N400 Court documents were not court certified

[arvinb 17]

I was arrested 6 years ago so I had to disclose this in my N400 application (case was dismissed after community service).

I met with the Los Angeles Bar Association's immigration help desk and they said all I needed to put in the application were photocopies of the documents (I went to them twice and they said the same thing); I was asking because one document (the arrest record) I only had a photocopy of, and I only had one certified copy of the court disposition. The court case was in a state I no longer live in so getting copies took time and my green card was expiring in 6 months.

I received my notice of action and the check was cashed as of last week; just wondering if anybody had firsthand knowledge that they will demand I mail court certified copies before interview or if I just need to have them ready during the interview?

[Leatherneck 693]

Getting a "certified copy" now would save you time and stress if you're requested to provide a certified copy of the arrest record.

Considering the N400 instructions state;

"if you have ever been arrested or convicted of a crime, you must send a certified copy of the arrest report, court deposition, sentencing and any other relevant documents, including any other countervailing evidence concerning the circumstances of your arrest or conviction that you would like USCIS to consider."

[lax75 2]

This is a good question and I am looking forward to input as well. I too am about to send in my N400 and have a minor traffic ticket which I obtained a certified court disposition for, and I'm curious to know if I should send in the original.

[ConcordUser 18]

The problem for some people is somd times the records are annuled or expunged and there is no way to get the certified records. That creates the problem to present the court certified record. I presume, court certified no record found would be sufficient for this kind of situation?

[Leatherneck 693]

This is a good question and I am looking forward to input as well. I too am about to send in my N400 and have a minor traffic ticket which I obtained a certified court disposition for, and I'm curious to know if I should send in the original.

A minor traffic ticket is not an issue with your N400 application.

[arvinb 17]

I have a court certified document of the disposition that I wanted to keep for the interview and my own personal records. The arrest report I only have a printout from, and I am in the process of obtaining a court certified copy of that.

These documents are not easy to get because they're in a state I no longer reside in (NJ when I'm in CA now). I've only gotten my NOA last week, haven't heard from USCIS asking for further documents, but if they ask for the certified copies I'm going to be mad that I was advised by the Immigration Legal Assistance Project (website here http://www.lacba.org/showpage.cfm?pageid=423) to only send photocopies so I could have certified copies on hand for interview. In fact twice they were very insistent that I need only send the photocopies.