Traffic tickets and naturalization (threads merged)

The simple answer is to get a court certified case disposition and take a copy along to the interview with you.

Hopefully you are not currently subject to any probation or deferred sentencing, as that type of thing would impact your ability to be naturalized.
 
The thing is I didnt really run, but the person changed the story to the cops and I got screwed. No, I am not subject to any probation or defered sentencing. I just had to pay a $100 fine and that was it. When I was asking for expungement of the incident from my records, they said that the infraction is minor and they dont even consider it for expungement.
 
califorever said:
The thing is I didnt really run, but the person changed the story to the cops and I got screwed. No, I am not subject to any probation or defered sentencing. I just had to pay a $100 fine and that was it. When I was asking for expungement of the incident from my records, they said that the infraction is minor and they dont even consider it for expungement.
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Expungement wouldn't help you because you'd still have to declare it to USCIS. Get the certified disposition and you'll be fine.
 
Oath & Traffic Ticket

I have a ticket with $100 + court Fee $55 fine which has been paid. I have the court disposition with 3 months supervision (a lawyer told me that's like a slap on wrist) and proof or payemnt. The ticket was failure to execercise due care. I have also travelled out of the country since my Interview so i will be anwering YES to 2 Questions the N-445. Should be worried?
 
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I have a ticket with $100 + court Fee $55 fine which has been paid. I have the court disposition with 3 months supervision (a lawyer told me that's like a slap on wrist) and proof or payemnt. The ticket was failure to execercise due care.
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Take your proof of Payment with you and check YES to #4.

I have also travelled out of the country since my Interview so i will be anwering YES to 2 Questions the N-445.
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Yes you have to check YES to #2 and just take your Passport with you as proof.

Should be worried?
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As long as you didn't exceed the "timelines" given to you by the USCIS you should be fine.
Remember ... you are not out of the "blue" until you have your Natz Certificate. That is why they ask you. At your Interview they see where, when and how long you have been out of the country but since it can take years or month to get your Oath Letter they just want to double cross it with your file that you had at you Interview

That's my guess but I don't see a need to worry, how long were you gone for ?
 
Interview and traffic tickets

For those of you who already had your interviews, did the IO specifically ask you if you had any “traffic tickets” during your interviews?

I attached a copy of my DMV record to my N-400 as I could not see any question mentioning “traffic tickets” in the entire application. I have proof of payment for the tickets (all minor traffic tickets). At what point during the interview should I show that to the IO?

suresh_colo
 
I had a speeding ticket. I sent a copy with my N-400 and took the original with to the Interview and was never ask for it but each and every IO is different !
 
boatbod said:
Some do, some don't. Better to be prepared than wish you'd had extra documents with you.
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I do have all the documentation, but my question is: if the IO does not ask me anything specific about "traffic tickets" should I volunteer this information?

As I said before, I have not seen the words "traffic ticket" anywhere on the n-400 form and, therefore, I did include a copy of my DMV record with my application just to be on the safe side and to demonstrate truthfulness by not hiding any piece of information.
 
Do not volunteer anything. Just wait and see what he/she asks for and you provide the right Information and Proof of whatever is being ask for. If he comes to the Part about Question # 15 in the good moral character section where it ask have you ever commited a crime or offense for which you were not arrested then you can ask him does my Traffic Ticket count. And since you have proof of payment and stuff you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
 
Ladybuggy said:
Do not volunteer anything. Just wait and see what he/she asks for and you provide the right Information and Proof of whatever is being ask for. If he comes to the Part about Question # 15 in the good moral character section where it ask have you ever commited a crime or offense for which you were not arrested then you can ask him does my Traffic Ticket count. And since you have proof of payment and stuff you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
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This seems to be one of the most frequently occurring predicaments in the naturalization process. I didn't indicate traffic tickets either, because the guide and the instructions explicitly stated that no proof of traffic tickets is necessary, as long as the offenses weren't DUI/DWI and the fine was less than $500. After joining this forum, I decided to play it safe and obtain proof of payment for as many tickets as I could. I was considering bringing an updated N-400 page, with "YES" checked off for the "Have you ever been cited..." question. Now I'm reading this thread, and everyone says not to volunteer any information. So here's the final question: should I or shouldn't I voluntarily disclose information about traffic tickets?
 
I would say go to local DMV in your county and ask for you driving record. They charge $12 and print out a complete report and give it to you right away. Its better to keep it with you at the time of interview but like everyone said, do not volunteer.
 
i believe you have to report every ticket over 200, if under dont worry about it. i got a ticket after my interview but before my oath, i had to disclose that, but they didnt care.
 
Vorpal said:
because the guide and the instructions explicitly stated that no proof of traffic tickets is necessary, as long as the offenses weren't DUI/DWI and the fine was less than $500.
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N400, part D, question 16 specifically asks Have you "ever" been cited, above it says you must answer "Yes" even if your records were sealed/cleared or if anyone including a judge....

basically answering no would be misrepresentation of facts, you may not have any problem now but believe it or not most post GC and citizenship deportations years later are based on the fact that facts were misrepresented.

Traffic ticket is a minor issue, I had total of eight during 1991-2008, I listed them all, i'll let you all know how it goes with the interview, also guide says you do not need to include the proof, it does not say you do not need to report, see above "Yes"
 
lextran said:
Traffic ticket is a minor issue, I had total of eight during 1991-2008, I listed them all, i'll let you all know how it goes with the interview, also guide says you do not need to include the proof, it does not say you do not need to report, see above "Yes"
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Even though the guide says no proof needs to be included, we've all read many posts where interviewees were asked for proof, regardless of how small or insignificant the fine was. As I've mentioned earlier, I obtained proof of payment/court dispositions for as many traffic tickets as I could. I'd much rather bring an attache case full of paperwork to the interview than not bring anything and have the interview rescheduled. However, the USCIS really needs to establish a uniform rule that applies to traffic tickets. If the only tickets that require proof are DUI/DWI and over $500, then those should be the only tickets for which proof is demanded during the interview.
 
lextran said:
N400, part D, question 16 specifically asks Have you "ever" been cited, above it says you must answer "Yes" even if your records were sealed/cleared or if anyone including a judge....
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I've read the application multiple times and none of the questions on the entire application mentions the words "traffic tickets". You may argue as much as you want that "being cited" and "traffic tickets" are the same thing. They may be for some people, maybe lawyers. I believe the majority of people are neither lawyers nor are they supposed to be familiar with legal jargon.

So this really creates room for misinterpretation, but in no way this would be misrepresentation - no one should be penalized for confused unintelligible language.
My interpretation is that if there were really an interest in knowing information about traffic tickets one of the question on the form would be, "Have you ever had a traffic ticket?". And that's just not the case.
My bet is that the YES would be close to 100% if the question was really related to traffic tickets.
I personally do not know any American citizen who never had a traffic ticket - and I know a lot of people :)

If you go back to the original question you will see that it is related to "volunteering" information.
 
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Vorpal said:
the USCIS really needs to establish a uniform rule that applies to traffic tickets. If the only tickets that require proof are DUI/DWI and over $500, then those should be the only tickets for which proof is demanded during the interview.
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could'nt agree with u anymore, unfortunately USCIS does not care about the misery and the agony that we go through, and hopefully once this is over we will not have to worry about it either.
 
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