Veggie3

Yes, since all US passports are biometric now, I guess they can do that (and for immigrants they collected that data already in the visa/GC stage). Does this face recognition software work immediately, though? What if a "bad apple" takes the risk and goes into that line (even if not USC or GC holder), can the system stop them in time before they enter the country? I hope it's not a security loophole.

I have a question that is not immigration-related but rather about border control procedure. I'm a US citizen for over 2.5 years now, and never experienced such a thing when returning to the US: last Friday, when I returned from a few weeks abroad, my POE was LAX. As I proceeded to passport control (I don't have Global Entry), I was asked if I'm a USC and directed to that specific line. Then when I came to officer, she did not ask to see my passport, but just took my picture and wished me a good day. I never had to show my passport, or even take it out of its sleeve. Did something like that happen to you? I read somewhere that CBP had a contactless pilot at LAX during COVID, but this is the first time, even as a USC, that I did not need even to show my passport (not even its cover).

Each state has its idiosyncrasies. In AZ, I got the real ID DL back in 2018, when I was still a GC holder. Since I was not a US citizen yet, next to the gold star it says, "Limited-Term". The expiration date was set according to the expiration date of my GC (2025). I believe that US citizens in AZ don't have that notation on their Real ID DLs. I didn't bother updating the DMV when I became a US citizen in 2020. Almost positive that I'll have to renew in person and not online in 2025, but I hope that my renewed Real ID DL won't have the "Limited-Term" on it!

I had a very old ticket - a speeding ticket of about $75 in Montana when I was driving there as a tourist. I paid it in cash the same day, but nearly 30 years later, had no record of it. I could not remember where in the state was I pulled over. As I live in AZ like yourself, the local DMV could not find anything. So I wrote to the Montana DMV, and they sent me a letter that I'm not listed in their system, and that the relevant court would not keep such a record for so many years. I mentioned that ticket (and another one from 2017, for which I had all the required documents) on my N-400 and brought the letter with me (together with 4 folders of documents) to the interview. It never came up, and all the IO asked to see was my DL and GC. As someone wrote above, YMMV; I think that mentioning the ticket is the right thing to do. Good luck.