Traffic tickets and naturalization (threads merged)

Hi All, I'm due to file form N400 next year but yesterday night I got a traffic ticket for "disobeying pavement marking". To be honest, I didn't see the marking until it was too late and there was no how I could swerve to the left and 3 other cars in front of me went tstraight ahead without turning.

I live in NYC, the incident happened on Atlantic and Pennslyvania Avenue. The last two left lanes are marked left only but the second one goes straight. When I was issued the ticket the officer said I should plead not guilty in court.

I have never had a moving offense before, I have had many parking tickets which I pay promptly but this is my first time. I completed the 5hr class like 2 months ago - didn't ever think I would have a moving offense as I try really hard to obey all traffic rules especially because I know I'll be filing my N400 soon.

My question is, should I get a lawyer and plead "not guilty"? If I do and lose, would it be bad on my driving record? If I do and I win, is it still going to be on my driving record. Should I just go ahead and plead guilty because I read the back of the ticket and it says that I might pay and additional fee if I'm found guilty. I'm scared the additional fee might bring the amount over $500, I'm just speculating here as I don't know how these things work or how much it is.

Could someone please advise me on what to do, the incident happened like 9pm last night and I can't sleep a wink because I don't want any problems with my N400 processing.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Mo
 
Last edited by a moderator:
According to the chart found on the DMV website (http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/broch/c49.htm), this is a two point violation. Since this is your first offense, the fine shouldn't be more than $150, including surcharge. It definitely will not be anywhere near $500.

The police officer will always tell you to plead not guilty in traffic court. However, you'll almost always be found guilty, unless you have a concrete defense. Unfortunately, not seeing the markings until it was too late is not a good enough defense. I would highly suggest getting a good traffic lawyer and having him argue your case. In New York, any violation that carries points will most certainly result in an increase of your insurance premiums for the next 3-5 years. If you are found not guilty, the ticket will still appear on your driving record for the next three years. However, the disposition will say dismissed, meaning that you will have no points and your insurance company will not be able to increase your premiums. Moreover, this will not affect your N-400. Don't even worry about it. The USCIS doesn't care about minor traffic tickets.

thankfull said:
Hi All, I'm due to file form N400 next year but yesterday night I got a traffic ticket for "disobeying pavement marking". To be honest, I didn't see the marking until it was too late and there was no how I could swerve to the left and 3 other cars in front of me went tstraight ahead without turning.

I live in NYC, the incident happened on Atlantic and Pennslyvania Avenue. The last two left lanes are marked left only but the second one goes straight. When I was issued the ticket the officer said I should plead not guilty in court.

I have never had a moving offense before, I have had many parking tickets which I pay promptly but this is my first time. I completed the 5hr class like 2 months ago - didn't ever think I would have a moving offense as I try really hard to obey all traffic rules especially because I know I'll be filing my N400 soon.

My question is, should I get a lawyer and plead "not guilty"? If I do and lose, would it be bad on my driving record? If I do and I win, is it still going to be on my driving record. Should I just go ahead and plead guilty because I read the back of the ticket and it says that I might pay and additional fee if I'm found guilty. I'm scared the additional fee might bring the amount over $500, I'm just speculating here as I don't know how these things work or how much it is.

Could someone please advise me on what to do, the incident happened like 9pm last night and I can't sleep a wink because I don't want any problems with my N400 processing.

Thanks in advance for your help.
Mo
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Vorpal, I really appreciate your help.

Since you said I'm almost likely to be found guilty in court, is there any reason in employing the services of a lawyer since its not guaranteed that I will the case.

Should I give disclosure of this on my form when I fill my N400 form regardless of outcome of the case?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
thankfull said:
Thanks Vorpal, I really appreciate your help.

Since you said I'm almost likely to be found guilty in court, is there any reason in employing the services of a lawyer since its not guaranteed that I will the case.

Should I give disclosure of this on my form when I fill my N400 form regardless of outcome of the case?
Click to expand...

I sent you a PM (private message).
 
My wife and I are planning to apply for naturalization shortly. I have a couple of minor speeding tickets (which I don't plan to disclose on the N-400).
My wife, however, had 2 Careless Driving (not Reckless Driving) violations in May '06 and Oct. '07. In both cases she got a ticket ($150 or less), and 2 pts. on her license. Both times, the points were reduced by Safe / Defensive Driving Program. Should I disclose these violations on the N-400, or have my wife mention them, if asked at the interview.
Also, do we disclose incidents where there is a police report of an accident, but we were not given any ticket?

