N400 - Questions 15, 16, 17, 18

[ian-mstm]

Hello
I am trying to fill in N400 and I think I read all the N400 threads
and I am still not 100% sure how to answer Good Moral Character
questions 15-18.
I have 5 traffic citations (speeding, disobeyed traffic device) where
I pleaded guilty and paid the tickets. I do not have proof of payment
for 2 traffic citations, I remember paying it and I do not see them
on my drivers abstract - one of the citations was somewhere in Canada
and one of the somewhere in South Carolina. I intend to disclose all
of them.
I have one subway citation for NONPAYMENT OF SUBWAY FARE. This was
dismissed and I did not have to pay anything.
15 - No (Have you committed a crime for which you were NOT arrested)
16 - Yes (Have you ever been arrested, cited, detained by any law
enforcement officer)
17 - No (have you ever been charged with committing any crime or
offense)
18 - No (have you ever been convicted of any crime or offense)
Could somebody please let me know if this is OK?

This looks okay to me. Include a copy of your abstract if possible.
Complete the table as requested... and include all of this stuff.
Good luck.

Ian

[jemavalon]

Hello
I am trying to fill in N400 and I think I read all the N400 threads
and I am still not 100% sure how to answer Good Moral Character
questions 15-18.
I have 5 traffic citations (speeding, disobeyed traffic device) where
I pleaded guilty and paid the tickets. I do not have proof of payment
for 2 traffic citations, I remember paying it and I do not see them
on my drivers abstract - one of the citations was somewhere in Canada
and one of the somewhere in South Carolina. I intend to disclose all
of them.
I have one subway citation for NONPAYMENT OF SUBWAY FARE. This was
dismissed and I did not have to pay anything.
15 - No (Have you committed a crime for which you were NOT arrested)
16 - Yes (Have you ever been arrested, cited, detained by any law
enforcement officer)
17 - No (have you ever been charged with committing any crime or
offense)
18 - No (have you ever been convicted of any crime or offense)
Could somebody please let me know if this is OK?

I think this is fine -- this is exactly how I answered N-400 questions
in similar situation (speeding tickets only). Btw: it might be a good
idea to get some sort of proof that you paid the tickets if you can. I
know exactly what you mean: one of mine tickets was "somewhere in NJ".
I remembered the road I was stopped on, so I looked at the map, and
called 2 courts in the nearby townships -- and on the second call after
some waiting they confirmed that it was their court I had my ticket in,
and gave me simple instructions on how to get the proof that I paid it.
Now, noone has asked me for the proof of payment at the interview, so I
did not need it -- but it cost me <30 min of time and $4 to get it, and
it felt really good to have that piece of paper just in case... I know
I was probably over-reacting, I just did not want to have any
surprises... So, anyway, my point is that getting the proof that you
paid the tickets might not be that hard, if you remember at least
something about the incident.

Good luck,

Julia.

[eiloo]

Hello
I am trying to fill in N400 and I think I read all the N400 threads
and I am still not 100% sure how to answer Good Moral Character
questions 15-18.
I have 5 traffic citations (speeding, disobeyed traffic device) where
I pleaded guilty and paid the tickets. I do not have proof of payment
for 2 traffic citations, I remember paying it and I do not see them
on my drivers abstract - one of the citations was somewhere in Canada
and one of the somewhere in South Carolina. I intend to disclose all
of them.
I have one subway citation for NONPAYMENT OF SUBWAY FARE. This was
dismissed and I did not have to pay anything.
15 - No (Have you committed a crime for which you were NOT arrested)
16 - Yes (Have you ever been arrested, cited, detained by any law
enforcement officer)
17 - No (have you ever been charged with committing any crime or
offense)
18 - No (have you ever been convicted of any crime or offense)
Could somebody please let me know if this is OK?

I know this is a thread that is almost a year old and not many others
are recent for this topic (at least not that I was able to find...)

Regarding traffic tickets and warnings.

I have one speeding ticket which was after I applied for AOS but before
becoming an CPR. So I believe I answered in the negative on my AOS
application and was not asked about it at my AOS interview.

I am preparing my N-400 now and was wondering what should be answered in
Part 10 D. Good Moral Character.

For the speeding ticket, I went to court and plead not guilty and of
course didn't win. I was ordered to pay the fine + fees and was given
probation before judgement. From what I understand, that meant that if
I was violation free for the year, that I would not get any points on my
record. Not sure about whether or not the violation will end up on my
record or not though.

I also received a non-moving warning. I ended up receiving a written
warning about parking in a No Standing area. No ticket, court or fine
but I did sign the warning receipt and he gave me a copy.

My question is how to answer the questions in Part D.

15 - Yes (Have you committed a crime for which you were NOT
arrested)
I guess what is the definition of a crime? Is a speeding violation
a "crime"?

