Called for Jury duty - Applying for Naturalization

[JoRu16 7]

Okay I'm nervous right now, I just discovered that I got jury duty letter probably few years ago.
I was asking my mother to gather up documents for me which I need for my N400 and she found the letter summoning me for jury.
She lives in NY where I used to live when I first arrived at 16. I went to HS there but dropped out. Then I went back to home country to finish HS.

I was away for 10 months ( thus need document/s from mom as proof, in case I need it)
I came back here in the US at 18 yrs old but in Miami not New York.
Here are the points.
-LPR since 11-2007. 16 yrs old when arrived, NY
-May 2009 Went back to PH for school (17 yrs old)
-March 2010 came back to US (Miami)
-lived in Miami ever since
-never applied for driver's licence
-no recollection of signing anything claiming US citizenship
-jury letter sent to NY address

Now I just sent my N400 on January 2, I am getting worried that it will somehow affect my naturalization. I really have no knowledge about
the letter. What should I do about it? Will it come up on the background check? Is there something I could do now that my application is already sent?

[milimelo 4,166]

Why would it affect you? You weren't eligible to serve as a juror - probably should've just responded with not a USC answer though but that's in the past now.

[JoRu16 7]

Why would it affect you? You weren't eligible to serve as a juror - probably should've just responded with not a USC answer though but that's in the past now.

Thanks.

I don't know why. Paranoia perhaps? :shocked: I worry about the tiniest things. Like I said I wasnt aware of the letter, if I did then I would've responded accordingly.

[JimmyHou 610]

Some states only use the voter registration rolls for jury lists, but other states use many different lists of names that are completely unrelated to voting. Just because your name has appeared on a potential juror list does not mean that you have ever accidentally claimed to be a citizen. You should respond to the jury summons and indicate that you are in eligible to serve as a juror because you are not a US citizen.

[ExPatty 502]

This seems much better than another thread I read: somebody who was an LPR got a summons and did serve, because they didn't realize they were prohibited from it. And that is hugely injurious to a naturalization application. You may or may not have to take this up with new york (I would at least look into it), but it's really good from your naturalization perspective that you did not serve.

[JoRu16 7]

Thanks. I know I should respond to the jury summons, but since I didn't knew about the summons letter I wasn't able to. I figured they probably got my name off from a list when I applied for the NY state ID back then, because that's the only thing I could think of in regards to filling up some forms, well there's also for the school registration when I went to HS.

I was told by mom it was dated 2012, and did not receive any letter ever since. My 'unnecessary' concern is that it will come up somewhere along my naturalization process that I failed to send back the letter or did not let them know that I wasnt eligible to be a jury because of my LPR status at the time.

[JimmyHou 610]

Thanks. I know I should respond to the jury summons, but since I didn't knew about the summons letter I wasn't able to. I figured they probably got my name off from a list when I applied for the NY state ID back then, because that's the only thing I could think of in regards to filling up some forms, well there's also for the school registration when I went to HS.

I was told by mom it was dated 2012, and did not receive any letter ever since. My 'unnecessary' concern is that it will come up somewhere along my naturalization process that I failed to send back the letter or did not let them know that I wasnt eligible to be a jury because of my LPR status at the time.

Send them a letter saying that you are not living in NY and are not an NY resident and that you would like to be taken off the list.

It won't be a problem for naturalization, unless you registered to vote when you applied for that State ID... if you want to make sure, you should check to see if you are registered to vote in NY. https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/

[ExPatty 502]

Send them a letter saying that you are not living in NY and are not an NY resident and that you would like to be taken off the list.

It won't be a problem for naturalization, unless you registered to vote when you applied for that State ID... if you want to make sure, you should check to see if you are registered to vote in NY. https://voterlookup.elections.state.ny.us/

I found this link yesterday. Notice anything silly about it? Here it is:

It is a voter registration search page, to search for registration, and it says:

"you must be a registered voter in the New York State. "

Okay, so I have to be a registered voter to use this page, so I guess that means I could search on the behalf of other people. However:

"Please enter your Last Name", etc.

Well, if I know I'm a registered voter, why would I search for my own registration? I guess if I moved counties. Otherwise, it really is poorly worded.

I read a bunch of threads recently on these mistaken false claims to citizenship some have made, and they are truly tragic, like inadvertently doing it because you were encouraged by a state official who knew no better, for example, and it can be so injurious to naturalization. It's not right and I hope the law is changed in the near future to benefit people caught up in it. How crazy is it that a person with a criminal history who has spent time in prison can, as the laws are written now, have a much better chance at citizenship than a person who at some point checked a box because they weren't paying attention, and never thought anything of it again.

Edited January 7, 2015 by ExPatty

[JoRu16 7]

Thank you for the replies.

Thank you for the link, I actually checked that already awhile back and there were no records of me being registered to vote in NY or FL where I both lived.

Since I never received summons from that 1 time in 2012, I think I am off their list..?

I am just worried that when they do a name check and my name would come up because of that, me not reporting for the jury summon. Lol. I'm making a big fuss over this, my spouse now thinks I'm being hilariously crazy overly obsessed.