Part 10D Q. 15-19

[jasminelily 1]

Hello fellow VJers,

I'm filing out the N400 form and got stumbled upon Part 10D Q. 15-19. Could anyone be so kind in giving some insights? I'm not sure if I should answer "Yes" or "No".

My situation:

-Application based on 3 year marriage to USC.

-1 parking ticket for parked in reserved zone on February 2006, it said "offense date, offense time and offense description" on the parking ticket, paid US$40 fine.

-1 traffic ticket for failed to yield right of way on April 2009, it said "traffic violation citation" on the ticket, paid US$110 fine, took safety driving course, ticket was dismissed.

15. Have you ever been committed a crime or offense which you are not arrested? My question: if the parking ticket said "offense", should I answer "yes" even I wasn't arrested?

16. Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer? My question: if the traffic ticket said "traffic violation citation", should I answer "yes"?

17. Have you ever been charged with committing any crime of offense? My question: if the parking ticket said "offense", does that mean "I've been charged with committing an offense?"

18. Have you even been convicted of a crime of offense? My question: I've paid the parking ticket, does that mean "I've been convicted because I admitted that I committed the offense?"

19. Have you ever been placed in an alternative sentencing or a rehabilitative program? My question: the court gave me option to take safety driving course in exchange to dismiss the traffic violation ticket which I did, does "the safety driving course considered as an alternative sentencing?"

I would greatly appreciate any help! Thank you!

[v333k 59]

Hello fellow VJers,

I'm filing out the N400 form and got stumbled upon Part 10D Q. 15-19. Could anyone be so kind in giving some insights? I'm not sure if I should answer "Yes" or "No".

My situation:

-Application based on 3 year marriage to USC.

-1 parking ticket for parked in reserved zone on February 2006, it said "offense date, offense time and offense description" on the parking ticket, paid US$40 fine.

-1 traffic ticket for failed to yield right of way on April 2009, it said "traffic violation citation" on the ticket, paid US$110 fine, took safety driving course, ticket was dismissed.

15. Have you ever been committed a crime or offense which you are not arrested? My question: if the parking ticket said "offense", should I answer "yes" even I wasn't arrested?

16. Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer? My question: if the traffic ticket said "traffic violation citation", should I answer "yes"?

17. Have you ever been charged with committing any crime of offense? My question: if the parking ticket said "offense", does that mean "I've been charged with committing an offense?"

18. Have you even been convicted of a crime of offense? My question: I've paid the parking ticket, does that mean "I've been convicted because I admitted that I committed the offense?"

19. Have you ever been placed in an alternative sentencing or a rehabilitative program? My question: the court gave me option to take safety driving course in exchange to dismiss the traffic violation ticket which I did, does "the safety driving course considered as an alternative sentencing?"

I would greatly appreciate any help! Thank you!

Let me just say this - even if you say yes to these questions, your citations are common and anyone is bound to do them. What I am trying to say is that USCIS looks for citations that are more serious than a parking fee (which everyone has) and a failure to yield. I really am not sure what you should answer, but reading the naturalization guide - it sounds like you need to write them in. The guide talks about providing a written statement only if the citation was greater than $500 which isn't your case.

Read the naturalization guide and see if you can find some direction there. http://www.uscis.gov/files/article/M-476.pdf

[CaptainPenguin 5]

Hello fellow VJers,

I'm filing out the N400 form and got stumbled upon Part 10D Q. 15-19. Could anyone be so kind in giving some insights? I'm not sure if I should answer "Yes" or "No".

My situation:

-Application based on 3 year marriage to USC.

-1 parking ticket for parked in reserved zone on February 2006, it said "offense date, offense time and offense description" on the parking ticket, paid US$40 fine.

-1 traffic ticket for failed to yield right of way on April 2009, it said "traffic violation citation" on the ticket, paid US$110 fine, took safety driving course, ticket was dismissed.

15. Have you ever been committed a crime or offense which you are not arrested? My question: if the parking ticket said "offense", should I answer "yes" even I wasn't arrested?

16. Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer? My question: if the traffic ticket said "traffic violation citation", should I answer "yes"?

17. Have you ever been charged with committing any crime of offense? My question: if the parking ticket said "offense", does that mean "I've been charged with committing an offense?"

18. Have you even been convicted of a crime of offense? My question: I've paid the parking ticket, does that mean "I've been convicted because I admitted that I committed the offense?"

19. Have you ever been placed in an alternative sentencing or a rehabilitative program? My question: the court gave me option to take safety driving course in exchange to dismiss the traffic violation ticket which I did, does "the safety driving course considered as an alternative sentencing?"

I would greatly appreciate any help! Thank you!

I was in a similar boat, thinking about what to answer so I talked to the USCIS. They were not too helpful but the answers were okay enough for them to process my application. I have my interview on Thursday so I am curios to see what they say about this portion, if anything at all.

