Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

Hello,

Form N-400 asks a few questions about Good Moral Character in section D. Does one
have to mention a speeding ticket in this section?

Thanks.

O

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

I don't know if you have to mention speeding tickets or not. I have 2 speeding tickets and mentioned them both on my N-400 Application. I always think that being honest and maybe overcaustious is the way to go.

ps. My interview has been scheduled so it obviously didn't hurt me to mention my tickets

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

Simin,

Your answer seems logical. I spoke to an INS lady today. She mentioned that one need
not mention speeding tickets. But she said that I could if I wanted to. From your
example, it seems that it is better to be open rather than hide this, whatsoever
minor the mistake may be.

O

"simon bland" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
    > I don't know if you have to mention speeding tickets or not. I have 2 speeding
    > tickets and mentioned them both on my N-400 Application. I always think that being
    > honest and maybe overcaustious is the way to go.
    > ps. My interview has been scheduled so it obviously didn't hurt me to mention my
    > tickets
    > --

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

Observer wrote:
    > Simin,
    > Your answer seems logical. I spoke to an INS lady today. She mentioned that one
    > need not mention speeding tickets.

Another bad example of INS phone people not having a clue. It used to be that the
N-400 form explicitly said "excluding traffic violations". The current N-400 form
does not say that anymore. I asked a lawyer, and he said that all moving vehicle
violations have to be reported now. They won't cause problems, but they have to be
reported. No need to report parking tickets, though.

-Joe

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

On Thu, 08 Aug 2002 00:55:43 -0700, Joachim Feise wrote:

    > Observer wrote:
    >> Simin,
    >> Your answer seems logical. I spoke to an INS lady today. She mentioned that one
    >> need not mention speeding tickets.
    > Another bad example of INS phone people not having a clue. It used to be that the
    > N-400 form explicitly said "excluding traffic violations". The current N-400 form
    > does not say that anymore. I asked a lawyer, and he said that all moving vehicle
    > violations have to be reported now. They won't cause problems, but they have to be
    > reported. No need to report parking tickets, though.
    > -Joe

The reason for this change was probably that some traffic violations - not speeding -
can indeed have immigration consequences. A few years ago, INS deported a number of
people convicted of felony drunk driving. This would have been a "traffic violation"
- to avoid running into problems with that question, they probably removed the
"traffic violation" part.

Ingo

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

OK, I filled in my N400 saying YES to the question "Have you EVER been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer... for any reason?"
because I have had speeding tickets. In the following section I listed my 3 tickets I have had. My hearing is June 30. I just got a letter saying "You indicated in your application that you have been arrested. For these arrests and any other incidents in which you have been involved, bring originals or CERTIFIED copies of all arrest records and court dispositions showing how each incident was resolved. Failure to disclose any and all arrests my result in denial of your application" but I have never arrested nor did I state that I had. I wonder how much documentation to bring to the hearing for speeding tickets. I wonder how much to invest in getting certified copies of speeding tickets.

Ian

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

With speeding tickets, it may be enough to just bring evidence that you
got a ticket, or maybe nothing at all. Remember that this is a form
letter. The officer conducting the interview will most likely just ask
about the nature of the offenses, and when you say "speeding tickets" just
say "OK". If he asks for the documentation, you can always say "it has
been too long ago, I don't have it any more".

The worst that could happen is that your case will be continued. That
means, the officer won't make a decision right then and there, but tell
you to come back when you have the documents. That's going to mean a
delay, but won't be harmful in any other respect. And, in any case, I
would be surprised if even this happened.

On Mon, 26 May 2003 16:59:35 +0000, ianwells wrote:

    >
    > OK, I filled in my N400 saying YES to the question "Have you EVER
    > been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer... for
    > any reason?"
    > because I have had speeding tickets. In the following section I listed
    > my 3 tickets I have had. My hearing is June 30. I just got a letter
    > saying "You indicated in your application that you have been arrested.
    > For these arrests and any other incidents in which you have been
    > involved, bring originals or CERTIFIED copies of all arrest records and
    > court dispositions showing how each incident was resolved. Failure to
    > disclose any and all arrests my result in denial of your application"
    > but I have never arrested nor did I state that I had. I wonder how much
    > documentation to bring to the hearing for speeding tickets. I wonder
    > how much to invest in getting certified copies of speeding tickets.
    >
    > Ian
    >
    >
    > Originally posted by Ingo Pakleppa
    >> On Thu, 08 Aug 2002 00:55:43 -0700, Joachim Feise wrote:
    >> > Observer wrote:
    >> >> Simin,
    >> >> Your answer seems logical. I spoke to an INS lady today. She
    >> mentioned that one
    >> >> need not mention speeding tickets.
    >> > Another bad example of INS phone people not having a clue. It
    >> used to be that the
    >> > N-400 form explicitly said "excluding traffic violations". The
    >> current N-400 form
    >> > does not say that anymore. I asked a lawyer, and he said that
    >> all moving vehicle
    >> > violations have to be reported now. They won't cause problems,
    >> but they have to be
    >> > reported. No need to report parking tickets, though.
    >> > -Joe
    >> The reason for this change was probably that some traffic violations -
    >> not speeding -
    >> can indeed have immigration consequences. A few years ago, INS
    >> deported a number of
    >> people convicted of felony drunk driving. This would have been a
    >> "traffic violation"
    >> - to avoid running into problems with that question, they probably
    >> removed the
    >> "traffic violation" part.
    > Ingo
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

