USA Immigration and unpaid driving ticket

C

clair7

Guest
I lived in California 4 years ago and just before I left to move back to Ireland, I had rented a car and received a ticket for breaking a red light in San Francisco. I only found out about this months after I returned here to live and never bothered paying the fine as it was €300 and I still hadn't found a job here. The problem is that I now want to go back to visit friends in California but I'm afraid with all this new Homeland Security that I will have terrible problems at Immigration and my biggest fear is that I may be arrested! I now have a new passport as my previous one expired so there are no historical stamps from my greencard. I have no plans to enter the country on my greencard anymore but rather as a tourist as the greencard is probably invalid now that I've been outside the US for so long. Does anyone have any experience of entering the US with fines such as this outstanding or should I just try and track it down all these years later and pay it off before visiting the country again?
 
I have a feeling u might end up in Guantanamo Bay. Some people have ended up there for less! ;)
 
You should contact the US Embassy and see what needs to be done to deal with this matter. If I was in the same situation I would on no account travel with the matter potentially hanging over me. You could end up being refused entry and being deported or even remanded for a period. It has happened.
 
Lauren said:
I have a feeling u might end up in Guantanamo Bay. Some people have ended up there for less! ;)
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Haha...very true.

I reckon you shouldn't worry about this at all. It's unlikely they'll have you on record four years later for something as minor as this...especially as you're not a US citizen.
 
Gabriel said:
I reckon you shouldn't worry about this at all. It's unlikely they'll have you on record four years later for something as minor as this...especially as you're not a US citizen.
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I don't think that this is true. I know people who got a nasty surprise when they returned to the US many years after leaving unpaid fines behind them. And that was pre 9-11 so the repercussions could be even more serious now. Contact the US embassy and see what they advise.
 
I got a print out of my credit report from the US and there's no mention of any violations in the 'Public' section which usually notes court violations etc. I think I might take the chance and see what happens. If it does pop up, I guess I can plead ignorance as the violation happened just a week before I actually left the country for good and it was afterall in a rental car, as I had already sold my own car by that stage.
 
Perhaps the risk of repercussions is slim but I think anybody who takes the chance is very foolhardy especially given how strict the US (federal and state) authorities are about enforcing rules these days.
 
ClubMan said:
I don't think that this is true. I know people who got a nasty surprise when they returned to the US many years after leaving unpaid fines behind them. And that was pre 9-11 so the repercussions could be even more serious now. Contact the US embassy and see what they advise.
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Maybe but the idea that they'd deport you for an unpaid parking violation (or something of that kind) strikes me as a bit daft. Worst case scenario I reckon is that you'd be forced to pay it before entering the country.
 
ronan_d_john said:
Depending on how much you believe Google Answers, this seems to indicate that there's no issues here.
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There are mixed messages in that thread - note the last post.
 
Why not just call the US embassy and ask the question? Unless you are forced to identify yourself, there's nothing to lose, is there? Of course, I wouldn't be surprised they insist you pay the fine (no harm I suppose), but should give you some idea of what the scenario is if you are stopped in the US and they found out you haven't paid the fine.

For what it's worth, I would endeavour to pay the fine for peace of mind. Any chance it would cause you trouble when trying to rent a car again?
 
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