hi why it was dined

cause I have been registered to vote not never voted .

till this moment I have no idea how I have been registered to vote . anyone can help to find out

I am not getting it if you wasn’t a us citizen how can you vote

They are saying you registered illegally to vote?

I didn’t Vote . I just been registered to vote but never voted

somehow I been registered to vote maybe by the dmv or somewhere else .

wow that’s crazy will it effect on your green card status

if I voted yes it’s will risk my green card holder to be taken away plus order for deportation.

all what I can tell you guys , honest mistake I may have done or I didn’t cause I swear to don’t remember how I have been registered.

before you apply for your citizenship make sure you are not registered to vote .

my lawyer couldn’t even speak or defend me at the Interview cause he legally can’t speak for me .

@john how did they know you were registered to vote? you told them?

what’s ur field office?

yes I found out before my interview in 20 days and I took my name off of the Registration list and I got approved that I never voted in any election and I told them that I been registered to vote and was honest mistake and I don’t remember how I been registered I will never lie cause if they find out you been lying they can take your citizenship away cause you didn’t mention that you been registered to vote . I was very honest and they DENIED MY CITIZENSHIP.

Chicago field office. they are tough

if you don’t file tax jointly they will denied your application. if you change your address and you didn’t mention that they can denied your application.

just reapply and thankgod you never voted

it’s conceder as Poor moral character .

hi did you apply citizenship 3 year marriage rule

it’s really hurts to deny my citizenship for honest mistake and I never had any criminal record and I pay taxes on time on all my family citizenship. it’s just unfair . the office was very mean .

@john I’m sorry to hear that, just reapply again after maybe a year

You need to find where you registered to vote. See if it was an actual mistake or if you did "apply".

they probably think you claimed being a US citizen when your not. you'd need a very strong attorney for this case. so sorry you r going through this.

hi John did you file 3 year marriage rule or it was normal 5 year rule

5 years

I have talked to 3 lawyers . best way is to wait 5 more years and apply again

heat at which you would have excibited good moral character

@John, it was a honest mistake you never voted,you never intened to vote, as you are not a us citizen. you'll probably need to get in touch with USCIS somehow and explain to them the situation so they can advise you on what to do. If you decide to wait 5yrs to file again and you haven't overcome the reason for denial, you'll be denied again!

@austin I have contact the election office and they said that I been registered online but I told them that I never signed this form, he said they may used your signature from the DMV when you got your driving license. the officer said this will not stop you from getting your citizenship I have seen case like my case been approved after they got documents to approve that they removed there name from the registration list and they never voted but the officer was tough and mean .

@John, sorry about that. This happens alot during DMV registration. But I still think you should get in touch with USCIS so they can advise how to go about it. but I'm sure it will be alright.

I will see

The issue here is if there's a portion of dmv form that asks if u are citizen, if u answer no it won't register u to vote, but if u erroneously say yes, it'll register u to vote. This is the perception with which uscis look at it.

@Eko, you r right!

(718) 888-9545 call this number they may be of help

USCIS Changes Their Voting Policy Regarding Naturalization (Citizenship) Eligibility POSTED ON JULY 2, 2021 Recently, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated their voting policy. Only U.S. Citizens are allowed to vote in a federal election. At times, green card holders accidentally registered to vote through the department of motor vehicles or other government agency. Some drivers license forms also have boxes that ask if you want to vote. Green Card holders are not allowed to vote in federal elections. Improper voting may affect an applicant’s good moral character (GMC) determination when petitioning for citizenship. At times, green card holders were denied citizenship because they registered to vote or voted in a federal election. Many of them, did not know they had even registered. This change will reduce the denials of citizenship, which is great news! If you accidentally registered to vote or voted in a federal election, our immigration lawyers can help. The most important thing to do is deregister ASAP! You also need to get a copy of your voting record. The immigration lawyers at Heiferman & Associates are here to assist with your citizenship needs. Our immigration attorneys guide clients step by step through this process. Our immigration attorneys are able to sue the government for individuals improperly denied citizenship and visas. We also assist individuals denied citizenship with appeals. If your citizenship has been denied, you have to act quickly, otherwise you may have wait another 5 years. If you or a family member needs assistance with a denial of citizenship, the experienced immigration lawyers at Heiferman & Associates can help. We assist clients with applying for most visas, green cards, as well as defend clients in Immigration Court. Please contact us today at (718) 888-9545 to schedule an initial consultation with one of our experienced immigration attorneys. Consultations are available by appointment, Zoom, Teams, Google and more.

