jkstark

I'll echo the sentiment that you might as well err on the side of caution, and disclose this.  If this is the only violation you have, and since it was under $500, there will be absolutely no impact from it for your N400 application.  If, however, you did not disclose it, and it came to light during the background investigation, and you could not explain it away to the satisfaction of the interviewer, it could be, in a worst case scenario,  considered a misrepresentation of yourself. 

For reference, I had two moving violations that I had gotten - one for a red light in Brooklyn, and one for a failure to move over in a road construction area.  Neither of the tickets truly held water, and the red light one was dismissed outright, though the work zone area was later converted to a equipment violation - my muffler had given out during the trip...  In any case, both were disclosed, and were promptly ignored by the interviewer when it was clear that the fine was under (I believe I was told) $600.  They did not even care to see the disposition notice on either one - which is good since the first one was so long ago that I no longer had any paperwork on it...

As others have said, you may apply under either rule - I did mine on the 5 year rule simply because it took less work and less paperwork - even though I'd been married to the same spouse throughout.  I think I'd been a GC holder for 16 years by that point - can't remember exactly right now...

As a 5 year applicant, I had taxes printed out as well as a bunch of other paperwork, but at the interview they only were interested in travel during the time (which I didn't have exact records of in any case, but rough estimates).  I did have my wife's passport with me because she had more stamps for departure/entry to the US on her's than I did in mine, and I may have shown that as partial evidence - don't recall.  The interview was done about 15 minutes ahead of schedule since the previous interviewee was a no-show, and I was back out of the USCIS office before my scheduled appointment time, with an oath ceremony notice in hand - for 12 days later, which included the new year's holidays.

Yes - my process to get to the interview took a long time (my oath was a few weeks shy of one year from application) but once it started to move, it went quickly.  No fuss, no hassles, no mountain of evidence or other paperwork.

FWIW - there should also be an expiration date on the form...  The PDF at the following link can be considered to be a probable exemplar of the form:  https://tr.usembassy.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/91/DS-5535-Supplemental-Questions-For-Visa-Applicants.pdf

I've not actually seen one in person, but...  There are a few subtle differences between the online version that is at the link and the one you posted...  Your form has no expiration (marked as xx/xx/xxxx), the PDF has a space for Consular officer signature, yours includes a reference to email, but is missing one entire paragraph of the instructions at the top...

I may be way off the mark here, but they sent this to you via *email*?  And they expect a response by just filling in and sending as a reply???

My SPAM/SCAM/Identity Theft spidey senses are going off as an IT administrator, especially considering that there is quite a bit of personal, confidential information in the form - just the kind of stuff that is about perfect for an identity thief.  My gut reaction would be to call the originating source and verify that they actually sent this, and everything is expected to be returned that way -- for me, this type of a message is a HUGE RED FLAG.

Do you have the ability to see the raw message/message headers in your email client?  That at the very least would be a bit more helpful in determining if the message originated where it appears to have originated.  Also - if you do decide to fill in the form and send it the way that they indicate, make sure you look at the To: field as it gets filled in on your email program - a common trick is a Reply-To header that makes the reply go to somebody completely different than you expect it to.  This can be a legitimate address, but it is also used by scammers...

You can message me directly too (I believe that is possible here) if you need further help in trying to determine the validity of the message based solely on the data in the message...

If this does turn out to be legit...  Somebody *really* has to take a look at the policy for sending such sensitive information via completely unsecured methods...

11 hours ago, Zhekaviolin said:

Well, it happened, I finally got scheduled today for an interview! I had to do fingerprints again on Monday, but she only checked that my old ones are in the system. 

Woohoo!  Another step to being done with this! 

Congrats!

The other problem that I see you potentially having is how you will be able to appear for a removal of conditions interview, and how you both can return to the US prior the the year being up - or even later...  With no valid GC, your husband will have to get a re-entry permit (? - I don't recall what the document itself is called) in any case from the local embassy, I think.  I have no idea as to how long that will take, but probably you are going to be looking at going over the 1 year mark regardless with that route.  You obviously need to be in the US for the interview, but this is a bit of a Catch-22 scenario.

I think this is definitely going to be one of those where you'll have to find a lawyer who is willing to look at least at a part of the situation - or just bite the bullet and accept the fact that he is likely to be considered to have abandoned his status, and has a bar.  People here have more knowledge than I do on a lot of this, but it seems to me that you would need to file for a CR1 visa for him and go through that entire rigamarole - once approved though, it would be a 10 year card automatically, though the naturalization clock would start again as well.

 For reference, user 'jc2008' has a similar situation in regard to a late filing here: 

Read further down for the JC2008 report, where they filed somewhere around 9 years late and were approved.  I don't know more about the circumstances, but they might be a useful resource for you - as would be the others in that thread...

I don't have any answers as to the situation with regard to the removal of conditions and subsequent potential bar, but you are looking at having been out of the country for a full year very soon...  This has serious potential ramifications as well, including the implication of having abandoned his residency unless he had AP for the trip...

One way or another you need to figure this out quickly, and probably have an attorney help out...  Good luck!

17 minutes ago, NateAndJessica said:

bingo. they think you might be a spy.

I'm not sure if spy is what I would think of immediately, but if the OP was an officer in the US for 20 years, then that name will be in a *lot* of paperwork, and will cause a lot of hits on a FBI name check.  Going back 20+ years will mean that they will have to pull actual paper copies of items where the name shows up...  I can't even begin to think of the number of times that the OPs name will come up in a search; I have a suspicion that it is a significant cause for delays, though at 3 years, the delay is excessive.  I would tend to agree that a WoM is in order at this stage...

I had but one passport of mine to show at my interview, though I did have my wife's old passport with me as well... 

