Voting Before Naturalization Can Cause you Problems

[WBH]

I would suggest the following practical attitude and approach

(1) First, there is still hope for your current citizenship application. It can still
get approved so don't give up hope

(2) If citizenship is denied, then USCIS may not try to deport you. If voting is only deportable but not inadmissible then your GC is in good standing.
Actually if (2) assumption is right, (1) should be OK too

(3) If deportation become an issue, you can apply for cancelllation of
removal

(4) If cancellation of removal does not work, you can ask yoru citizen
spouse to sponsor for anotehr GC assuming voting is not inadmissible
(what the heck, if voting is not inadmsisible, then we shoudl go back to (1)
and (2) and you should have your N-400 apporved)

(5) Even if deportation occurs after you try all means, then so be it.
Manage to restart a good life in your home country.

 

[WBH]

I would suggest the following practical attitude and approach

(1) First, there is still hope for your current citizenship application. It can still
get approved so don't give up hope

(2) If citizenship is denied, then USCIS may not try to deport you. If voting is only deportable but not inadmissible then your GC is in good standing.
Actually if (2) assumption is right, (1) should be OK too

(3) If deportation become an issue, you can apply for cancelllation of
removal

(4) If cancellation of removal does not work, you can ask yoru citizen
spouse to sponsor for anotehr GC assuming voting is not inadmissible
(what the heck, if voting is not inadmsisible, then we shoudl go back to (1)
and (2) and you should have your N-400 apporved)

(5) Even if deportation occurs after you try all means, then so be it.
Manage to restart a good life in your home country.

A big sources of uncertainly can be the N-400 is denied, and you do not know
the notice to appear will come or not. How long a period during which you
do not receive a notice to appear means USCIS will never send it?

 

[WBH]

I am not 100% sure how they will follow up on your case,,,

If you only get a standard denial of citizenship with no further action to deport you

How does one know there will be further action or not? If one does not receive any notiev to appear in N months, how can he be sure the
notice will not come in Month N+1? Can one go to USCIS and ask
them: "Please make a decision. Either deport me or tell me
I am not deportable anymore so I can live with peace of
mind?"?

 

[hoping in 2009]

How does one know there will be further action or not? If one does not receive any notiev to appear in N months, how can he be sure the
notice will not come in Month N+1? Can one go to USCIS and ask
them: "Please make a decision. Either deport me or tell me
I am not deportable anymore so I can live with peace of
mind?"?

Well I assume they send a Notice to deport you almost right away BUT logically if he only gets a denial and months pass with nothing further then obiously he will be fine

 

[WBH]

I remember one discussion regarding voting couple of months back. He also voted and removed his name from voting registration office and he became Citizen because it happened before 3 years and he applied on 3 years basis. In your case it happened 9 years ago. Get a good lawyer and fight and do not leave hopes. Did they know that you are registered to vote and voted or you mentioned in your application?

The difference is the other only registered but did not vote. Striclty
speaking there is no difference. Only registering as I see it is a deportable offense too.

So if the one can get away with it, there is a chance the other one can get away too. USCIS still ask for documents showing
the OP canceled the registration not deny it right way. So I still believe there is a chance for citizenship to be approved

and there is soemthing positive wit this OP than other one too. He registered to vote and voted BEFORE he got the GC and he already disclosed it
on I485. If such violation was deportable but not in admissible, then I believe he is perfectly fine by law.

 

[WBH]

It is common practice to cure deportation problem by applying for adjustment/re-adjustment of
status to permanent residentcy as long as offense is deportable but still admissible or
inadmisisble but waiver of inadmisisbility can be done. And once adjusted/re-adjusted to permament
residency, prior offense should not be a basis for deportation anymore. Otherwise it can cause
a infinite dead loop.

The OP voted before he got the GC. So his research should
be concentrated upon finding if voting as an offense is still
admissble or not for I485 purpose. If it is still admisisble and he
disclosed it and assume the abjudicator of his I485 case reviewed it
and still granted his GC, I believe he shouild be fine. His GC is fine
and he should get the citizenship because it is outside
5 eyar statutory period.