However, USCIS does not consider an applicant to have made a false claim to U.S. citizenship in order to register to vote if the applicant was unaware that the false claim would result in his or her voter registration. In addition, an applicant who makes a false claim in a driver’s license or state benefit application, where unconnected to voter registration, does not commit an unlawful act under 18 U.S.C. 1015(f). This is because a violation of 18 U.S.C. 1015(f)requires the applicant to have made a false claim “in order to register to vote or to vote in any Federal, State, or local election.” However, the applicant may have violated 18 U.S.C. 1015(e)or an applicable state law. USCIS does not consider an applicant to have unlawfully claimed to be a U.S. citizen if the applicant did not affirmatively indicate that he or she is a U.S. citizen. However, if the applicant registered to vote, the applicant has the burden to prove that the registration form did not contain a question about whether the applicant is a U.S. citizen or that the applicant did not indicate, in response to such a question, that he or she is a U.S. citizen.

Clarifies that USCIS does not consider an applicant to have unlawfully claimed to be a U.S. citizen if the applicant did not affirmatively indicate that he or she is a U.S. citizen.  However, if the applicant registered to vote, the applicant has the burden to prove that the registration form did not contain a question about whether the applicant is a U.S. citizen or that the applicant did not indicate, in response to the question, that he or she is a U.S. citizen.”

@John Adi you got 30 days to make up ur mind if you want to appeal or wait next 5 years. So what u gonna do?

hey Eko thanks a lot for all this amazing information. the officer denied my application cause I said yes on ( are you us citizen? I said yes , and she said that it’s “ unlawful “ and “ Poor moral character “I don’t remember singing any registration form and I never signed any registration form . but I found out the I have been registered online and they attached my signature on the form from the DMV and my signature match the signature on the driving license . how long this apeal will take to be Scheduled for the interview? and do I have to wait 5 more years from the date I got the denial or from the date I removed my name from the registration list ?

if you answered yes to citizenship question, there's no point appealing, and then u got to wait till 5 years after u are denied application for citizenship and Naturalization.

any updates?

they Schedule my appeal on September 19 2022 wish me good luck everyone .

I wish u good luck

Hi John, wish everything went well in your appeal. Was there a hearing and a decision? Would you please share what happened?

hey, yes I went to the appeal , the interview was with higher lever officer , I gave her new evidence that my signature on the registration form was copay paste from the dmv , she asked why the officer who denied your application was wrong ? She take my statement… etc She was mean …. at the end of the interview she said we cannot give you the decision now I have to review it with my supervisor if we decide to denied your application we will send you later for denial, and if we decide to approve your case we will send you an appointment for the oath ceremony. so no decision made yet.

I am sorry for that and hope your case will get approved soon. Its really none sense and nothing but a trap to trick innocent people.

Did you try to get copies of your DMV license renewal applications? Do they keep a record of it? Can you prove that you have not checked the question "Are you a US citizen?" Even after you wait 5 years what will change if they gonna use the same argument again to judge your application? I am sorry I am screaming out loud because I feel your pain and disappointment!!!!

