Upcoming interview - request for advice

[leonidas_alexan 45]

Hello Everyone,

 

Yesterday I was notified in my online USCIS account that  I should soon be expecting to receive an interview letter.

 

After I shared that news with my wife - I asked her to review my N 400 application and she identified 3 potential issues.

 

I kindly request your thoughts/inputs/advice on the following 3 issues:

 

• I answered "Yes" to the question - "Do you owe any overdue Federal, state or local taxes?". I answered yes because while I was approved an installment payment plan by IRS - the fact is the installments are still going on. This is the first time we've ever opted to pay it in installments and it is for the year 2019.           I do not see this as a major issue as I have now decided that I will actually pay off the remaining balance in full before the interview takes place. I intend to of course carry the installment plan approved by the IRS and the final payment receipt.

 

• In the "Information About Your Residence" section - it asked where have you lived in the last 5 years. While I have lived in the same house for the last five years - I made a mistake in giving the date of residence from back in 2013 (when we actually moved into our current house - which is over 7 years ago) . And even here I was off by 2 weeks.     Nevertheless I am not particularly alarmed about this but I would be curious to see if anyone has any comments on this.

 

• This is the one that is bothering me the most - the questions from 22-28 about arrests, convictions, citations etc.,  so I remember that I had a speeding ticket back in 2016. But just to be on the safe side so that I get all my dates and other details correct -   I got my driver's record from the DMV and I used it to uploaded all the relevant details.  This part is fine.  What I forgot is very close to the speeding ticket incident (within 2 weeks)- I had another single vehicle incident where my vehicle slipped in heavy  rain conditions as I was about to exit the ramp and crashed into the guard rail. The cop issued me a citation for "Reckless Driving" which I got it reduced to "Improper Driving" after I plead my case with the judge. I attended a driving course and at some point later that whole record of the incident disappeared from my driving record. And since I relied on my driving record to fill out the details in my N-400 - I completely forgot to  mention this single vehicle incident in my N 400. 

 

My current thought is that the first one about IRS - I will most likely be asked and I will be prepared with the final receipt and the installment plan approved by the IRS. The second one about the date of residence too does not bother me particularly.

 

About the 3rd point - should I volunteer information to the officer about the improper driving incident or should I only talk about it and produce the requisite evidence - only if the officer prompts me on that  specifically?

 

I kindly invite your thoughts.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Edited December 7, 2020 by leonidas_alexan

[MightyIndian 25]

You answered your questions yourself 🙂
I'm no immigration attorney but I see none of the three points to be of any concern at all. The IO will go through your application along with you and at that you can have the IO correct the information. Like you said, carry supporting documentation and you should be fine.

 

In my case, I had a speeding ticket as well and answered NO to the citation question. During the interview I revealed it to the IO and was told its not of a concern as long as the citation did not lead to an arrest. The bottom line is one should of a good moral character to qualify to become an American Citizen. As long as the IO is satisfied with that, one should not have any issue.

I attached a guide published by USCIS sometime ago which gives an oversight on the process including speeding tickets. Good Luck to you.

M-476.pdf

[leonidas_alexan 45]

1 hour ago, MightyIndian said:

You answered your questions yourself 🙂
I'm no immigration attorney but I see none of the three points to be of any concern at all. The IO will go through your application along with you and at that you can have the IO correct the information. Like you said, carry supporting documentation and you should be fine.

 

In my case, I had a speeding ticket as well and answered NO to the citation question. During the interview I revealed it to the IO and was told its not of a concern as long as the citation did not lead to an arrest. The bottom line is one should of a good moral character to qualify to become an American Citizen. As long as the IO is satisfied with that, one should not have any issue.

I attached a guide published by USCIS sometime ago which gives an oversight on the process including speeding tickets. Good Luck to you.

M-476.pdf 1.01 MB · 1 download

 

Thanks a lot for your response. I just want to invite a more specific reply to you on my 3rd point.   While I mentioned the speeding ticket incident - I forgot to mention about the single vehicle incident which got expunged from my driving record.

 

Should I volunteer this information to the IO or should I only address this issue if the IO asks a specific question about it? Please advise.

 

Thank you.

1 hour ago, MightyIndian said:

You answered your questions yourself 🙂
I'm no immigration attorney but I see none of the three points to be of any concern at all. The IO will go through your application along with you and at that you can have the IO correct the information. Like you said, carry supporting documentation and you should be fine.

 

In my case, I had a speeding ticket as well and answered NO to the citation question. During the interview I revealed it to the IO and was told its not of a concern as long as the citation did not lead to an arrest. The bottom line is one should of a good moral character to qualify to become an American Citizen. As long as the IO is satisfied with that, one should not have any issue.

I attached a guide published by USCIS sometime ago which gives an oversight on the process including speeding tickets. Good Luck to you.

M-476.pdf 1.01 MB · 1 download

Thanks a lot for sharing the attachment. I appreciate it.

[MightyIndian 25]

1 hour ago, leonidas_alexan said:

 

 

Should I volunteer this information to the IO or should I only address this issue if the IO asks a specific question about it? Please advise.

 

 

Its your call on how you address it. I see no harm in either approach. In my case I did not answer YES to the citation question in the application but decided to tell about my speeding ticket when the IO was at that question in the interview process. The whole process of interview is to check if the candidate is of good moral character. If you feel that by voluntarily disclosing the missing ticket information helps to establish your good moral character you may do so. 

[leonidas_alexan 45]

10 minutes ago, MightyIndian said:

Its your call on how you address it. I see no harm in either approach. In my case I did not answer YES to the citation question in the application but decided to tell about my speeding ticket when the IO was at that question in the interview process. The whole process of interview is to check if the candidate is of good moral character. If you feel that by voluntarily disclosing the missing ticket information helps to establish your good moral character you may do so. 

 

Thank you.