16 - Yes (Have you ever been arrested, cited, detained by any law
enforcement officer)
Self-explanatory

17 - Yes (Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or
offense)
A citation is a charge against you and since it states "offense", then
it be less "severe" than a "crime."

18 - No (Have you ever been convicted of any crime or offense)
In my case, would that be considered a conviction if I received
probation before judgement?

19 - Yes (Have you ever been placed in an alternative sentencing or a
rehabilitative program (for example: diversion, deferred prosecution,
whithheld adjudication, deferred adjudication)?)
Same concern as with 18... Is deferred adjudication the same as the
PBJ?

20 - Yes (Have you ever received a suspended sentence, been placed on
probation or been paroled?)
I guess just be definition of the PBJ, then I would have been on
probation so this is self-explanatory.

[fatbrit]

Post by eiloo
I know this is a thread that is almost a year old and not many others
are recent for this topic (at least not that I was able to find...)
Regarding traffic tickets and warnings.
I have one speeding ticket which was after I applied for AOS but
before becoming an CPR. So I believe I answered in the negative on my
AOS application and was not asked about it at my AOS interview.
I am preparing my N-400 now and was wondering what should be answered
in Part 10 D. Good Moral Character.
For the speeding ticket, I went to court and plead not guilty and of
course didn't win. I was ordered to pay the fine + fees and was given
probation before judgement. From what I understand, that meant that
if I was violation free for the year, that I would not get any points
on my record. Not sure about whether or not the violation will end up
on my record or not though.
I also received a non-moving warning. I ended up receiving a written
warning about parking in a No Standing area. No ticket, court or fine
but I did sign the warning receipt and he gave me a copy.
My question is how to answer the questions in Part D.
15 - Yes (Have you committed a crime for which you were NOT arrested)
I guess what is the definition of a crime? Is a speeding violation a
"crime"?
16 - Yes (Have you ever been arrested, cited, detained by any law
enforcement officer)
Self-explanatory
17 - Yes (Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or
offense)
A citation is a charge against you and since it states "offense", then
it be less "severe" than a "crime."
18 - No (Have you ever been convicted of any crime or offense)
In my case, would that be considered a conviction if I received
probation before judgement?
19 - Yes (Have you ever been placed in an alternative sentencing or
a rehabilitative program (for example: diversion, deferred
prosecution, whithheld adjudication, deferred adjudication)?)
Same concern as with 18... Is deferred adjudication the same as
the PBJ?
20 - Yes (Have you ever received a suspended sentence, been placed on
probation or been paroled?)
I guess just be definition of the PBJ, then I would have been on
probation so this is self-explanatory.

I'd answer no to all questions you list apart from #16, where I'd tick
yes and then write in pen near the box, "Please see addendum"

On the addendum, I'd type up a quick factual description of both the
offenses you list and copies of any of the documentation you have. It's
best to show at least one piece of evidence that you've paid the fine
and are done with it -- court record or MVD record. Take the originals
with you to the interview

If the interviewer thinks you should have ticked the other boxes, they
can correct them during the interview with their famous red pen and you
sign at the bottom to show you agree with any changes. They seem to more
concerned with you trying to hide something from them rather than you
making a silly mistake over the exact meaning of the obscure claptrap on
the form. And if you've listed the offenses in an addendum, you
certainly aren't hiding them!

[eiloo]

Post by fatbrit
I'd answer no to all questions you list apart from #16, where I'd tick
yes and then write in pen near the box, "Please see addendum"
On the addendum, I'd type up a quick factual description of both the
offenses you list and copies of any of the documentation you have.
It's best to show at least one piece of evidence that you've paid the
fine and are done with it -- court record or MVD record. Take the
originals with you to the interview
If the interviewer thinks you should have ticked the other boxes, they
can correct them during the interview with their famous red pen and
you sign at the bottom to show you agree with any changes. They seem
to more concerned with you trying to hide something from them rather
than you making a silly mistake over the exact meaning of the obscure
claptrap on the form. And if you've listed the offenses in an
addendum, you certainly aren't hiding them!

Thanks for your response fatbrit... Maybe I'm taking the questions too
literally? I definitely have no intention of hiding these facts... but
I guess I don't want them to think that I'm hiding by answering the
questions to get by some initial screen they have when they read through
my application.

[fatbrit]

Post by eiloo
Thanks for your response fatbrit... Maybe I'm taking the questions too
literally? I definitely have no intention of hiding these facts...
but I guess I don't want them to think that I'm hiding by answering
the questions to get by some initial screen they have when they read
through my application.

Wouldn't worry too much -- the natz is one of the easier things to get
through provided you've not taken up murdering people with axes or been
caught smokin' the weed since you've been here. It almost seems like
they're keen to get you off their books at this stage.

Wife had one traffic ticket (failure to obey traffic control device,
i.e. a "Calafornia stop"). She went to traffic school all Saturday to
sort it out. She sailed through interview and was approved on spot using
form filling as I described above. Interviewer actually thanked her for
the clear addendum she added to the form.