For me I discovered this back in 2019 and it was by mere luck! I asked for a driver record during my license renewal to check if a 6 years old speeding ticket was still in my record or not. I saw a field right in the top of my record says something like voter id with a number. When I asked what does that mean the SOS agent explained it to me. I was surprised and I was actually laughing at that time because she just finished processing my license renewal application and gave me the receipt. I asked her for my application and showed her that I indicated that I am not a citizen!! She mentioned this is from a previous time. I asked her even if that is true would not this flag anything in your system!! Would not this even trigger you to ask me about my voting status!!! The answer was no. Even worse when she tried to help me removing my name from the voting registry the software system did not allow her! She called the manager and same thing happened. They advise me to go to the county office. Same thing happened again at the county office, their software/system could not do it too!! They advise me to go to the city office. After a couple of visits to the city I managed to get hold of the city clerk and explained her the situation. She actually was the one that removed my name from the voting registry and gave me the my "voting record" which shows I have never voted. When I asked her how my name ended up in the voting registry she mentioned that there is a possibility they got it from the DMV but she is not sure!! At that time I had no clue about its implication on the n400 application and did not follow up. Now when I started filling the n400 I was surprise with the voting registry question and when I googled it I was shocked with the people stories about it. I am really lost and do not know what to do!! By the way I live in Michigan and I am trying to claim the 5 years rule. One more thing, the question says have you ever registered to vote.... so no matter how long you wait if it has happened I believe you should say YES!!!

honestly, it’s too tough to convince them that registration thing was made unknowingly, untentionally . after I removed my name from the registration list and got all the documents saying never voted at the interview they asked for the actual registration application take me over 2 weeks to find it and after I found it I saw my signature on it and after 6 month I found out the my signature was copy paste from the DMV and I never registered to Vote and I don’t even know how to register to vote it’s so unfair to pay for something that you didn’t do . all what the officer looking for is 2 questions. are you Us citizen ? YES is this your signature? YES if your answer was yes for both then most likely 95% you will get denide and you have to wait 5 more years and then you have to apply again . it’s all about the officer who make the interview with u .

I hear you and feel you! But why are you answering yes to the first question "Are you a US citizen"? Shouldn't you say NO and emphasis on the fact that your application is to get there but you are not there yet?

How did you get the original registration application? and how did you find out that your signature was copied from the DMV?

“ i said yes “ on the registration application the one from the border of election 🗳. you have to go to the border of election and ask for it , first 3 times I went there they kept saying we don’t have it but and the end they found it . I still have my old driving license from 2013 and the signature on it was the same signature on the registration application , on 2016 somehow my name got registered to vote so after I got my driving license almost 3 years my name was registered to vote . I never registered to vote and I said claimed to be us citizen. I’m sure 99% that I been registered to vote automatic by the dmv or the border of election.

damn, the same thing happened to me- I just found out that i registered to vote and had no idea because i thought i canceled the registration. my interview is in 4 days and im so worried my citizenship will be denied!

did you get the registration application form the one has your signature?

has check box where they ask for : are you us citizen? you need to bring it with you at the interview otherwise they will put you on REF . how did you registered to vote ?

no didn't get the registration application, nor do i know how to or if i will be able to get it in time. I believe i was registered when i was applying for my driver's license and they were asking me my info for registration which i began filling out. i didn't know what i was filling out at the time and got a little worried so i hit cancel and thought it would be the end of it since i wasn't sent any letter or voter id card. the info on my registration is wrong like how it says im a conservative when im not. if there was a question asking if im a u.s. citizen ( i dont remember if it did since it was two years ago) i would have answered no since im a green card holder. what state do you live in and were you threatened with deportation? Im in new york city.

So here is my situation. My wife (a us citizen) thought that I as a green card holder could vote in local elections (you can in some places) so she pushed me to go fill out a voter registration application. I answered NO on being a US Citizen, but I signed it. The day after I did some research and found out that I should not have done that. We immediately called and talked to the registrars county office. The person in charge said she was sorry she had not caught it and confirmed that I had answered no on being a US Citizen. She cancelled it the very same day and said that I have nothing to worry about. She also said that per state law the application would have been automatically rejected as it went through the system since I had answered no on the citizen question. Since the application was never approved I was never registered. When I search the states database it comes up as "cancelled" and the reason says "error". I am still a year and a half away from when I can file. Should I answer Yes or No on the question about ever having registered since it never went through? I will of course apply for citizenship well over 3 years from when it happened just to be on the safe side.

if you answer NO . then say you never registered to vote . NO NO NO .

