N-400 Help with Qns in the form

[senthilskp12 0]

Hi:

I am going to apply for my citizenship end of this year. Just to be proactive I have been looking at the N-400 Appln form. Everything looks pretty simple straight forward questions and I answered all the questions. This was till I came to the Part 10 .. Section D..Good Moral Character...I dont know if I should answer Yes or No for questions 15, 16, 17 and 18.

Here is what I am confused about.

I have one Parking Ticket, think 2 speeding tickets.

Cop had pulled me over and given tickets for these violations. Paid the fines right away. No Court nothing was involved. And all these 3 fines were less than $500.00.

So now

Question 15: Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested

Speeding and Parking ticket is not a crime but an offense. And I was not arrested for this minor traffic offense.

So should I answer YES for this question?

Question 16: Have you ever been arrested, detained or Cited by an law enforcement officer for any reason?

I have never been arrested. But getting those 2 speeding tickets means I was cited by cop (law enforcement officer)and in order to issue those tickets he had to pull me over, run my plates and what not. So is pulling over for a traffic violation being detained?

Since I was cited (issued speeding ticket by a cop)

Should I answer YES for this question?

Question 17: Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or Offense?

Again I have not committed any crime. But traffic violation is a traffic offense. Cop did charge me with that speeding

offense.

Should I answer YES for this question?

Question 18: Have you ever been convicted of a crime or offense?

Again I have not committed any crime so never been convicted of any crime. But cop did say I was speeding and issued me tickets and I paid the fines. Does it mean the cop issuing those tickets and me paying those tickets mean I was convicted of speeding? Convicted seems like a word not appropriate for a traffic offense?

Should I answer YES for this question?

Also from what I have read online parking tickets dont matter at all. So should I even mention about that offense on the form?

Thanks to all..

[Dave&Roza 748]

Hi:

I am going to apply for my citizenship end of this year. Just to be proactive I have been looking at the N-400 Appln form. Everything looks pretty simple straight forward questions and I answered all the questions. This was till I came to the Part 10 .. Section D..Good Moral Character...I dont know if I should answer Yes or No for questions 15, 16, 17 and 18.

Here is what I am confused about.

I have one Parking Ticket, think 2 speeding tickets.

Cop had pulled me over and given tickets for these violations. Paid the fines right away. No Court nothing was involved. And all these 3 fines were less than $500.00.

So now

Question 15: Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested

Speeding and Parking ticket is not a crime but an offense. And I was not arrested for this minor traffic offense.

So should I answer YES for this question?

Answer "YES" as you violated a law and were not arrested, but you were given a citation. Just explain the speeding ticket.

Question 16: Have you ever been arrested, detained or Cited by an law enforcement officer for any reason?

I have never been arrested. But getting those 2 speeding tickets means I was cited by cop (law enforcement officer)and in order to issue those tickets he had to pull me over, run my plates and what not. So is pulling over for a traffic violation being detained?

Since I was cited (issued speeding ticket by a cop)

Should I answer YES for this question?

Answer "YES" as you were detained by the LEO and cited for speeding. You can say see answer to question #15 above or repeat your explaination of the speeding ticket.

Question 17: Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or Offense?

Again I have not committed any crime. But traffic violation is a traffic offense. Cop did charge me with that speeding

offense.

Should I answer YES for this question?

Answer "YES" as you were charged with the offense of speeding.

Question 18: Have you ever been convicted of a crime or offense?

Again I have not committed any crime so never been convicted of any crime. But cop did say I was speeding and issued me tickets and I paid the fines. Does it mean the cop issuing those tickets and me paying those tickets mean I was convicted of speeding? Convicted seems like a word not appropriate for a traffic offense?

Should I answer YES for this question?

You paid the fine, but how did you plead? If you mailed in the fine which box did you check on the ticket? Guilty, Innocent or No contest? Given that all this stems from a speeding ticket I would just answer "YES" and explain the whole speeding ticket issue again and how you pleaded.

