Traffic tickets and naturalization (threads merged)

[rjackal]

Good idea about the driving record; I did the same thing. In Michigan, you can order your driving record from the DMV website for $8. (a.k.a Secretary of State)

 

[gc_two_citizen]

Good idea about the driving record; I did the same thing. In Michigan, you can order your driving record from the DMV website for $8. (a.k.a Secretary of State)

If your DMV record does not show any citations or points, would it be safe to answer the question "No, never been cited" although you received one and paid the fine by engaging an attorney?

 

[rjackal]

If your DMV record does not show any citations or points, would it be safe to answer the question "No, never been cited" although you received one and paid the fine by engaging an attorney?

In my opinion, going by my interview letter, it is safe to answer "No" as long as the traffic incident was not alcohol or drug related, and did not involve serious personal injury.

 

[allaboutgc]

I have a question. After the interviewing officer review the ticket payment receipt and/or the court disposition, does the officer keep those receipts or court documents? Or the officer will return the receipts/documents to the applicant?

In my opinion, going by my interview letter, it is safe to answer "No" as long as the traffic incident was not alcohol or drug related, and did not involve serious personal injury.

 

[daniyatom]

I have a question. After the interviewing officer review the ticket payment receipt and/or the court disposition, does the officer keep those receipts or court documents? Or the officer will return the receipts/documents to the applicant?

ironic that they warned us because our complaints about a troll.

from my experience, the officer keeps the receipts. they usually want originals or certified copies, FYI. And don't declare anything unless your traffic ticket is $500 or more.

 

[allaboutgc]

The dillemma is, if we state no in the form, if the officer asks about the same question in the interview, shall we answer yes (there are traffic tickets) or shall we say no (the same as in the form)? I think this is a $10k question.

In my opinion, going by my interview letter, it is safe to answer "No" as long as the traffic incident was not alcohol or drug related, and did not involve serious personal injury.

 

[Bobsmyth]

The dillemma is, if we state no in the form, if the officer asks about the same question in the interview, shall we answer yes (there are traffic tickets) or shall we say no (the same as in the form)? I think this is a $10k question.

If you answered no on the form, and then yes at interview you'd better be prepared to explain the discrepancy. Best to keep your responses consistent between form and interview to avoid further scrutiny.

 

[zeckej]

I read a whole lot about this on this and other forums. Here is what I ended up doing:

I checked yes for the "cited" question, and added a separate sheet and listed my five traffic tickets: ticket #, why, where and outcome. They were all minor tickets.

In the interview, the officer was speeding up through the questions, and I was replying "no-no-no" and when she came up to the "have you ever cited" question, I said "yes, I attached a list of my tickets"

She asked if I paid all my tickets. "yes"
"is your driver license valid and good?" "yes"

she moved on, didn't ask any paper, and that was it.

My two cents: if you got tickets, check yes on the "cited" question and mention them in the interview.

Hope it helps. best of luck everyone.

 

[cmaulana2000]

cmaulana2000

Hi ALL,

I am panic about what happened to me.

On N-400 form one question is
"Have you ever been arrested,cited or detained by any law enforcement officer?"

I answered "NO" because I did not know that "CITED" means "Driving Ticket" too. Actually I supposed to answer "Yes".

I got that Traffic ticket/ driving ticket 3 years ago before filing my N-400 application.

I passed my Citizenship interview 5 months ago & waiting for oath ceremony letter.

At interview when the officer went all over the N-400 application , he did not ask me about traffic ticket.

Traffic ticket was "Improper left turn & I lost 2 points"
******
After getting my US citizenship (after oath), IF BCIS FIND OUT LATER THAT I LIED(it was not intentional, I did not know) on N-400, then WILL they REVOKE my CITIZENSHIP.

WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW???????????????????

It was not your fault, you did not know, you are already a citizen, drive save and stay a way from trouble,

 

[voraap]

Purged "Failure to card" case / N400

When I was 17, I was a cashier at a gas station and accidentally sold alcohol to a minor (Failure to card). This was an ABC trap and charges were filed against me in juvenile court. Case was dismissed due to my school academic record and due to the fact that it was an honest mistake. This was 10 years ago and now that I am filing my N400, I called all 3 courts in the county (District, circuit and juvenile) to get a certified disposition on the case but they say that since the case was dismissed and I've been good, they purge all such juvenile records 5 years after I turn 19. So, 3 years ago, they threw out all records about this case and according to them, it no longer existence. There is no way they're giving me a disposition for this but they're telling me there is absolutely no record of that case anywhere. Would I still report that on my N400? To the immigration officer during the interview?

