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I'm looking for some more information on this section and how to track down some information possibly needed to complete it.
First of all, does anyone know if you need to list traffic violations on this form. I know that you run great risks not mentioning things that can be found out later and I would never have thought to have included this information, but in a book I read about immigration and naturalization, it said this should be listed. It's part of Q.16 under section D which asks:
"Have you ever been arrested, cited or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason?"
Can anyone comment on this?
Also, does anyone have any idea how to track down this information if you do not have it. For example, I received a speeding ticket in 2003 and 2004 and I wouldn't have a clue how to find out the exact date.
My spouse is also applying and has an arrest from 1999 or 2000. The charges were dropped and there was no conviction and we have no clue exactly where or when this was, however he still has to list this, but we don't know where to find this information or who to contact. Would the police department provide this information to us. I believe there was no public record of the arrest, so don't know if this would make it harder.
Can you explain how he was arrested but doesn't know when or where it was? Was he drunk, on drugs....arrested isn't something that happens on a daily base...
Well you probable need a background check and have a notorized one. You go to the police office or call the local office and ask where to go and they will have access to the data base and give you a free copy and they will put on it what ever is found in your and his past. I have no clues if traffic tickets will show up...I guess not, but it also may vary what the traffic ticket was for...(reckless driving or DUI, might be different than a speeding ticket with 10 miles over the limit)...if your husband's arrest resulted in charges dropped, it might not even show up...but does he still remember a 100% if they were dropped for sure or is this his story to you...I hope it is true, for both of you
If you don't have a clean record it might be hard to get approved.
Be honest and list them all....INS has FBIs working for them and they will find out all your info regardless.....most importantly, they will be seeking for honesty during your interview
Yes you do need to list traffic violations, even if you all you got was a ticket and fine. I found that section of the form rather confusing and my attorney was able to clarify it for me. My speeding ticket was from 1997 and there was no way I could provide anything about it, even tho the lawfirm did ask me to try and track it down. I didn't have the paperwork and the PD had deleted their records years earlier.
Try checking with the Dept of transportation or motor vehicles in the area you were stopped and the local Police Dept for both your traffic issue and the arrest. From what I was told, as long as you can prove to the USCIS that you made every effort to find the information and it wasn't available, they should be okay with that. And if the charges were dropped I'm guessing the local courthouse or DA's office might even have a record of that?
If you want to double-check all your travel in and out of the US, the obviously place to start would be your passport stamps and vacation records with your employer's HR Dept. Passports will probably only show entry stamps for the countries you went to, but hopefully you can extrapolate from that what dates you were out of the country. I had to guesstimate some of mine as I couldn't find any other confirmation (and I checked with the immigration depts of the UK, Canada and even Homeland Security). Thankfully the USCIS officer who checked my paperwork was just fine with what I put down. I think they're more concerned with how many days in total you were out of the country.
If you want to double-check all your travel in and out of the US, the obviously place to start would be your passport stamps and vacation records with your employer's HR Dept. Passports will probably only show entry stamps for the countries you went to, but hopefully you can extrapolate from that what dates you were out of the country. I had to guesstimate some of mine as I couldn't find any other confirmation (and I checked with the immigration depts of the UK, Canada and even Homeland Security). Thankfully the USCIS officer who checked my paperwork was just fine with what I put down. I think they're more concerned with how many days in total you were out of the country.
I did a decent amount of business travel so this was a bit of a chore. Our company uses American Express for travel and they were able to supply an Excel file with all my business booked trips on them. So that made life much easier.
Depending where you are from you will not get an entry stamp from a lot of countries. This is particularly the case if you have a European pasport and are entering a European country.
At my interview, the officer did compare my US entry stamps in my passport with what I had put down on the form so it is important to make every effort to get that right.
Thank you so much for all your input and suggestions. I will follow up on this and let you know how it goes.
I think I've decided not to apply right away as i need time to find all this information, so I am going to apply to renew my green card just to buy myself a little more time to get this together.
Depending where you are from you will not get an entry stamp from a lot of countries. This is particularly the case if you have a European pasport and are entering a European country.
It used to be if you asked nicely, the immigration officer would give you a stamp even if you didn't strictly need it. I don't know if they still do it, but it might be worth a try so at least you'd have some confirmation of dates.
Going by the book is a good advice, but in many cases is quite stupid.
I wouldn't mention old traffic violations like speeding or parking. Nobody knows about them and I don't think the INS or USCIS is interested in these.
DUI, is a different matter though.
Traveling abroad - they are sensitive to trips longer then 6 months. Also visits to "suspicious" countries rises a red flag.
Prison and jail time is another topic they are very sensitive to.
Now, if there is anything suspicious in your background (underground political activity or work for the Iranian government, sex offenses, drug dealing) they will dig much deeper into your past.
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