Poppy girl

Yep I disclosed mine and the IO also asked me if I had any at the interview, when I had already disclosed the information on the N400 form!

TimNiceBut

Sometimes the court is willing to reduce the violation to a lesser one (ideally a non-moving violation) that doesn't incur points and an insurance hike. You'll still end up paying a fine, but the insurance hike is usually the biggie.

A local lawyer specialising in traffic offenses should be able to advise you if that's a possibility in the area you got caught.

Out here, both myself and a couple of colleagues received traffic tickets at different points in time, we all went to court (using the same specialist lawyer IIRC) and we all ended up with reduced charges and reduced fines. Oh, and in the case of the two crash test dummies (that'll be one of the aforementioned colleagues and myself), no points. The other colleague actually got the charge thrown out. In all three cases it was money well spent.

MarylandNed

Yes, you must disclose any citations (including traffic citations e.g. speeding tickets) on the N-400 form.

http://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/f...form/n-400.pdf

I was told to answer "Yes" to question D.16.

"Have you ever been arrested, cited, or detained by any law enforcement officer (including UCSIS or former INS and military officers) for any reason?"

jeffreyhy

Well, N-400 is the citizenship application.

Going off on a tangent, N-400 is also the only form that explicitly makes it clear that the question "List all of your children", which appears on many immigration forms starting with the petition, that the word "all" really does mean all.

Regards, JEff

Rete

I know that and never said it was ... but thanks for reminding other posters of that fact.

Best regards,

jeffreyhy

What you wrote was I guess I stupidly misunderstood that because a traffic ticket is a citation and the traffic police are an enforcement agency.

Regards, JEff

hungryhorace

Hold on, you're honestly saying that I now have to find out the date of my speeding tickets from decades ago for any future N-400? Honestly, how do they possibly expect people to know this?

MarylandNed

I was told that if you don't know exact dates, you just provide as much information as you can remember. They are evaluating "good moral character" from your answers in section D of the N-400. If they feel that you are being as honest as you can about speeding tickets, then there won't be an issue. Dishonesty (if discovered) or an excessive number of citations (including traffic violations) could mean you being denied for not having "good moral character".

By the way, I also asked why traffic violations are not required to be reported on I-485 (permanent residence) but are required for N-400 (citizenship). The answer was that you can still be denied entry into the US or deported when you're a PR. However, they can't do anything to you once you are a citizen unless they find out later that you lied during the citizenship application process. That's why it's very important to be as honest as you can on the N-400. If they want a history of traffic violations, do your best to provide it.

jeffreyhy

Do your best, and now that you know start keeping a record in your 'Get Ready For N-400' file. Unless you've been a really bad boy, and maybe even then, traffic violations won't harm your application for citizenship.

Also, I suspect that your insurance company might be able to help refresh your memory.

Regards, JEff

jeffreyhy

It's often the case that the penalty for making a misrepresentation is much more severe than the penalty for that which was misrepresented.

Regards, JEff

hungryhorace

I have no idea who my insurer was at that time to be fair. Does one have to go and get evidence of these tickets for the N-400 like on the I-485?

jeffreyhy

Have you read the N-400 instructions?

I can tell you what my wife did with regard to traffic tickets on her N-400. She checked 'Yes' for questions 10.D.16 & 17, and entered the information about her one speeding ticket in the table following question #21. For "Outcome or disposition" she wrote "fine, <$500". She provided no supporting documentation.
As an aside, what do you think about 10.B.8, "Have you ever been a member of or associated with any organization, association, fund foundation, party, club, society or similar group in the United States or in any other place?" That's an all-encompassing question if there ever was one! My wife checked 'Yes' and entered "YMCA of Ourtown, Ourstate, USA"

And in 9.B she listed all of her children, including those who are older than she is.

Regards, JEff

MarylandNed

My wife and I did not have evidence for them all. We listed them on the N-400 and brought whatever documentation we had (e.g. proof of payment of fines) to our interviews but they didn't even look at the documentation. My wife was freaking out because she actually got a speeding ticket on the morning of the day we had our citizenship interview. She reported it during the interview and the IO made a note of it, then told her she could be sworn in as a USC at a ceremony that same day!

I wouldn't worry about this as long as you are honest, are able to provide whatever documentation you have and you don't have an excessive number of violations to report. I think my wife had 4 to report (1 in Canada and 3 in the US) and I had 2 (1 in the UK and 1 in the US). My wife had no documentation for the Canadian one and I had none for the UK one.

bewildering

Jeepers. I have had two stop junction violations and one speeding ticket in 9 years in the USA. I have no idea of the precise dates, although maybe my bank account will tell me when i paid the fine? I went to traffic school twice, online, and there have been no increases in insurance. I also got a non-moving violation for cell phone use.

I had no idea the N-400 wanted violations. Have to try to dig out the information.

bewildering

I don't understand. Are we talking step kids?