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what does count as a citation?
- Thread starter gcbez
- Start date
This has been the subject of endless debate. I followed the legal advice included in the web site referred to in this posting http://boards.immigrationportal.com/showthread.php?t=225902 and went ahead and listed all my tickets to the best of my recollection. These were NOT and issue at my interview and I felt more comfortable doing so. Read this thread and the legal paper listed that advocates doing so.
These is another school of thought and that is that no tickets involving a fine of less than $500 needs to be listed. If you take that route and the IO asks about citations at the interview, my personal opinion is that you should reply "only minor traffic tickets that I understood did not need documenting on the N-400".
Either way, never tell any untruth. You never know what they know !!!!
Good luck.
All my opinions are from my own experience and research but I have NO legal qualifications.
These is another school of thought and that is that no tickets involving a fine of less than $500 needs to be listed. If you take that route and the IO asks about citations at the interview, my personal opinion is that you should reply "only minor traffic tickets that I understood did not need documenting on the N-400".
Either way, never tell any untruth. You never know what they know !!!!
Good luck.
All my opinions are from my own experience and research but I have NO legal qualifications.
I'm a man of a "little" experience having completed this whole immigration journey and also having gone through an interesting interview.....
As rwsh said, NEVER tell lies or withhold any material facts! If you are wondering what they know about you, search through some of my posts here especially my interview one - I have mentioned some of the things the IO told me that they "know".
Remember... federal agencies are constantly collaborating/sharing info. among different databases and you never know when they'll be able to do a simple lookup on any/all nationwide RMV/DMV records. You don't want to be in a position explaining to an IO after they have found out stuff about you.
So...... that being said, my 2c is: List the tickets and make sure you mention that they are MINOR and are NOT DUI/Drug related. You should be okay.
As rwsh said, NEVER tell lies or withhold any material facts! If you are wondering what they know about you, search through some of my posts here especially my interview one - I have mentioned some of the things the IO told me that they "know".
Remember... federal agencies are constantly collaborating/sharing info. among different databases and you never know when they'll be able to do a simple lookup on any/all nationwide RMV/DMV records. You don't want to be in a position explaining to an IO after they have found out stuff about you.
So...... that being said, my 2c is: List the tickets and make sure you mention that they are MINOR and are NOT DUI/Drug related. You should be okay.
Part of the confusion that surrounds this issue it that the USCIS guidelines state that certified copies of any relevent court documents should be sent with an N-400 application but that traffic incidents involving penalties of less than $500 are exempt (Page 2, OMB 1615-0052).
However, this is obviously referring to "documents", not inclusion on the form. The above guidelines make it clear that if ANY part of Question 10 applies to the individual, then the answer on the form should be "yes", with an explanation.
The good news in all of this is that I have never read on this site of any applicants who ran into serious problems over a few minor tickets.
However, this is obviously referring to "documents", not inclusion on the form. The above guidelines make it clear that if ANY part of Question 10 applies to the individual, then the answer on the form should be "yes", with an explanation.
The good news in all of this is that I have never read on this site of any applicants who ran into serious problems over a few minor tickets.
As rwsh said, this has been a case of endless debate in the past. So, I asked this question to a very good immigration attorney in the Bay Area. Her response was very clear - don't even bother listing them unless they were serious citations that involved DUI or accidents involving human death. So naturally, I did not list them. During the interview, when the IO was going over the N-400 application form, I specifically mentioned that I have had minor traffic violations for which I had documents to prove that I have already cleared those. The IO did not even bother to look at the proofs and did not change anything on my application form. Hence, my trust on the initial advice I had received from the immigration attorney just got bolstered.
In short, if you have minor traffic offenses, don't even bother listing them on the N-400 form. However, there is no harm in list them as well. So, whatever makes you feel more comfortable.
In short, if you have minor traffic offenses, don't even bother listing them on the N-400 form. However, there is no harm in list them as well. So, whatever makes you feel more comfortable.
Right, it appears you can go either way. The important thing is that you are telling the truth as you see it. I talked with a lawyer and she recommended that I include tickets on the form. So I truthfully included them. Takadigi had the exact opposite experience and he truthfully omitted.
"Truth" is not absolute - it is what you believe is true. If you think that to tell the truth you need to include them, then include them. If you are like takadigi and truth allows you to omit them, then omit them. You want to feel comfortable about the fact that you are being truthful during the interview. The IOs are trained to smell lies.
"Truth" is not absolute - it is what you believe is true. If you think that to tell the truth you need to include them, then include them. If you are like takadigi and truth allows you to omit them, then omit them. You want to feel comfortable about the fact that you are being truthful during the interview. The IOs are trained to smell lies.
I did not list the tickets on the app. and during the interview the IO specifically asked if I had any DUI's and I said no and and then he asked if I have any pending traffic tickets at the time of the interview and I said no but I did get a ticket after I applied but paid the fine, he said that was ok and the tickets did not become an issue in my case.
I know a lot of friends that did not list the tickets and that did not become an issue, if you are going to mention them, make sure you will be able to get the court dispositions for the tickets, because there have been a few cases where people listed the tickets and the IO asked for court dispositions.
I know a lot of friends that did not list the tickets and that did not become an issue, if you are going to mention them, make sure you will be able to get the court dispositions for the tickets, because there have been a few cases where people listed the tickets and the IO asked for court dispositions.