Unknowingly registered to vote, but never voted, N400 interview coming soon

I called 1-800-375-5283, I was told the wait time for case to be processed in my local office is 7 months or less. Depending on case the processing time can take upto 120 days. I was advised to call back in Aug.

I am thinking to make infopass appointment and visit local office and check for status. Would that be any useful? Any advices!
 
I got Oath Ceremony letter for Jan 10th, 2011.

case closed...

GLTA
 
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Hey Guys:

I registered to vote, but never voted. I'm eligible to apply for citizenship please advise what I should do. I have contacted the board of elections to de-register me and provide documentation that I have never voted.

Can you please advice what else I should do.
I contacted a Rajiv Khanna and he has requested $660 consultation fee.
I met with another immigration lawyer who charged me money, but said they haev never dealt with a case of this sort.

Please advice.

I would really appreciate your help.
 
fisma01s said:
Hey Guys:

I registered to vote, but never voted. I'm eligible to apply for citizenship please advise what I should do. I have contacted the board of elections to de-register me and provide documentation that I have never voted.

Can you please advice what else I should do.
I contacted a Rajiv Khanna and he has requested $660 consultation fee.
I met with another immigration lawyer who charged me money, but said they haev never dealt with a case of this sort.

Please advice.

I would really appreciate your help.
Click to expand...

It appears that you have done all that you need to (or can) do. Are you one of those folks who inadvertantly got registered through a driver's license process? That is more common than you think. Federal Law requires the States to offer it and some states have implemented it in such a way that this mistake happens often. Research your State's implementation measures on this matter to see how it happened in your case.
 
fisma01s said:
Hey Guys:

I registered to vote, but never voted. I'm eligible to apply for citizenship please advise what I should do. I have contacted the board of elections to de-register me and provide documentation that I have never voted.

Can you please advice what else I should do.
I contacted a Rajiv Khanna and he has requested $660 consultation fee.
I met with another immigration lawyer who charged me money, but said they haev never dealt with a case of this sort.

Please advice.

I would really appreciate your help.
Click to expand...

When and under what circumstances did you register to vote? Also, are you filing the N-400 under the 5 year rule or under the 3 year (marriage to a USC) rule?
 
fieca - can you please give me some adice. I looks like my case is similar to yours.

Here is my story...

I'm a US Green Card holder. I am eligible to apply for my citizenship but have run into a technical issue. I registered to vote in August 1999, but never voted. It was my 2nd semester at a community college in Chicago and the professor was encouraging everyone to register to vote. Taking his advice I too registered to vote not knowing that I was ineligible. I did sign the form which states "I hear by swear (or affirm) that I am a citizen of the United States..." Unfortunately I did not read the fine print before signing the application. As it was not my intension to vote, and I merely did it on the request of the professor, I did not vote.
I switched from a F1 to a H1 and then got my greencard. I am now eligible to apply for my citizenship, and would like your opinion on how I should deal with this situation.

To ensure my voter registration application was in fact processed I did request the “Chicago Board of Elections” for a copy of the application. I am also in the process of requesting them to “de register” or “cancel” my voter registration and provide me with a letter stating my voter registration has been cancelled and that I have never voted.

I would really appreciate your help.
 
fisma01s said:
fieca - can you please give me some adice. I looks like my case is similar to yours.

Here is my story...

I'm a US Green Card holder. I am eligible to apply for my citizenship but have run into a technical issue. I registered to vote in August 1999, but never voted. It was my 2nd semester at a community college in Chicago and the professor was encouraging everyone to register to vote. Taking his advice I too registered to vote not knowing that I was ineligible. I did sign the form which states "I hear by swear (or affirm) that I am a citizen of the United States..." Unfortunately I did not read the fine print before signing the application. As it was not my intension to vote, and I merely did it on the request of the professor, I did not vote.
I switched from a F1 to a H1 and then got my greencard. I am now eligible to apply for my citizenship, and would like your opinion on how I should deal with this situation.

To ensure my voter registration application was in fact processed I did request the “Chicago Board of Elections” for a copy of the application. I am also in the process of requesting them to “de register” or “cancel” my voter registration and provide me with a letter stating my voter registration has been cancelled and that I have never voted.

I would really appreciate your help.
Click to expand...

