCIS website, they mention they are taking the new N-400 form and will still accept the older version of the N-400. So if you don't want to go through the hassle about your traffic tickets, see if you can find a prior to Nov 1/2006 N-400 on the web and you won't have to worry about it.

This should now clear up the thing about traffic tickets and the N-400.

The answer of do I need to put speeding tickets down or not is simple. It depends on which version of the N-400 you are using. If post Nov1/2006 then the answer is yes. If it's the prior (still acceptable) version, then the answer is no. You're choice on which form to use (if you can find the older one out there).

In my case I downloaded and sent in my N-400 in mid Oct (the old form), so I didn't have to do anything about it, and I'm thinking many people here are using the new forms now, many of us didn't realize they changed the N-400 just recently.

Hope this clears up the traffic violations information. I got the amendment date from the USCIS...

This is not quite true. The removal of the "excluding traffic tickets" from the N400 form happened more than 3 years ago (in 2003 or about). I know that for sure. I mailed my application in May 2006 and the latest form at that time was the exact same as the current one.
 
That's interesting because the form I downloaded of the USCIS website in Oct did not have that at all. Mine stated to exclude any minor traffic violations except ones that involved drugs and or alcohol. Never was brought up at the interview either.

So in that case, not sure how many variations of the form there are. Like I said, my N-400 I downloaded in Oct, was different then this one and I was not required to submit any speeding tickets at all.

Could be they just reverted to an older N-400 one that possibly was around 3 years ago and was the same as the one you had used...
 
Alex_I said:
This is not quite true. The removal of the "excluding traffic tickets" from the N400 form happened more than 3 years ago (in 2003 or about). I know that for sure. I mailed my application in May 2006 and the latest form at that time was the exact same as the current one.

I agree. Certainly the N-400 that I downloaded from USCIS in Feb 2006 required listing all tickets. The only concession is you don't have to provide court disposition documentation for fines under $500 that do not involve alcohol or drugs.
 
warlord said:
Been seeing way too many posts on this in other boards as well. I did the research and yes the answer is confusing, it all depends on which form you use.

The N-400 was edited on Nov 1st/2006. The new form states you need to document everything (including traffic violations). The old N-400 prior to Nov 1st/2006 (which I used), tells you not to put down traffic violations like speeding if it did not deal with drugs or alcohol.

On the USCIS website, they mention they are taking the new N-400 form and will still accept the older version of the N-400. So if you don't want to go through the hassle about your traffic tickets, see if you can find a prior to Nov 1/2006 N-400 on the web and you won't have to worry about it.

This should now clear up the thing about traffic tickets and the N-400.

The answer of do I need to put speeding tickets down or not is simple. It depends on which version of the N-400 you are using. If post Nov1/2006 then the answer is yes. If it's the prior (still acceptable) version, then the answer is no. You're choice on which form to use (if you can find the older one out there).

In my case I downloaded and sent in my N-400 in mid Oct (the old form), so I didn't have to do anything about it, and I'm thinking many people here are using the new forms now, many of us didn't realize they changed the N-400 just recently.

Hope this clears up the traffic violations information. I got the amendment date from the USCIS...

I don't know which form I used. How could I find it out?

Thanks.
 
I looked at the N400 form that I used to file my application and it had an expiration date of 10/26/05 and it did not state "excluding traffic tickets".

The form that I used looks exactly the same as the form USCIS has on their website now (with an revision date of 11/01/06 and expiration date of 10/31/07).
 
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warlord said:
That's interesting because the form I downloaded of the USCIS website in Oct did not have that at all. Mine stated to exclude any minor traffic violations except ones that involved drugs and or alcohol. Never was brought up at the interview either.

So in that case, not sure how many variations of the form there are. Like I said, my N-400 I downloaded in Oct, was different then this one and I was not required to submit any speeding tickets at all.

Could be they just reverted to an older N-400 one that possibly was around 3 years ago and was the same as the one you had used...

Could you post a copy of this form ?
 
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