First of all, the parking fines you should forget about, they are not really considered tickets or citations an in many cities (like mine) they are not even handled by the police or ant law enforcement agency but a small section of parking enforcers working for the city.

In my case I had a few speeding tickets ranging from 120 to bout 280 dollars, now the instructions say that you should omit any traffic violations under $500 but I decided to include them just to show that I have nothing to hide. I only included them on line 16. which I filled out something like this "Cited for speeding on I-80 San Juan County, Utah Paid fine of $ XXX".

This in turn triggered the yellow letter which required me to bring proof of all this, I have saved copies of my tickets and proof of payment from back in the days but I also got a transcript from the DVM showing my driving record and also a certified copy of all of my records from each of the courts to which the fines were paid too. All in all this cost me about an hour of my time and $8 in fees. I received all documents within two days and they all provide very detailed and clear information.

I hope this helps, good luck.

[jasminelily 1]

Thank you v333k and CaptainPenguin!

Is there anyone who passed through the interview process and had reported similar traffic tickets? Please help and share your experience.

CaptainPenguin, please let me know how your interview goes. I'm curious as well.

[v333k 59]

Thank you v333k and CaptainPenguin!

Is there anyone who passed through the interview process and had reported similar traffic tickets? Please help and share your experience.

CaptainPenguin, please let me know how your interview goes. I'm curious as well.

Hi,

Actually, after reading the naturalization guide carefully, it does ask for all traffic tickets but it doesn't need supporting documentation if the fine was less than $500 and it was not alcohol or drug related.

It is best you include them as CaptainPenguin mentioned - and just be prepared to show them that the tickets you are indicating are simple forms of traffic violations.

In the naturalization guide, they list some crimes and offenses that could cause denial of your naturalization - but they are far much worse than traffic tickets.

2 examples of crimes and offenses that do not establish good morals:

- any crime again a person with intent to harm.

- habitual drunkenness

Please read page 25 of the manual - it will make you feel much better.

hope this helps...

Oh - by the way, almost every applicants receives the yellow slip asking to bring to the interview evidence related to certain items you wrote in your application, so it is not a significant problem. Even if you do not submit or write down the traffic tickets, they will still find out when they run a background check on you that you have had traffic tickets and the letter will indicate that and asks you to bring supporting documentation. It is better to disclose everything at this point than try to not mention things and see how they turn out.

[jasminelily 1]

Thanks v333k for the reply!

Yea, I read the guideline but it was kind of confusing. Thank you again for your explanation!

This is what I'm going to do: disclose the tickets in the application, submit copies of related documents and an extra sheet of explanation with the application, bring the original documents to interview. I just don't feel safe submitting original documents like the guideline instructed, but those instructions are for fine more than $500 and drug/alcohol releated so I think submitting copies should be fine. Although it said supporting documents are not needed in my case but I still feel safer to give them copies on file.

Thanks everybody for reading! I know what to do now! :-D

[jasminelily 1]

I don't know why I couldn't edit my original post but I actually have one last bit of my questions that I'm not sure.

I think for Q15-18, I will answer "Yes".

For Q19, I still don't know what's the definition for "alternative sentencing". So I'm not sure if I should check "Yes" or "No". Anyone please help!

[v333k 59]

I don't know why I couldn't edit my original post but I actually have one last bit of my questions that I'm not sure.

I think for Q15-18, I will answer "Yes".

For Q19, I still don't know what's the definition for "alternative sentencing". So I'm not sure if I should check "Yes" or "No". Anyone please help!

Not 100% sure but I think it is something like community service... I think you can answer this as "No".

[senyorita80 1]

Just adding my 2 cents.. Those you mentioned are not even close to what they mean by "crime". I would answer "no".

Edited May 4, 2010 by senyorita80

[Ken&Barbie 0]

I found this online:

"Every traffic violation ticket identifies one of two charges. If it specifies a "civil infraction," it's not a criminal offense; the penalties are fines and/or points on your driving record. More serious infractions like driving under the influence or leaving the scene of an accident are "traffic misdemeanors," which are criminal convictions if upheld in court."

So I think traffic violations like parking tickets are civil infractions not criminal offenses. So I think only yes to Q16. Eventhough it says offense, I think they are only referring to criminal offenses and not civil offenses....

[Ken&Barbie 0]

Also on M476, page 25, it says "unless a traffic incident was a fine" meaning even uscis dont regard traffic as an offense or crime. So i would think only include it on Q16 as a citation but its not a criminal offense.

[Vijay 0]

If we only have a traffic violation (which is not drug or alcohol related), can't we say NO to the arrested/cited question and bring it up at the interview with the officer with the proof of ticket/payments and let the officer decide. What do you guys think ?

Also on M476, page 25, it says "unless a traffic incident was a fine" meaning even uscis dont regard traffic as an offense or crime. So i would think only include it on Q16 as a citation but its not a criminal offense.