Applying N-400 With Speeding Ticket That Originally Was for Reckless Driving, Should i Use a Lawyer?

[Giuseppe92 1]

Background:

Married with a US citizen in December 2018

Received Green Card in November 2019

Filed I-751 (To Remove Condition of Marriage) in August 2021

Divorced and applied for bona fide marriage in August 2023

Condition Removed (Without Interview) in September 2024

Applying for N-400 Now:

 

Hello everyone, and thanks to whoever is going to take their time to read this and give me any suggestions. I am at the end of the application for the N-400 at the moment. I am applying as a general provision since I have had my green card for more than 5 years, so the thing gets a little bit tricky at the end when it asks me if I have ever been cited or in jail. Well, in August 2020, I was stopped by police because I was speeding. For them, I was going 20 mph over the limit. In North Carolina, that is considered reckless driving and is a Class 2 misdemeanor. I was not going 20 mph over the limit, and in fact, I was smart enough to hire a lawyer that followed me; the case for reckless driving was dismissed and reduced to a regular speeding ticket as the velocity was reduced to actually only 9 mph over the limit.

 

All this has been notified to USCIS in my application for the I-751, with the court paper of that case. I guess it was not an issue for the USCIS at all since they approved my I-751 without an interview (3 years to do that), even if my wife and I got divorced and I had to hire another immigration lawyer to ask for a bona fide marriage.

 

So I read on this forum that in general if you have a ticket, it is ok to file the application yourself without a lawyer, but if you committed a crime or a misdemeanor, it is suggested to hire a lawyer to follow the case just to be sure. Well, I feel I am kind of in the middle, and I am kind of scared since it would be my first time to file any immigration application by myself, and I do not want to this up right in the end. Do you think I should file myself? In that case, should I put in the application that is a regular speeding ticket and attach the court paper that says so?

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[JeanneAdil 6,637]

not a criminal offense 

no lawyer needed

[EmilyW 1,527]

Not a big issue and not something to worry about for citizenship. 

 

Thankfully, you are smart, so try not to speed in the future.  

[Rekyrts 62]

I will never tell one not to get an attorney (especially if one can afford it), but to my non-legal eyes, I don't think you need to.