Otherwise what is the point of issueing a GC? only in order to
revoke it at a later time?

 

[whitemimauz3]

WBH
Poster says went to voter's registration office in Nov 2000 which is after I-485 adjudication (that's what i suppose). Well again he says he went to office but we dont know when his I-485 was approved. BTW i dont see any questions on I-485 specifically asking whether you registered to vote or does it falls other inadmissible clauses umbrella. Can he claim defense of never asked, never told now

 

[WBH]

WBH
Poster says went to voter's registration office in Nov 2000 which is after I-485 adjudication (that's what i suppose). Well again he says he went to office but we dont know when his I-485 was approved. BTW i dont see any questions on I-485 specifically asking whether you registered to vote or does it falls other inadmissible clauses umbrella. Can he claim defense of never asked, never told now

He said he was asked the questiuon during the GC interview and he answered it truthfully

 

[whitemimauz3]

I am wondering why it never occured to him that right to vote comes with citizenship

 

[whitemimauz3]

Well then it cannot be construed as inadmissible for I-485 purposes, but sure it does matters for N-400

 

[WBH]

Well then it cannot be construed as inadmissible for I-485 purposes, but sure it does matters for N-400

It is nopt a permanent bar to N400 and it is outside 5 year period. So it
all boils down to the question whether the voting was inadmisisble or not.

If it is not in admisisble then he got his GC fair and square. If it is inadmisisble
but the USCIS still granted him the GC aftyer he disclosed it in interview
and I even heard after soem time USCIS can not really revoke it. So in
theory I believe the OP has a very good case

 

[whitemimauz3]

WBH
You are right, criteria for adjudication varies a lot for Adjustment & Naturalization applicants. One more thing poster says the officer requested for proof of cancellation of voter registration card, dont you think after looking for such proof he would give a favorable decision. I definitely think he would have denied on the face had he (officer) thought it is an intentional lie. The rationale behind my thinking is i heard many cases where people clearly answered no for questions on arrest matter on N-400, and at interview truthfully disclosed was stopped by cop for traffic violations, the officer circled detained/arrested yes box and wrote notation "non dui" and approved the case.

 

[maslouj]

I checked my ID from IL and I now know for sure that when I first applied for ID in Chicago in 1999 they asked me if I wanted to register for voting. Being in the US for only 1 year or less, I had no idea that I needed to be a citizen to vote and they had never asked me if I was a citizen or not. I also do not recall filling out a form specifically for this. (I may have but I don't remember). I voted in 2000 because my x-wife took me with her to the voting place. No one asked me there either. When I applied for my GC, I knew that I am not allowed to vote but had never been asked or told to remove my name. During my interview for GC in 2004, the officer asked me if I had ever registered or voted and I said yes, just like I stated in my application, she was not so happy about it but she approved my application and I was granted a GC.
In my N400 i stated it again because I am honest and I admit my mistakes, but I could not remember when I voted and I told the officer that it was in 2004 which falls in the staturoy period of 5 years as some had mentioned. I think this is why she asked me for all these docs.
I would consider RAJIV S. KHANNA but I am in Memphis, TN is that going to be an issue?

 

[Jackolantern]

Your fate is also dependent on whether you answered YES on any form that asked if you are a US citizen when registering to vote or actually voting. Older DMV forms may have had the question "Do you want to register to vote?" without also asking "Are you a US citizen?". Or they may have registered you anyway even though you answered NO to the US citizenship question.

 

[WBH]

Your fate is also dependent on whether you answered YES on any form that asked if you are a US citizen when registering to vote or actually voting. Older DMV forms may have had the question "Do you want to register to vote?" without also asking "Are you a US citizen?". Or they may have registered you anyway even though you answered NO to the US citizenship question.

I honestly doubt that the USCIS will go that far. On the dining table in my company cafeteria I often try to cause paranoid maybe because
I have a bad habit to cause sensation, some people say something like "if USA is really that intolerant, then its citizenship and residency is not
worthy of my efforts anyway".