Thanks.
 
vetfrm78 said:
My wife and I are planning to apply for naturalization shortly. I have a couple of minor speeding tickets (which I don't plan to disclose on the N-400).
My wife, however, had 2 Careless Driving (not Reckless Driving) violations in May '06 and Oct. '07. In both cases she got a ticket ($150 or less), and 2 pts. on her license. Both times, the points were reduced by Safe / Defensive Driving Program. Should I disclose these violations on the N-400, or have my wife mention them, if asked at the interview.
Also, do we disclose incidents where there is a police report of an accident, but we were not given any ticket?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Whether or not to disclose traffic tickets is your choice. However, there's no need to report accidents.
 
I had my interview on Tue (12/29/09) - I mentioned all my traffic citations (including a parking ticket) on the application - two of those were accidents and two were speeding tickets. The AO asked if any of those involved DUI and I said no. The AO did not ask for any court dispositions or proof of payment. My interview was over in 15 min. and of course the application was recommended for approval. Waiting for the oath letter.
 
Tell me more about ur interview please

Did u send any proof of ur traffic ticket with ur application ?
thanks
 
No, I did not. I just listed out all the citations along with the status and didn't send any proof of payment with the N 400 application.
 
birdlove said:
Did u send any proof of ur traffic ticket with ur application ?
thanks
Click to expand...

For moving traffic tickets that you declare on the N400, you only need to submit documentation with your N-400 application in specific cases. Minor cases are exempt from documentation at N-400 submittal time:
M-476 Guide To Naturalization, page 8, Q7:
.... Note that unless a traffic incident was alcohol or drug related, you do not need to submit documentation for traffic fines and incidents that did not involve an actual arrest if the only penalty was a fine less than $500 and/or points on your driver’s license.​

It would of course behoove you to bring along all documentation for declared convictions to your actual interview, even if that documentation wasn't required for the *filing* of N-400.

And I do NOT intend to reopen the discussion if one declares or doesn't declare minor moving traffic convictions or not (those arguments have been exchanged enough already).
 
An update : IO took one look and the certified court disposition (NOLLE PROSEQUI) and said I was approved. This was a different IO though.

vrb747 said:
dsatish, I asked myself this question : "Can it create a problem later on in life if I dont disclose my reckless driving ticket ?" (the fine was well below $500, in fact I paid no fine since the charge was dropped, I just had to pay the lawyer his fee)

Also the IO made a big fuss about it.....and reclkless driving is a big deal in some states, which tells me that it was important enough to create a problem if they ever checked my citizenship file again and found that I had not disclosed it. I would rather deal with it now than have it come back to haunt me.

But I agree, anything less than reckless driving/DUI/DWI/arrest will probably not cause the same fuss.
Click to expand...
 
Hi,

I have 5 speeding warnings in the past, but I was never required to pay the fine. So the officer wrote me a "citation", but put the amount of fine as $0/-. I did NOT mention these citations on N400, and the 10-year driving record that I got from DMV does not mention them either. Is it a good idea to disclose them at the interview?

Also I got a parking ticket after I mailed the N400 form. I have paid the ticket, and have a receipt. Should I mention this ticket at the interview?
 
pb74 said:
Hi,

I have 5 speeding warnings in the past, but I was never required to pay the fine. So the officer wrote me a "citation", but put the amount of fine as $0/-. I did NOT mention these citations on N400, and the 10-year driving record that I got from DMV does not mention them either. Is it a good idea to disclose them at the interview?

Also I got a parking ticket after I mailed the N400 form. I have paid the ticket, and have a receipt. Should I mention this ticket at the interview?
Click to expand...

Don't mention the warnings. Technically, a citation requires a court appearance. Since you didn't appear in court, you don't need to disclose them. Parking tickets also don't need to be disclosed.
 
Hello Friends,

This forum has been great for supporting members with questions.

I am applying for N400. I have had two traffic tickets in Michigan one in 2004 and other in 2007. I paid the fine and had couple of points on my driving record. I didn't realize that I will ever need the citations and receipts. I threw them while cleaning the papers sometime back. So in short I have no proof of tickets or payment. I had paid it by credit card and can get the old statement showing the amount paid.