In my case, the old passport had been taken from me by the consulate on renewal, so it was a clear cut case of why I did not have it, and the consulate appears to take it occasionally, but not always...  No issue at the interview, and I can't recall if they asked to see her old one...

22 hours ago, topazfae said:

Hey - I'm back. I just filed for my passport today.  I have been postponing it too long - was planned to do it in August but didn't have a chance until now. It has to be this weekend or I can't go to Canada for a visit in July.  I know there is a separate forum for passport filers but I couldn't find them?

 

topazfae

Yes there is:

US Visa Holder and Permanent Resident Immigration Discussion ->

US Citizenship General Discussion ->

Passports, etc. - What to do now that you are a US citizen ->

2018 - US Passport & Card Application Tracker

On 5/21/2018 at 7:56 AM, inqztve said:

It was a B&W copy made my USCIS office (they didn't take the copy I made and brought with me according to their instruction). It had a colorless raised seal on it. There was also a letter on official USCIS letterhead stating:

 

"BY VIRTUE OF the authority vested into me by Title 8, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 103 of Immigration and Nationality ACT (INA), and Tile IV, Subtitle E, Section 451 and Section 456 of the Homeland Security Act of 202,

 

I HEREBY CERTIFY the the annexed documents are originals, or copies thereof, from the record of the U.S Citizenship and Immigration, Department of Homeland Security, which the Secretary is the legal custodian by virtue of Section 103 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The documents relates to:"

 

Then it included information related my name and A# and certificate # and signed by the director of the field office (who was apparently the only person in the field office who was authorized to sign). It also had a raised colorless seal on it in a section called "Annotations". I was told the "sealed" photocopy of the certificate and the signed and "sealed" letter together constitute a "certified true copy" and I must file them together wherever the "certified true copy" is accepted (such as the passport application) and I wanted to use it instead of the original. 

 

State Dept. accepted it and processed my passport application with it. However, they only returned the other plain photocopy  I made and included on the application and not the certified copy. I need to call them and ask them to return it.

 

Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any other questions.

 

Thank you!  This is certainly not the kind of document I was given...  Time for another trip to the local office...

On 5/11/2018 at 1:20 AM, inqztve said:

Thank you. I just wanted to let people in forum know it's possible even though sometimes the State Dept. or USPS don't have the right information. While it appears that it's really rare for the State Dept. to lose the certificate, I think it's worth the effort to apply with the certified copy.

Could you elaborate what your "true certified copy" looked like please?  I had gone to get two certified copies from the USCIS, and used one to apply for a passport only to have them reject it.  I had sent the other to the state department for an apostille, and their rejection was with a letter stating that they needed a copy that had a raised seal and some other components - the "certified true copy" that I received from the USCIS only had a wet-ink stamp and a signature on it...

Congrats!  I thought I had a long wait, but seems not so bad now!

On 4/24/2018 at 2:19 PM, inqztve said:

I am not sure what their standard is. I got a certified true copy from USCIS today. They didn't take my copy. They made a copy of it themselves (black and white) and they added an additional letter prescribing it was an certified true copy and was signed by the the Director of the field office. I was told no one else is authorized to sign it and I had to wait additional 30 min because the director was not in his office. Other than his signature, both pages had raised seal (colorless). However, this does NOT mean what you got is not a certified true copy. Different offices has different standard and procedures. 

Thanks!  That sounds more like what I would have expected, and I was somewhat dubious about the copy "certification" that I received, but thought I'd run with it anyway since I didn't have much choice.  It also seems more in line with what the DoS was asking for in their refusal to apostille...

Now just another longish trip to get a new copy from USCIS - at least I have documentation from DoS that shows what they consider to be a true copy...

You might also consider contacting the USCIS ombudsman - they may have some pull in the matter as well as your congressional representative... 

Just now, My Baby said:

but the form are same right mean for all countries for the tourist visa?

I believe so...  In any case, whatever you'll find on the embassy site in India should be valid for Bhutan just as well - just having to travel to Delhi for any interviews that are required...  It *may* be possible to do something in Kolkata as well, which should be easier to get to, but you would want to verify if you can do anything there...

I'm guessing that the representation of the US for Bhutan would be the embassy in New Delhi though there are no official diplomatic ties between the two countries (US and Bhutan).

In fact, you can find more information on the US Embassy in New Delhi webpage at https://in.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/bhutan-affairs/visa-procedures-bhutanese-applicants/

2 hours ago, mhis82 said:

Do yourself a favor, send original certificate and save time.

I can assure you they will ask you for original certificate after you file certified copy.

My friend had this experience, they want your original certificate if this is first time.

 

This is not for a passport...  I need an apostille on the document that will be sent away - I will not get the document back once I send it out.  As a result, I cannot get an apostille on the original certificate seeing as an apostille gets attached permanently to the document that it pertains to...

Quick question for anybody who has gotten a certified true copy of their naturalization certificate...

I went to the local office and asked for one, with the requisite documents (Original certificate, photocopy of same, other ID).  What I got back was my photocopy with a stamp and signature on the back indicating that it was a certified true copy of the original.  However, there was no raised seal on the document which made me wonder - was I given something that was not done correctly?  (Department of State refused to apostille the document since it has no raised seal, or a clarification of the signature).

Tnx

Trying to prove a negative similar to that would be practically impossible...  Kind of reminds me of the one time I was asked to provide proof (many years ago) that I had not acquired citizenship anywhere else...

I don't think that days spent out of the country have anything to do with background checks - everybody has to go through them regardless.  The amount of time you have been in the country, the commonality of your name, and other similar factors will have an impact on how long it takes, but the actual amount of time is anybody's guess...