Do Paid Speeding or Parking Tickets Count As "Charged" or "Convicted" on N-400

[WhoRunTings]

Hi all...

One more question: if I have speeding and/or parking ticket(s) that I paid (i.e. I did not try to contest them in court, I just sent them the money), do I have to answer YES to the following N-400 questions:

Q17: Have you ever been charged with committing any crime or offense?
Q18: Have you ever been convicted of a crime or offense?

I do not understand the precise legal definitions, but it seems to me that a ticket IS a charge for an offense, and paying for it could be equivalent to being convicted. Or am I misusing the terms "charged" and "convicted" in this case? Are parking tickets different from speeding (and other traffic) tickets when it comes to these definitions?

The M-476 "Guide to Naturalization" says that I don't need to SUBMIT DOCUMENTATION for these kinds of offenses, but if I am reading the Guide correctly, I still need to REPORT them, correct?

[Mr. Knowitall]

In some states, traffic tickets are criminal offenses. In all states, some traffic tickets are criminal offenses. They're really not concerned about ordinary speeding tickets, save perhaps if you're getting so many tickets that you appear to be a scofflaw, but without knowing the details I say "err on the side of inclusion" - it's better to tell them about something they don't care about than to omit something they do care about.

With every parking citation I've seen, the citation is against the car, not the owner or driver. (You as the owner can get in trouble for not paying them, sure - and an action against you for nonpayment of tickets is likely something you would have to report.) I suppose there may be parking offenses where an offender is named, in which case the answer's the same as above.

[WhoRunTings]

Thanks Mr. Knowitall. I decided I will not report the parking tickets, but I will report the one speeding ticket that I have. I will not count it as a conviction (so, no on Q18). My philosophy is that if the Immigration Officer considers that I should have answered the question differently, we can clear it up at the interview.

I picked up a lot of interesting stuff from this board:

http://forums.immigration.com/forumdisplay.php?f=18

which is what is responsible for me forming the above philosophy.

Cheers. My N-400 is in the mail...

[ira27b]

I'm not sure but I think I saw on the instructions that if the fee/penalty for traffic violations was under $500.00, you do not have to report it, of course, if it's not considered crime in Your state. Good luck with form