Unsure of how to fill in visa application

My story is rather complicated...
When i was 14 I went to America alone to visit family. I ended up staying, found out I was illegally living there for 6 months (we were told by the school they would sort out all the paperwork) so I quickly got adopted by my family and continued living there for another 3 years. I then moved back to England but often returned to America. I would get return tickets from America, to America every 6 months. Eventually a border control agent said I had to have a return ticket to England or I could not enter. Instead of deporting me, they gave me the option to not enter the country...so I turned around and went straight back to England.
I later decided I wanted to go back to live in America as I found out I was entitled to citizenship. I began proceedings but didn't have the money to continue...so discontinued the application.

So there is the background...now my family and I wish to move back to America, my husband has a job and is due to start in August. He is getting his H1B visa and my boys and I will go on a H4 visa. The trouble is...I'm not sure how to fill in my application!

It asks if I went to school but did not reimburse them for tuition...well, no, I didn't...because I was entitled to tuition as I was adopted by Americans.

They also ask if I had ever changed my mind about entering at the port...I said I did change my mind and I said the reason was that I was unaware that I had to have a return ticket out of America...I'd done it several times previously with no troubles (apparently I could only do that until I was 21).

The third question was if anyone had ever petitioned for immigration on my behalf. Well...I think so. I'm sure...that would be the petition I started to move back there I guess. The one I chose to discontinue.

Anyway, I don't want to be dishonest and I won't say any lies unintentionally, but I also don't want to say the truth in a way that prohibits me getting a visa. I also don't want to say what I think is the truth but turns out not to be! Any tips on answering the above and inviting the least trouble, please?

Thanks:):)

Having read your US immigration history, it's apparent that you probably do not have all the information that would be required to complete the application form.

Therefore what I'd suggest is that you make a request for a copy of your US immigration records. The FOIA link below should help. It's similar to making a SAR (Subject Access Request) here in the UK (FOI).
https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/freedom- ... pa-request

This way you will not need to guess or be worried that you have incorrectly completed the application form. Having completed US Visa forms in the past I know they are quite detailed and require details of previous visas and entry into the US, so unless you have that information with you, I wouldn't recommend guessing the answers, as it could then be construed as deception if the answers doesn't match what has been recorded in your immigration records.

Great, thanks for the reply:) I'll read it now...