Tracking down US speeding tickets - Citizenship Application

Hi all!

I'm working on my British Citizenship application and I am on the section about prior convictions. I have several speeding tickets from my teenage years in the U.S., which was about 20 years ago now (!) I am struggling to track down the details of these....and I am wondering if/how much they matter? My insurance company at the time does not keep records over 7 years. Any ideas would be so helpful!

x Nutmeg

Hi all!

I'm working on my British Citizenship application and I am on the section about prior convictions. I have several speeding tickets from my teenage years in the U.S., which was about 20 years ago now (!) I am struggling to track down the details of these....and I am wondering if/how much they matter? My insurance company at the time does not keep records over 7 years. Any ideas would be so helpful!

x Nutmeg

I think the most important thing is that you declare what you do remember, that's really all you can do. We wrote a narrative explaining any old tickets to the best of my husband's recollection. making it clear that we were trying to be as transparent as possible.  We didn't include any additional evidence, they didn't come back to ask for more information and citizenship was granted.
How are you doing with remembering the parking tickets? 

Thank you Larrabee...that is good to know!

After some more digging I found that the DMV in my home U.S. state doesn't hold records after 11 years so....! I actually decided to call the Home Office just now and they basically said that if there is no record, I could just not declare them. Either way, they said it wouldn't impact on my application - fingers crossed! I think I will definitely report them though just to be transparent

thanks again x

Thank you Larrabee...that is good to know!

After some more digging I found that the DMV in my home U.S. state doesn't hold records after 11 years so....! I actually decided to call the Home Office just now and they basically said that if there is no record, I could just not declare them. Either way, they said it wouldn't impact on my application - fingers crossed! I think I will definitely report them though just to be transparent

thanks again x

What I would normally recommend is to declare them and include a copy of your driving record, but explain that they are no longer on your record as they occurred more than 11 years ago.

That way, you are being honest and transparent, and also providing evidence that they are no longer on your record.

Thank you Larrabee...that is good to know!

After some more digging I found that the DMV in my home U.S. state doesn't hold records after 11 years so....! I actually decided to call the Home Office just now and they basically said that if there is no record, I could just not declare them. Either way, they said it wouldn't impact on my application - fingers crossed! I think I will definitely report them though just to be transparent

thanks again x

Yes, definitely do declare them!  . 

Thanks so much both for the good advice....I will do what you suggest Ksand24! Really appreciate it x

Thanks so much for posting this - I’m having the exact same issue and it’s stressing me out!

I did just receive my dmv record yesterday, and it’s completely blank! I know I got a ticket for running a stop sign ticket at some point but like yours, my State clears them after 7 years!  I will declare them as advised above but just wondering - will you put yes on the form and declare them there or put no and just explain them in a cover letter?

Also, did you decide what to do about parking tickets? There is no way I will be able to remember any! So I think those I will leave off ...
Hopefully that isn’t risky!!

Also, just thinking - it does ask the same question on the ILR application. If we didn’t declare them there but do for citizenship, are we considered “deceptive” as only declaring them later on?

Hi Emily,

I did put yes in the application and just put as much information as I could remember. I feel like I'm being as honest as I can be and that's all I can do really!

In terms of the IRL - my memory of that is that it specifically does not include things like parking tickets/speeding tickets....so I wouldn't worry!

Nutmeg