 

[Vorpal]

When I was 17, I was a cashier at a gas station and accidentally sold alcohol to a minor (Failure to card). This was an ABC trap and charges were filed against me in juvenile court. Case was dismissed due to my school academic record and due to the fact that it was an honest mistake. This was 10 years ago and now that I am filing my N400, I called all 3 courts in the county (District, circuit and juvenile) to get a certified disposition on the case but they say that since the case was dismissed and I've been good, they purge all such juvenile records 5 years after I turn 19. So, 3 years ago, they threw out all records about this case and according to them, it no longer existence. There is no way they're giving me a disposition for this but they're telling me there is absolutely no record of that case anywhere. Would I still report that on my N400? To the immigration officer during the interview?

This is not a traffic ticket, so I would suggest posting this elsewhere in the forum. You're more likely to get a response if you do so.

 

[rajibdas0869]

Getting info about past traffic citations

I am about to apply for n400. Given the debate on whether to include minor traffic citations in the form or not - I am not sure what I will do. I realized however that I have a more basic problem - I have no recollection of past traffic tickets all of which were minor, non-DUI related and less than $500 - and they were all more than 3 years in the past. I am not sure how and where to go to get the info. Would appreciate your help.

I paid online to get my driver record which really has nothing in it and says amongst other things - Departmental Actions: None; Convictions: None; Failures to Appear: None; Accidents: None".

So the driver's record does not give me the info on past history of traffic citations. What does and how to get it?

I am in California.

Thanks for your help.

 

[GreenCardVirus]

Just getting on-board for tracking (NJ)

 

[stinger]

Hello All

I am about to file for my citizenship. Before that I want to travel to my home country.
I had a DUI some 10 years ago. I am going to of course disclose that. I have disclosed that during my VISA extensions and GC application etc.

Few months back while I was driving, I might have gone through the red light in the night. There was lot of commotion on the street, cops cars (marked and unmarked) parked there. By the time I realized I was running through the red light it was late. The cameras clicked from front and back. But I haven't got any ticket in post or anything. It has been more than 6 months now. Also the car I bought was brand new. I had got the permanent license plate that day, so I had my temporary license also still sticking in the rear window.

Please let me know if I travel outside and comeback if there will be any issue during entry, like unpaid ticket, warrant out etc.
I plan to do below
1) Call my local municipal court and see if I have any unpaid ticket
2) But the location where this happened is not my county (but with the same big city). So will my local country still be able to pull any such ticket.
3) I did not yet get the title for that car yet at that time, so not sure if my car dealer got the ticket and didn't bother?
4) Else walk to a local police station and ask them to see if I have any outstanding tickets?

Please advise on how I should proceed here, my trip to home country sort of came up in a hurry and have to make it and am not feeling any good that I let this go for 6 months or so. I just assumed the ticket would come or if not, nothing happened (like that day the street was totally busy, maybe I did not run the red light, I stopped and drove slowly through the red light)

In my last 2 trips when I reentered on my GC, they took me to the other room and checked something at immigration check. Of course I told them I had a DUI 10 yrs back. They let me go. I want to be absolutely sure, I do not complicate my re-entry even more this time by giving impression/suspicion that I evaded a ticket (and arrest warrant out)

 

[ipulaski]

Please kindly provide some advice on my following situation with supporting documents of proof:

1 . I had a citation/ticket in the past for selling alcohol to minor. No arrest or detention or charges filed. Paid Fine in the courthouse. I have the original citation and the receipt of fine I paid in the court house. The issue is that the original citation was filled by the inspecting officer with pencil and has faded away over the years and is not completely 100% readable. The receipt of fine payment is a print out and is in perfect condition.

When I call the court house for a certified copy or some proof of the original citation, they cannot find any record of it. The citation original with me do not have any citation number in it.
I got a letter from USCIS asking to bring the originals of both citation and disposition in legit readable condition.

