Traffic Violations & Naturalization

S

sembat

New Member
Greetings,
I wanted to get advise on whether or not to say 'Yes' to the question on Naturalization form for traffic related citations.
I had 2 traffic tickets in California over 12 years back (I moved out of California 8 years back). Tickets were as follows:
1. Speeding ticket
2. Fix-it ticket, where my license plate had fallen down and I was ticketed. I got new license plates and paid the fine, however, I did not know I had to get it inspected (after getting new license plates), so I had my fines increased. I took a court date and the judge asked me to pay reduced fine (perhaps around $50-60 dont recall the exact amount)
I have no proofs of either of the citations. I have tried to search for it online via the available tools on the DMV/court sites. However, I havent found anything. I am guessing the records might be purged since its been over 12 years.
My question is should I select 'Yes' on the form N-400 where it asks if you were ever cited for offense... or I select 'No' and be prepared to talk about it to IO if he/she asks?
I have had several background checks done for employment purposes (changing jobs) but havent had any issues so far, but perhaps the biometrics and fingerprinting background check might be more in-depth so I want to get advise about what I should do? I still have a while before I will apply using N-400 but I want to know options before hand.
Any help is highly appreciated

Thanks
sembat
 
I answered "No" and I was fine with it. Same with my father.

In most cases, they don't care about traffic tickets with fines less than $500. My dad had a speeding ticket of over $1000.
 
Thank Miss_chang. I have also been leaning towards that, however, since one of my tickets was and increased fine due to not getting the new plates inspected, I was a bit worried.
Does selecting 'Yes' cause additional delays?
 
Probably not. They will most likely ask you to bring proofs during citizenship interview. I answered no because I didn't have proofs of having paid for tickets pertaining to double parking and making a left on "no left" signal.
 
Thank you Miss_chang. I appreciate your help. Since I do not have any proofs and my attempts to look for them have not produced any results either, I guess selecting "no" like you mentioned would be a better option.
Wouldnt any of those traffic violations come up during the background check (post fingerprinting)?
Thanks
sembat
 
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