OK, I take it that you got a GC through employment and that you have been an LPR for at least 5 years.
Based on the experiences of other people in your situation, you'll probably be approved if you file N-400.
However, you'll certainly need to disclose the fact that you were registered to vote in N-400, specifically in answering questions 1 and 2 of part 10 of N-400. You'll also need to get (before you file N-400) documentation from the local board of elections showing that you have been de-registered and that you never voted.

The only problematic aspect in your case is that you registered to vote BEFORE becoming an LPR and I take it that you did not disclose that fact during your GC application process. I am not sure what the form I-485 looked like at the time you applied for a GC and if there were any questions on I-485 that would have required you to disclose the fact that you were registered to vote. If yes, that may be a source of extra trouble for your naturalization case. If no, you'll most likely be fine.
 
I got my greencard through Marriage. At that time the application did not request any information on "registered to vote". I have completed my application for N-400, but have not filed it as yet. On the N-400 application I have indicated that I registered to vote. I want to get the opinion from folks that have been in my similar situation and help make an educated decision. I have met with an immiration lwayer, but unfortunately she has no experience with a case like mine. I have aslo contacted Murthy and Rajiv Khanna - Murthy advised I get a lawyers and become a client before they give me additional information and Rajiv Khanna wants $660 for immigration advice.

I don't mind getting a lawyer, but it can be expensive and I do not know what in addition they can do to help my case.
 
You'll be fine as it happened outside statutory period. Bring a letter from election board that you are no longer registered as a voter to interview.
 
I met with a lawyer and the lawyer things that I'm in big trouble. I registered to vote before I got my LPR and thinks that my green card maybe in questions. Please help.
 
fisma01s said:
I met with a lawyer and the lawyer things that I'm in big trouble. I registered to vote before I got my LPR and thinks that my green card maybe in questions. Please help.
Click to expand...

Sounds like your lawyer was scaring you into retaining his/her services without telling the exact consequences.

You were wrongly advised to register by a professor. You have since deregistered yourself and have never voted. The evidence shows that you did not knowingly falsely claim to be a US citizen.

While falsely claiming to be a US citizen is a serious offense that must be looked at on a case by case basis, the evidence in your case does not show you purposely did so to obtain a benefit.

Of course, seek the advice of several experienced lawyers to look at the exact circumstances surrounding your case.
 
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accidently registered to vote

im planning to apply for US citizenship(N-400), but i just found out that being a Lawful Permanent Resident for 9 years since june 2002 im not allowed to register to vote. i didnt know about this that you have to be a US citizen to register. What happened was i was walking to go to my class that day (attending community college) i think it was November 2010, but im sure it was last year then this lady walk by me and ask me if i already register to vote i said NO, then she asked me if im US citizen and i said NO, then she told me "that's ok" and asked me if i have my ID with me i said yes and she look at my ID and i think she wrote my drivers license # on the paper or maybe my permanent residence card #(im not sure which one) it happened so fast and she started to asked my name,address,phone# and she's the one who wrote everything on the paper and after that ask me to sign the paper. she didn't ask me to read what it said on the paper or anything. After that i went to my class and never read the registration card that she gave me,she just give it to me and told me it's for my record. Then after few months, i just saw the card again inside my book and i have nothing to do that time so i read the back of the card that i have to be "US citizen to register" but when i read that i just said ok to myself since i never plan to vote anyway that time...then i got the ballot in the mail, but I NEVER VOTED since i found out that i can't vote and someone told me that im not suppose to vote since im not US citizen. i have no knowledge whatsoever about this rules or anything and i NEVER intend to claim that im US citizen because i know im not, this is all mistakes that i did. Now i don't know what to do, i read lots of forums like this and i know i have to get copy of my registration, and cancel my registration, get copy of the cancelation, and voting history showing that i DID NOT vote. But i don't know what else i should do before i file my N400, i really want to get my US citizenship so any information that could help will be much appreciated.

My second problem is in 2009 i didn't file my income tax since i only work for 1-3 months and it's only part time so my income is so low. so i didn't bother to file because i have to pay like $50-70 to file my income tax and im guessing that i'll probably only get like $20-30 so what's the point of filing it.Now in the application they are asking "have you ever failed to file your income tax?" this is really frustrating. But im more worried about the voting part since i read a lot of stories like mine that i might get deported or be in prison. I never know anything about it and why those volunteers register me in the first place when i said im not US citizen. Someone should do something about these things because many people are having trouble with this.

