Decision

Question 23 on part 12, page 14 of theN-400 naturalization application asks whether you have ever been arrested, cited, or detained by any law enforcement officer (including any immigration official or any official of the US Armed Forces) for any reason? That would seemingly include your traffic accident with alcohol. Although the naturalization officer may look at the offense again – if your immigrant file shows the fact that you received the immigrant visa despite your disclosure of the offense previously, that likely means that he or she will not look at it that closely in terms of inadmissibility as a crime or other ground of inadmissibility. More of a concern may be whether you have made a misrepresentation in your naturalization application which could lead to a finding of ineligibility for not having good moral character. Such may depend upon the officer’s perception of your forthrightness at the interview and whether the officer gave you a chance to correct your account, and whether you were forthright in doing so. If you continually denied that you had any incident with the law and the officer had to in effect drag it out of you, the officer may consider whether a misrepresentation was made. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.