N 400 question

[teachinusa]

The question is pretty trivial,hope someone can help me :

Q 16 HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ARRESTED ,CITED OR DETAINED BY ANY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER(INCLUDING USCIS OR FORMER INS OR MILITARY OFFICER) FOR ANY REASON?
yes/no

What does the word detain mean here...does getting pulled over by a cop for speeding count?I was issued a ticket which was fought in court and it was dropped.Nothing on record.

What should my answer be for this question...Yes/No

Kindly give me your inputs.
Help appreciated.

[fatfergie]

You should answer "yes".

It's not a big deal, but you have to answer truthfully to all of the questions on the N400.

Write to the traffic court where you fought the charge giving them details of when you were pulled over, your plate number, license number and citation number and a photo copy of everything you have related to the ticket.

Explain that your are applying for Naturalization and you need an offical letter with a court seal attesting that there are no pending charges against you related to the ticket. You may not get asked to show the letter to the interviewing officer, but better to go prepared.

[bayareamom]

I beg to differ here. It notes on the application to not include 'traffic violations' unless it had a fine of over $500.

And I actually consulted an attorney regarding exactly what the formal definition of 'detained' means in the USCIS lingo and she said that it would mean "handcuffed" in simple terms.. even if an arrest is not made.

Hope this helps but ofcourse when it doubt, it's always to get formal legal advise (like I did:-)

[teachinusa]

It helps

Thanks for your replies!

An acquaintance who had just been naturalized told me the same information as you ,bayareamom.Thanks for taking time to post your inputs.