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Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

Hi all
I had my interview a week ago in florida, and I had an arrest in which
I was not guilty, but I never send the arrest report since I was
proved innocent.
Anyways, I went to my interview, and the officer asked me questions
about my marriage, and then I saw him checking the selctive service
document which I'm not required to be registered, and he was just
looking for something to hunt me. The officer was rude and unfriendly,
and he is an immigrant himself with spanish accent which I have
nothing against, but he wasn't professinoal, and he never presented
himself to me.
He gave me some questions about when did I got married, and where my
wife works, if I have kids, and then he stressed about travel dates,
but he doesn't want to look at the copy of my expried passport that I
sent back to the ambassy. And then we got to the arrest I had in 2000,
he just asked for the arrest report, but not disposition. We contunued
our interview, and I passed the history government test, writing, and
reading, and I past it, and at the end, he asked me to bring a copy of
the arrest report, and the taxes I filed on April of this year 2003,
but I'm not sure why he wants to look at it since I already gave him
the last 3 years of income tax transcript. the officer asked for a
copy of income tax 2002, but I'm not sure if that the same as
Transcript, but I had no other problems other than this, so he
scheduled my interview for an other 2 months delay, ohh, he also asked
me if I had a DUI, but not traffic tickets, he stressed on DUI, drugs,
and mental illness. I hope this help, and please, if anyone has
continued case like me, write down your experience, and I also need to
know the reason for the tax.
thank you all

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

On Tue, 27 May 2003 09:50:24 -0700, steve wrote:

    > Hi all
    > I had my interview a week ago in florida, and I had an arrest in which
    > I was not guilty, but I never send the arrest report since I was
    > proved innocent.
    > Anyways, I went to my interview, and the officer asked me questions
    > about my marriage, and then I saw him checking the selctive service
    > document which I'm not required to be registered, and he was just
    > looking for something to hunt me. The officer was rude and unfriendly,
    > and he is an immigrant himself with spanish accent which I have
    > nothing against, but he wasn't professinoal, and he never presented
    > himself to me.
    > He gave me some questions about when did I got married, and where my
    > wife works, if I have kids, and then he stressed about travel dates,
    > but he doesn't want to look at the copy of my expried passport that I
    > sent back to the ambassy. And then we got to the arrest I had in 2000,
    > he just asked for the arrest report, but not disposition. We contunued
    > our interview, and I passed the history government test, writing, and
    > reading, and I past it, and at the end, he asked me to bring a copy of
    > the arrest report, and the taxes I filed on April of this year 2003,
    > but I'm not sure why he wants to look at it since I already gave him
    > the last 3 years of income tax transcript. the officer asked for a
    > copy of income tax 2002, but I'm not sure if that the same as
    > Transcript, but I had no other problems other than this, so he
    > scheduled my interview for an other 2 months delay, ohh, he also asked
    > me if I had a DUI, but not traffic tickets, he stressed on DUI, drugs,
    > and mental illness. I hope this help, and please, if anyone has
    > continued case like me, write down your experience, and I also need to
    > know the reason for the tax.

The reason they ask for tax returns is to confirm a few things:

- you actually paid your taxes.

- you did not claim to be a non-resident (this would terminate your Green
Card)

They probably want to see the latest tax return to confirm that nothing
substantial has changed between the time you applied for naturalization
and the interview.

The tax transcript and tax return are different things, but you can use
either one. It doesn't matter much, although the transcript is usually
preferable.

--
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everybody to seek competent legal counsel rather than relying on usenet
newsgroups.

Please visit my new FAQ at http://www.kkeane.com (still under construction)

My email address in usenet posts is now invalid for spam protection. See
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Please feel free to enjoy some of my photographs at my new Web site
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Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

Hi Ian,

Just wondering how the hearing went? I am still debating whether I should diclose traffic violation on N-400, after all it seemed they've made a big fuss out of this. But with the volume of complaints against them, is it any surprise?

Please keep us posted, thanks.

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

The speeding ticket was no problem at all. I had printed out a copy of my driving record ( cost a buck or so at the license bureau) and I had to insist this be added as part of my record.


Ian

Ianwells,

For speeding ticket, did you check the box of all questions 15, 16, 17 and 18? Or just 15 and 16 on application? Technically it's an offense, but the confusing thing is they put offense along with crime under same question.

I called cutomer service and talked to 3 different officers, but they all have different answers and it's obvious they don't know nor do they care for the accuracy.

Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 00:48:12 +0000, Success wrote:

    > For speeding ticket, did you check the box of all questions 15, 16, 17
    > and 18? Or just 15 and 16 on application? Technically it's an offense,
    > but the confusing thing is they put offense along with crime under same
    > question.

If in doubt, put it in.

    > I called cutomer service and talked to 3 different officers, but they
    > all have different answers and it's obvious they don't know nor do they
    > care for the accuracy.

I'm glad you realized it. Unfortunately, BCIS is a bad source of
information. Hire an attorney if you need more reliable advice.

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Re: Is it necessary to mention a speeding ticket in Citizenship application?
 

I checked only 16, but for 17 added (except speeding tickets).

Ian

I got arrested once, but was released without charge, just cautioned. Do I need an arrest record? In fact, what IS an arrest record and where do I get one? I thought you just had to provide court records but I don't have any of those as it never went to court.