Also from what I have read online parking tickets dont matter at all. So should I even mention about that offense on the form?

Thanks to all..

To my mind you should answer yes and explain yourself by giving date, time and circumstance of the speeding tickets--forget the parking ticket. They will not cause you to not be granted citizenship. If you answer "NO" and the IO discoveres these and brings them up and makes a big deal of it, you can be denied based on the fact that you now lied.

Good luck,

Dave

Edited August 10, 2012 by Dave&Roza

[Cesar & Cata 35]

Hi:

I am going to apply for my citizenship end of this year. Just to be proactive I have been looking at the N-400 Appln form. Everything looks pretty simple straight forward questions and I answered all the questions. This was till I came to the Part 10 .. Section D..Good Moral Character...I dont know if I should answer Yes or No for questions 15, 16, 17 and 18.

Here is what I am confused about.

I have one Parking Ticket, think 2 speeding tickets.

Cop had pulled me over and given tickets for these violations. Paid the fines right away. No Court nothing was involved. And all these 3 fines were less than $500.00.

So now

Question 15: Have you ever committed a crime or offense for which you were NOT arrested

Speeding and Parking ticket is not a crime but an offense. And I was not arrested for this minor traffic offense.

So should I answer YES for this question?

Question 16: Have you ever been arrested, detained or Cited by an law enforcement officer for any reason?

I have never been arrested. But getting those 2 speeding tickets means I was cited by cop (law enforcement officer)and in order to issue those tickets he had to pull me over, run my plates and what not. So is pulling over for a traffic violation being detained?

Since I was cited (issued speeding ticket by a cop)

Should I answer YES for this question?

Question 17: Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or Offense?

Again I have not committed any crime. But traffic violation is a traffic offense. Cop did charge me with that speeding

offense.

Should I answer YES for this question?

Question 18: Have you ever been convicted of a crime or offense?

Again I have not committed any crime so never been convicted of any crime. But cop did say I was speeding and issued me tickets and I paid the fines. Does it mean the cop issuing those tickets and me paying those tickets mean I was convicted of speeding? Convicted seems like a word not appropriate for a traffic offense?

Should I answer YES for this question?

Also from what I have read online parking tickets dont matter at all. So should I even mention about that offense on the form?

Thanks to all..

Better to tell the truth and have the adjudicator just shake his head thinking, "this is not anything serious", than giving it a chance to be a problem, I did have an arrest that was unwarranted, so got dismised and sealed, so i never even thought of a speeding ticket I had. But even that was not an issue for me at all, just took my court disposition and no problem.

Best to put yes, add the story/explanation clarifying and include an abstract of your driving record as proof that it was just two tickets and you are done with the process.

But again, I did not mention my speeding ticket at all, and to be honest wouldn't do it today, I personally think that question to be geared more towards criminal offenses, even misdemeanors like shoplifting, public urination, public drinking, those are usually the issues that I consider would need to be disclosed.

IMHO

.

[jkelly07 120]

write on a seperate sheet of paper, explain the speeding ticket fine was paid an no other charge were filed, on the if you have or can get a copy of the paid receipt or copy of the check, also bring all that to the interview, you can also go to your local police station ask for a copy of your driving abstract of your driving record, bring that also to the interview, you will be fine its nothing serious, you just have to tell the truth.

[sasaqlain 24]

I am not sure if the above responses are correct. I was told that traffic violations such as parking tickets or similar smaller offenses are not to be marked as yes.you need to wait till some senior members answer your post. I marked them all NO during my ROC and even for the naturalization. I got a ticket for using the cell while driving. I don't think such violations are to be mentioned unless the tickets are pending/unpaid, or if you were arrested.

Edited August 10, 2012 by PathaN

[senthilskp12 0]

Guys:

W.R.T to supporting documents I seen many filers mention tax return transcripts. Wouldn't copies of Tax Returns as in Form 1040 (fed tax) and IL-1040(IL State Tax) be suffice??