Jaywalking ticket, etc.

[mango347]

I am just remembering about my ticket that I got sometime in 2015 for "jaywalking". I put that in quotes as I did not deliberately try to jaywalk. I was crossing the street while the red hand was blinking and had no idea until then that I was not supposed to cross when the hand starts blinking? Anyway, I got a whopping $196 fine, which I paid for. Unfortunately, I don't think I have that ticket anymore and neither did I mention it on the form because I completely forgot about it. I do plan on mentioning it to the officer, but would it be an issue as far as him/her asking me for proof (i.e., go to the police station and get a copy of the ticket, etc.)? Would the officer be okay with my verbally telling her this without proof? I am so worried!

Also, my mother was on disability when I was in middle school until her death in 2012. At some point when I was in high school, I was getting some sort of govt aid through my mom and we were also on food stamps for as long as I can remember. Would I need to mention any of this to the officer? It was a long time ago so none of this even crossed my mind.

On that note, I have also applied for unemployment several years ago, but stopped receiving once I started working, etc. I don't remember on the application asking about anything of the sort so I did not mention it (again, this too, did not cross my mind).

I would also like to note that I've been a permanent resident for 25 years. I immigrated from South Korea in 1994 when I was 6. I attended grade school, middle school, high school and 4 year university in California. I have my own subscription based business. Just so people have a little background as I am anxious as all can be.

[N400questions]

It's me again!

Jaywalking is something that a "reasonable" person would simply ignore. However the USCIS are obliged to follow strict guidelines. Maybe you never paid the fine.. so they may feel like they need to find out by asking you to get paperwork from the courts. (Of course if you DIDN'T pay the fine... there could be an arrest warrant and that would be in the background check... but the USCIS don't always use my "reasonable" approach and paperwork may be requested).

So once again, you may need to PROVE that you paid the fine. The easiest way to do that is to go to the court that handled your case and get a certified "Case Disposition" which will show what you did, when you did it, what the fine was and if you paid it or not. Usually the final entry will say "Case dismissed by D.A." which means that the case is closed and every thing is taken care of. You can get this paperwork at no cost... however, I recommend paying the extra $5 or $10 to get a CERTIFIED copy with the Court's embossed seal on it. Why do I say that? Because I've seen them ask for it. The court can do this immediately while you wait if you go to the court and go to the "Clerk of the Court" window or maybe the "Court Records Window".
On the other hand.... the adjudicator may not even care and not request this paperwork. My approach is to go OVER-prepared instead of UNDER-prepared. It's your choice if you want to take a gamble or not.
Once again.. the worst thing that can happen (if you don't have that paperwork) is that they will send you away with a "Request for Evidence" telling you to go get it.

The food stamp issue should not be an issue if you were a minor (I believe). It wasn't YOU who was getting benefits.. it was your mother. I'm not even sure that foodstamps are EVER an issue for Naturalization.

Unemployment is a RIGHT that you have EARNED as a part of paying taxes and/or Social Security taxes. It is not a hand-out... it is a pay-back of something you have EARNED. So this is a total non-issue

Nothing you have told us so far in this thread and your other thread is a show-stopper... the worst that can happen is that you may need to get extra paperwork if they ask you for it and you don't have it. It adds a delay but it is not a cause for rejection.

I am not an attorney but I'm fairly certain I'm right on all this.