Thanks for replying. So you think I should say no even though I filled out the application? I show up in the system but under "cancelled due to error". You think they will understand my explanation and that it will be ok? What is in my favor is that I answered no on the citizen question. What is not in my favor is that I willingly filled out the application thinking I could vote in local elections. I am freaking out a bit about this despite the fact that it is over a 1,5 years until I can file for citizenship... How did it go for you John? Has it been resolved yet?

on the registration application there is question said : are you us citizen ? did you answer yes or no ?

I answered no. I know I am probably just worrying for nothing but still..

I would say no. you can ask your lawyer to make sure

Thank you, I don't have a lawyer currently but I will certainly consult one before filing. I appreciate your input. How did it go for you with your application?

John adi did you receive your letter with their decision yet? My husband is having the same issue today was his 3rd time going to do the test. He passes with flying colors each time. So we have applied 3 times total!!! Im an American citizen and we have been married for almost 17 years ......Today they said the same to him as they said to you about not being able to say for sure but the officer needed to talk to his supervisor. My husband was registered under his name and his nick name so he was on there twice. It was 5 years last year in November since he had been removed from the list. Hopefully this 3rd time works but idk it's still seems they have issues.

Whitney, have they denied him twice for being registered? Was he registered under two different names? Have they talked about deportation at all? Sorry for all the questions. I hope it works out for him. From what I understand you need to show Good Moral Conduct for the 5 years prior to applying for citizenship (3 if you are married to a citizen).

Hi John Adi, did you get their decision letter? Please update us . Thank you

I hope you’re got approved!!

hey. I’m still waiting for their decision, it’s been over 2 months .

Any updates from anyone with this story? My wife has similar story. She found out she somehow registered to vote when she was 17 (now 35) after the County elections office accidentally put someone else's vote with the same name to her registration in the 2016 election. That part has been sorted out and the elections office has admitted to the error. Thank god she is no longer being accused of illegally voting. She had no idea she had been registered until the other person's vote was placed in her name just a few years ago. After her name was cleared of the illegal voting she immediately removed her registration. Now she is afraid that she has been 'flagged' for the mistaken registration from many years ago and could be deported when applying for citizenship or renewing green card.

hi John Adi, We’re in same situation, I was registered to vote unknowingly and I canceled it. I’ve never voted. my n400 interview was 3 weeks ago and they requested to provide actual application form and my voting history. I’m still worrying and my attorney told that he’s going to withdraw the case

What if the officer will never ask about if you ever registered to vote? Or if they ever ask you that if you registered , you said no because you didn’t know anyway.

welo Tueli can you tell me what happen in the interview? and when is your date to return to the officer and take the application form?

hey, as long as you didn’t vote you will be fine , they won’t deport you , but they may denied your application and then you can apply again after 5 years from the date you removed your name on the registration list . they asked me did you register to vote ? is this your signature on the application? how did you register to vote, online or by the dmv ? have you ever voted ? and all what they want to see if your registration application if you stated on the question, are you us citizen? if the check box was yes and you signed it and then 90% they will denied your application. in my case is little bit different cause I found out that I been registered to vote and I never filed any application by the dmv it was online registration, somehow or someone registered me to vote and they copay paste my signature from the dmv to the application. so wasn’t my wet ink ✍️ signature. basically they took my signature from the DMV and placed it on the application. if you wanna continue with your notarization find out how you been registered to vote, it maybe automatic registration by the DMV ( error ) . if your signature wasn’t match the signature on State ID or driver license then I would deny all of it and I will say no I Never registered to vote and this not my signature. if you say yes I registered to vote and it’s my signature then 90% they gonna denied your application and you can apply again after 5 years or make an appeal but you need to bring new evidence. and if you wanna withdraw your application they need a reason why. If you removed your name from the registration list Before going to the interview and on the application you answered on the question have you ever registered to vote? no if I was you I wouldn’t bring it up and if they asked me I would say no . cause I never registered to Vote and I removed my name from the registration list .