Is this going to be an issue if I take what I have since the court cannot find my record anymore?


--I mistakenly entered different date in the application than what was on citation for the date of citation. Is this going to be an issue if I tell the IO upfront that I made a mistake on the date?

in my application, i clearly wrote it is a citation and Paid fees. But the letter I got says: "You have Indicated that you have been arrested in your application"

-- is this a general statement for any arrest/charges/citation/violations listed in the application or do I need to contact USCIS or do something to get this corrected?



2. For proof of residence in the past 3 years, the letter I got tells to bring original receipts of rent, utilities for the past 3 years. Does my lease document originals and an original letter from my landlord stating that I resided at that address together with some utilitiy statements I have ( not the receipts) suffice or do I absolutely need to have receipts as mentioned in the letter I got from USCIS?


Thank you so much for the feedback.

 

[StillPatient]

A few questions regarding tickets

Hi All,

Feels nice to get back to these forums after almost 5 years, since I got my GC. Starting to do my research

1. Do I have to mention about tickets within the last five years only or since I got license in this country?

2. I have a Parking ticket as well Do I have to mention that as well? (I was told by the citing officer that a Parking ticket does have associated points)?

3. I have an a out-of-state speeding violation, caught on a camera, paid the fine over the phone. Do I have to mention this in my application? The reason for this question is that my state DMV record might have this.

Here are the violations that my wife & I have:
Wife:
1. At fault accident in Office parking-lot: Aug.-2008
Me:
1. Speeding ticket Sept./Oct. 2005
2. Speeding ticket thru Traffic camera, out-off-State(in AZ, We live in GA) April-2008
3. Parking ticket Aug./Sept. 2009
4. Speeding ticket March/April. 2010

None of them involved DUI.

 

[cnusgccs]

Parking ticket/citation - do i need to declare them in N400?

Parking ticket/citation (not traffic ticket)- do i need to declare them in N400?

 

[juliegoten]

12 years ago traffic tickets way before I got Green Card

I have 1 or 2 traffic tickets before I have Green Card. Those tickets are more than 12 years ago. Also I got it at the outside of my current living state. I couldn't remember the date or year. How can I fill the N 400 for such issue?

Should I really fill these tickets even I don't know clearly?

 

[juliegoten]

How you got all those date for your traffic citation or tickets? Not sure whether there is a place you can find out all your past traffic tickets or citations history?

Hi All,

Feels nice to get back to these forums after almost 5 years, since I got my GC. Starting to do my research

1. Do I have to mention about tickets within the last five years only or since I got license in this country?

2. I have a Parking ticket as well Do I have to mention that as well? (I was told by the citing officer that a Parking ticket does have associated points)?

3. I have an a out-of-state speeding violation, caught on a camera, paid the fine over the phone. Do I have to mention this in my application? The reason for this question is that my state DMV record might have this.

Here are the violations that my wife & I have:
Wife:
1. At fault accident in Office parking-lot: Aug.-2008
Me:
1. Speeding ticket Sept./Oct. 2005
2. Speeding ticket thru Traffic camera, out-off-State(in AZ, We live in GA) April-2008
3. Parking ticket Aug./Sept. 2009
4. Speeding ticket March/April. 2010

None of them involved DUI.

 

[HumHongeKamyaab]

You can get the dates of your traffic citation at the police station. I tried getting these at the DMV, courthouse, defensive driving school but wasn't sucessful as I had taken defensive driving courses to drop my tickets. Then I went to the police station and they could tell me the exact dates for each citation. They wouldn't give me a printout of these as they are not a part of my criminal record and I had to write them down. The office also added that this will always be be on your file even if the President pardons you. Just that it won't be a part of the criminal record that they give out.

One of my two tickets was 11 years old and the second was 5 years old. I disclosed both on the N-400 for peace of mind. The officer asked if I had any record of these. I didn't have the citation copy or receipts for defensive driving but I had taken the defensive driving certificates for both classes. The officer took copies of these and also verified that the date of the classes was immediately after the citations.

How you got all those date for your traffic citation or tickets? Not sure whether there is a place you can find out all your past traffic tickets or citations history?