 

[maslouj]

I found some Info about voting registartion in 1999 through DMV

While I was looking for Registration Form from 1999, I came across this website that talks about some issues during 1999 and 2000 with registartion forms from DMV. Do you think I can print this and maill it with the rest of the documents? if you would like to read more about this, just add www to the link I listed below.
.eac.gov/clearinghouse/docs/the-impact-of-the-national-voter-registration-act-on-federal-elections-1999-2000/[/url]
"Several election officials expressed their concerns about the problem of identifying multiple registrations by the same individual from different addresses. Others had problems identifying applications that were duplicates of registrants on file. Still others reported problems with changes of address when the applicant neglected to provide a former address. These problems are exacerbated when applicants provide incomplete names (such as using nicknames or initials instead of full names, providing no middle name or initial, or failing to indicate the appropriate suffix of "Jr." or "Sr."). There has also been some concern about the prospect of undocumented aliens registering to vote. And finally, there have been some concerns about the possibility of persons voting in the name of others."

 

[Jackolantern]

I honestly doubt that the USCIS will go that far.

I don't mean that USCIS would go and find the specific form that the OP filled out. What I meant is that the fact that the OP registered to vote may lead the IO to assume that a claim to US citizenship was made. But if the OP can find what the form in 2000 looked like, and it doesn't have a "Are you a US citizen" question, it would counteract that assumption.

Or if the form did have that question, but the OP can somehow retrieve the specific copy of the form from the DMV, and it shows that the US citizen question was answered with NO, that also would help.

On the dining table in my company cafeteria I often try to cause paranoid maybe because
I have a bad habit to cause sensation, some people say something like "if USA is really that intolerant, then its citizenship and residency is not
worthy of my efforts anyway".

That's up to each individual to decide.

 

[maslouj]

Yes they asked me to send them a copy of my registration form and I am hoping and praying that it did not have the questions "Are you a US Citizen or not". I will get this document tomorrow or after tomorrow and I will be able to see if it did or not. I had been in the US for a year or so and I did not speak English too well, I remember struggling with just basic information to fill in, how could I have read everything in the form.
I am not trying to look for any excuses for my stupid mistake, but I really remember that I use to struggle with basic things in any form I needed to fill out because I could not understand everything.
I will be very sad if they deny my application because I have lived for the day I become a US Citizen and it means a lot to me.

 

[WBH]

But if the OP can find what the form in 2000 looked like, and it doesn't have a "Are you a US citizen" question, it would counteract that assumption.

If this were that important, the other guy (who I remmember from Jordan)
should have been deported too but that guy got citizenship after appealing
his denial.

The difference between that lucky guy and the OP here is the former merely registeretd and did not actually vote but there
was no difference as we know regarding the question "Are you a US citizen" on the voter's registration. In fact, it seems that
guy registered to vote in California and some other people located teh form whch actually has that citizenship Yes or No
QUESTION. And there is another difference that favor the OP here because he voted prior to getting the GC and he disclosed
this fact to the USCIS during I485 process already.

 

[NewRunner]

I just came back from an interview. I passed the written and Oral exams but they asked me to bring Voter's Registration Application, Voting Records and evidence of removal from the roll of registered voters. All this because I voted one time back in 2000. I was stupid enough to think it was okay for anyone who is married to a US Citizen to vote too. I am afraid that they will deny my application because of this.

I found the following link on a legal website about just your type of apparently inadvertent "false claim of citizenship" based on the fact that you voted in a U.S. election. The article could be seen as being positive if you can credibly say that the voting registration was inadvertent and that the act of voting was done without specific knowledge that you had to be a U.S. citizen to vote.

Here is the link: http://www.usavisacounsel.com/article-134.htm

However, if you cannot prove that you had no intent to "falsely claim U.S. citizenship" to obtain a Federal benefit, i.e. the right to vote in an election, then I think a false claim of citizenship is considered a permanent bar to naturalization.

Good Luck!