if you have a green card and voted it in any election then 99% you will be deported . after 1 years of researching and studying other people cases a lot of people been registered to vote by accident, unknownlly , didn’t read what they are singing for , maybe when they renewed their state ID or driving license they ask would you like to register to vote and you may said yes but you didn’t understand the question, you just said yes . at the end it’s up to the officer if he/she had a good day , they maybe gonna approve your case and I know people got approved and they been registered to vote .

my interview is on dec 8 i just removed my registration to vote monday, you think thwy will found out ? if i ever say yes?

3 months after the appeal and no decision made yet . hopefully soon .

if you filed based marriege or through us citizen spouse , will it be 5 years or years of good moral character?

john adi? when did you removed your registration after the interview or before?

based on marriage I’m not sure maybe last 3 years , but they want the last 5 years has to be clean .

will it begin from the day you registered to vote or the day you canceled ?

20 days before the interview same day I found out . they gonna ask you why you didn’t remove your name years a go ?

welo , from the day you canceled your registration.

which state did you file your n400 John Adi ?

its just happen in august, and i came across your post then i went and cancelled it.. but

Chicago

when you filed your n400 what did you answer on the question, have you ever registered to vote ? yes / no

i said no

so i have to say no?

John Adi, did you check to the box yes to Are you us citizen?

on the registration application was YES . if you answer no they won’t registered you .

at the end don’t take my words I’m not a lawyer , I just told you what I did and what they gonna ask . I had a lawyer with me at the interview and at the appeal and he didn’t help me cause they didn’t let him to talk he was just taking notes .

on my , application to the registration to vote, is yes if are you a us citizen, and to my application for n400 i said no cause I wasn’t that time on august i was registered accidentally, i got my id card September and now my interview is on, December 8 but in November 28 i removed my self to the registration and get the cert of no vote

John Adi , did you show them your voter registration application containing your false claim to be us citizen? I have seen some one who was registered to vote and claimed to be us citizen. that person never voted and he got a letter denial with notice of removal proceedings !!

welo what is notice of removal proceedings?

im really worried! its just happen last august 22 was an idiot, i got the actual form, and before that june 2022 i submitted my n400 i only got an interview last month and the interview date is on december 8 .. i dont know if i will say i did register and i remove my self already and i haven’t voted..

yes I did show them the voter registration , and she told me if you voted then it may gonna send you notice of removal proceeding . as long as you didn’t vote then they won’t deported you . maybe the guy you know he voted or maybe have criminal recodes .

the thing they’re requesting the registration application form is that they wanna look that you clicked yes to the question of Are you us citizen ? so that did they see that you clicked on it for the false claim of us citizen ? what did they say about that ? is it okay even that if you didn’t vote ?

for me, at the interview there was an attorney with me and he couldn’t say any single word to defend me ( wasted my money and time ) but when officer asked me about these questions, I answered yes to the one of the registration and I told him I’ve never voted. he told me that a decision can’t be made now since he needs additional docs . they sent me letter they’re requesting to provide proof of voter registration form and my voting history . he even didn’t request me proof of cancellation of my voter registration. my attorny told me that they’re going to see if you falsely claimed to be us citizen and then if they see that it’s yes then they gonna deport me . he made me feel scary . then why did I pay him even if he can’t defend me ? the most attorneys are dis honest they just look or care your bank account instead they would treat as human . up to now uscis waiting for me to make response and I’m feeling fear of deportations. Some one at the dmv filled the form for me since at that time I couldn’t read or write English and I was lacking the basic understanding of the language, he helped to fill the form , he didn’t ask me anything during when he was filling . when he finished the filling he told me to take this form to bring one the counter staffs. I’m still feeling upset and helpless .

this is the link of thread of the guy he was just registered to vote but unfortunately got found removal of proceedings https://forums.immigration.com/threads/removal-proceedings.342991/#post-2524342