I am planning to report this on N400. I wanted to get the certified court disposition as people suggested in this forum and therefore I called the court, the Clerk that I talked to had no idea what is certified disposition is. She said she can send me register of actions. I requested it to with court seal since she said that after she put the court seal it becomes certified. My question is will it be enough during the interview if the officer asks me. I don't want to take any chances and unnecessary delay the process.

For other ticket, the court clerk said that she can send me certified court conviction. I assume this is same as certified court disposition.

My questions are:

1. Will just the register of action with court seal be enough?
2. Is certified court conviction same as certified court dispostion?
3. By not having actual citation and receipts showing the payment, will it be okay with the interview officer?

Would appreciate if someone can answer this?

Thank you,
 
So after all the wrangling about traffic ticket citations etc, here is what happened at my Interview today. (San Francisco DO so others may be different).

(Short version: Even USCIS doesn't have a set procedure on these. So this post does nothing to settle the traffic citation question. I'd still disclose my tickets if I had to do it all over again)

IO was asking several rapid fire questions and one was ... have you ever been arrested. I said No. She stopped and said that I had marked Yes on my application. I said that was for traffic citations.

She then started asking me about my traffic tickets. How many? (I have 5 over the last 18 years and so I had attached an additional sheet of paper), how many for speeding (3)? how many for DUI (none)? whether I had proof of payment etc. (I told her no, all were paid and I had a dmv printout to show that nothing was open)

So she marked the checkbox on the application as NO, (OK, so traffic doesn't count)
but then also wrote down "see attachment", check marked each of my listed citations, and attached my DMV record to the attachment.
(Hmm... so they do count???).
 
spach said:
Hello Friends,

This forum has been great for supporting members with questions.

I am applying for N400. I have had two traffic tickets in Michigan one in 2004 and other in 2007. I paid the fine and had couple of points on my driving record. I didn't realize that I will ever need the citations and receipts. I threw them while cleaning the papers sometime back. So in short I have no proof of tickets or payment. I had paid it by credit card and can get the old statement showing the amount paid.

I am planning to report this on N400. I wanted to get the certified court disposition as people suggested in this forum and therefore I called the court, the Clerk that I talked to had no idea what is certified disposition is. She said she can send me register of actions. I requested it to with court seal since she said that after she put the court seal it becomes certified. My question is will it be enough during the interview if the officer asks me. I don't want to take any chances and unnecessary delay the process.

For other ticket, the court clerk said that she can send me certified court conviction. I assume this is same as certified court disposition.

My questions are:

1. Will just the register of action with court seal be enough?
2. Is certified court conviction same as certified court dispostion?
3. By not having actual citation and receipts showing the payment, will it be okay with the interview officer?

Would appreciate if someone can answer this?

Thank you,
Click to expand...

In most cases the IO isn't going to pester you for proof of payment for traffic incidents < $500. So if you have a register of action from the court, take it with you. Don't worry about certified/not certified unless it is for traffic tickets > $500 or other non-traffic arrests.

Take the original and a copy and that should be sufficient.
 
pb74 said:
Vorpal,

I read your post again, and I have another question. I had forgotten to disclose the ticket on N400, do I need to get court disposition?
Click to expand...

Vorpal said:
Truthfully, I wouldn't bother disclosing it at the interview. Just in case, bring proof of payment with you. That way, in the extremely unlikely case where the IO specifically asks if you've had traffic tickets, you can say yes and show him the proof of payment.
Click to expand...

In the interview, IO asked about citations, and I mentioned the violation and $50 fine. He just smiled. I offered revised page of application. But he said something like, we are concerned about criminal activities, not about such small incidents. He did not take the page from me.

Vorpal, thanks for your help.
------

Btw this is in Boston - JFK building.
 
pb74 said:
In the interview, IO asked about citations, and I mentioned the violation and $50 fine. He just smiled. I offered revised page of application. But he said something like, we are concerned about criminal activities, not about such small incidents. He did not take the page from me.

Vorpal, thanks for your help.
------

Btw this is in Boston - JFK building.
Click to expand...

No problem. As GungaDin pointed out a couple of posts up (and as already has been discussed on this forum countless times), the USCIS doesn't have a set procedure when it comes to traffic tickets. However, I'm definitely with your IO on this one. USCIS is definitely concerned with criminal citations, not minor traffic tickets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top