Any suggestions that could help me with my problems? thank you in advance.
 
help

i am a permanent resident and have been in the US for 5years now. and i met this guy injune of this year, through a friend and is on a 2 year visa. he had asked me if i was registered to vote and i told him that im not supposed to and he said o yeah i can that he is even registered, and i told him good for you but from what i know im not supposed to. so he came to visit me in ohio and on one unfortunate day when he went out he was approached by people that walk around trying to get people to vote, and he was asked if he had registered and he said No. he collected the form and filled out my name and address and even signed it. he didnt even tell me until a long time later, and i was so mad. i showed him where it was stated that a LPR cannot vote or even register to vote.

so he called them up and according to him he spoke to their boss at the board of elections who told him that they would discard the application and would not register me, and after the deadline had reached i checked to see if i was registered but i couldnt find any registration for me, so i assumed that they discarded the form, so i went ahead and completed my n400 and answered no to the question that asked if u have claimed to be a US citizen and also to the question that said did u vote or register to vote. i then mailed it on the 22nd of october. today which is the 26th i got a letter in the mail from the board of elections, saying that i had to fill out a form in order for my registration to be cancelled.

i then made a call to the board of elections and was told that i was registered into the system on the 11th of october and that i checked that i was a us citizen, so now i dont know what to do because i have already mailed my n400. i was also told that my first name was used as my last name and my last name used as my first, and thats no wonder i couldnt find my name before now. so then i checked to see if i was registered using my first name as my last and low and behold i saw my information staring right back at me.

someone pls help i dont know what to do. thank you
 
Talk to a good lawyer. He can probably filed in court that your application was the result of fraud and perhaps identity theft. All matters unknown to you. Good luck.
 
uche said:
i am a permanent resident and have been in the US for 5years now. and i met this guy injune of this year, through a friend and is on a 2 year visa. he had asked me if i was registered to vote and i told him that im not supposed to and he said o yeah i can that he is even registered, and i told him good for you but from what i know im not supposed to. so he came to visit me in ohio and on one unfortunate day when he went out he was approached by people that walk around trying to get people to vote, and he was asked if he had registered and he said No. he collected the form and filled out my name and address and even signed it. he didnt even tell me until a long time later, and i was so mad. i showed him where it was stated that a LPR cannot vote or even register to vote.

so he called them up and according to him he spoke to their boss at the board of elections who told him that they would discard the application and would not register me, and after the deadline had reached i checked to see if i was registered but i couldnt find any registration for me, so i assumed that they discarded the form, so i went ahead and completed my n400 and answered no to the question that asked if u have claimed to be a US citizen and also to the question that said did u vote or register to vote. i then mailed it on the 22nd of october. today which is the 26th i got a letter in the mail from the board of elections, saying that i had to fill out a form in order for my registration to be cancelled.

i then made a call to the board of elections and was told that i was registered into the system on the 11th of october and that i checked that i was a us citizen, so now i dont know what to do because i have already mailed my n400. i was also told that my first name was used as my last name and my last name used as my first, and thats no wonder i couldnt find my name before now. so then i checked to see if i was registered using my first name as my last and low and behold i saw my information staring right back at me.

someone pls help i dont know what to do. thank you
Click to expand...

First, go to the local election office (it is usually located at the local county board/county clerk office) and cancel your voter registration ASAP. After you do that, get them to give you a letter stating that
1) Your voter registration has been cancelled
AND
2) You have never actually voted.

Also ask them for a copy of the original registration card that your "friend" filled out when he registered you to vote. You'll need it at the interview to convince the IO that it was not you yourself who actually registered you and that your "friend" forged your name and signature.

Then, as suggested above, talk to an immigration lawyer about your situation, the sooner the better, and certainly before going to the naturalization interview.

Personally, I would also consider reporting the entire incident to the police. What your "friend" did was highly illegal and he should be made to pay the price. Forging somebody else's signature on a voter registration document is a crime, even if the person in question is a U.S. citizen.
 
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