n-400 and finding old minor traffic violations

[andy78 178]

I am in the process of completing the n-400 form. Is there some kind of a background check that I can get that will show all my traffic violations for the past 16 years in the entire USA so I can list them on the n-400? These are all minor traffic violations and all the fines were paid on time.

 

The were in multiple states during the last 16 years. I have no documentation and I don't even remember the years states in which all of these violations occurred. I can get 5 or 7 year driving records from different DMVs, but I know that most of my violations happened before that.

 

If not, any ideas about the best way to approach this to avoid any issues?

 

[Going through 5,669]

Only traffic violations within the past 5 years (or 3 depending upon how you are filing) will be required to be disclosed on the N400 application---so those will be the most important ones to track down----although good for you to search out all of them since sometimes an over-zealous IO can take into account any past transgression in an applicant's history when determining an approval/denial based off of good moral character....and some of them make a huge deal out of any traffic ticket, no matter the amount of the fine (which goes against what the N400 application says about monetary limits on disclosing traffic citations).

 

And if you have multiple traffic violations, it can work against you, so even better that you are trying to obtain documentation on as many of them as you can...I have seen one person get denied during their naturalization interview for having 4 speeding tickets over the past 5 years.

 

Get the driving records from as many of the States that you can.  If you were ever arrested/appeared in court stemming from a traffic violation, you can obtain a copy of the arrest record from the police department that had jurisdiction over what city/state you were in when arrested, and a court certified document showing the disposition related to the specific charge(s) from the county clerk at the courthouse you appeared in.

 

If you never ever were given a desk ticket to appear in a courthouse, then you can get a record of the fines paid/no outstanding fines from certain DMV offices as you know, some only going back 5-7 years, some going back as far as 10...depends on the State you are requesting the info from.

 

If you can't get everything you need (and you most likely won't since traffic fine records aren't always retained the same way court records are), at least with the documentation you do get in your hands, you are showing a good faith effort to provide your traffic ticket history.

[andy78 178]

Well, the question on the form is "Have you EVER been arrested, cited, or detained by any law enforcement officer (including any immigration official or any official of the U.S. armed forces) for any reason?"

 

Then you have to list the different citations in the table if you answer Yes.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,235]

You only list violations from the past 5 years to the best of your knowledge. It's not as scary as it appears.

[Going through 5,669]

2 minutes ago, Brother Hesekiel said:

You only list violations from the past 5 years to the best of your knowledge. It's not as scary as it appears.

Technically, you have to list ALL violations---not just the past five years as it states "ever" on the form...but yeah, the main ones USCIS worries about are those within the statutory period.

 

I just don't want the OP to think he doesn't have to take into account charges/arrests/citations further than 5 years when answering the YES or NO questions.

[star19 3]

I have a related question about this. I filed my N400 and while back home, I was detained by police for one night. My application is based on asylum and when I filed for asylum, I did mention about this, but somehow I forget to mention this in my N400. Question 23 I answer now, I thought they are asking about my arrest in the USA. I called my attorney but she did not reply as she is busy. So I called USCIS support center and a very nice lady told me that as I am now in line for an interview so it would be better to tell the IO before the start of the interview.  Any input?

Also, I have a couple of citation- few speeding and 2 parking and I did not mention in my application. What to do about this?

 

Thanks 

[Going through 5,669]

7 hours ago, star19 said:

I have a related question about this. I filed my N400 and while back home, I was detained by police for one night. My application is based on asylum and when I filed for asylum, I did mention about this, but somehow I forget to mention this in my N400. Question 23 I answer now, I thought they are asking about my arrest in the USA. I called my attorney but she did not reply as she is busy. So I called USCIS support center and a very nice lady told me that as I am now in line for an interview so it would be better to tell the IO before the start of the interview.  Any input?

Also, I have a couple of citation- few speeding and 2 parking and I did not mention in my application. What to do about this?

 

Thanks 

As the USCIS rep said, you need to tell the interviewer at the beginning of your interview that you did not mention this on the application.  They will want to know details about your arrest as well as see any arrest record/court documentation related to that from your home country.

 

As for the traffic violations, they may request proof that all fines were paid...it would be a good idea to get a statement of your driving record from the DMV to bring to the interview.

 

The interviewer will be most likely also ask why you neglected to mention either your various traffic citations and your previous arrest on your application as well.

[star19 3]

Thank you for your reply. 

[andy78 178]

I went to the DMV and got what they called a life-time record. It contained all traffic violations since I first started driving in the US, including ones from other states. So, I

 

[skmv 1]

On 8/16/2017 at 1:59 PM, andy78 said:

I went to the DMV and got what they called a life-time record. It contained all traffic violations since I first started driving in the US, including ones from other states. So, I

 

I had posted this in a different forum - reposting here.

 

 

In the USCIS N-400 FAQ -  Q7

https://www.uscis.gov/sites/default/files/files/article/chapter3.pdf

 

it states very clearly the unless the traffic incident is not DUI or drug related, and it did not involve an arrest, and the only penalty was a fine less than $500 and/or points on your driver's license, you do NOT have to submit any documentation.

The same verbiage is also listed on your interview letter.

 

During my interview, when the IO walked through the list of questions in the applications form, I volunteered information about my traffic citations and she made a note of it. However, she said not to worry about it and they do not look into it closely.

 

Hope this helps as I struggled with this quite a bit after submitting my application, as my case was delayed for a long time. Once I read through the N-400 FAQ, i was confident that I did not provide any incorrect information.

[Going through 5,669]

5 minutes ago, skmv said:

During my interview, when the IO walked through the list of questions in the applications form, I volunteered information about my traffic citations and she made a note of it. However, she said not to worry about it and they do not look into it closely.

That's good your interview went smoothly!  Unfortunately, it's all down to how the IO feels that day, and some members have reported getting more...shall we say..."stricter" IOs when it comes to minor traffic violations.

 

No, documentation isn't required but the IOs have the right to request it during the interview regardless of the amount of fine.  I don't have any traffic tickets, but in fairness to all applicants, I wish there were set guidelines on the whole traffic-citation issue when in interviews!  

Edited August 18, 2017 by Going through

[andy78 178]

41 minutes ago, skmv said:

it states very clearly the unless the traffic incident is not DUI or drug related, and it did not involve an arrest, and the only penalty was a fine less than $500 and/or points on your driver's license, you do NOT have to submit any documentation.

The same verbiage is also listed on your interview letter.

 

 

Yes, that's correct. But my question was about finding old traffic records to list my citations in the n-400, because I didn't have any records kept from my traffic tickets (dates, locations, etc.). But I have everything now to list in the n-400 after I went to the DMV.