Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs)

Hi,

Myself and my dependents are due to apply for ILR in December. One of them had several penalty charge notices (PCNs) in the last year because of parking violations issued by a local council. All were paid within one day of issue. My previous understanding was that I don't need to report them on the SET (O) form because it was a note under 7.2 that parking fixed penalty notices are not counted unless they were part of a sentence of the court.

Now I'm confused. Do we need to list PCNs? On the new SET (O) form (v. 11/2015) they removed this note from 7.2 and under 7.6 they ask about the "civil penalties under the UK immigration Acts". Could PCNs be counted as such civil penalties and where can I find a clear list of what is counted as a civil penalty under the UK immigration Acts?

No requirement to declare PCN'S.

FPN does not constitute for a civil penalty. However there is a general character requirement where in the case worker can take note of repeated offences by the applicant.For eg an applicant has history of speeding tickets or history of parking fines which can be assessed by the case worker for deciding the outcome of the application.

However FPN's like spot fines are not stored in the PNC database. In the event that an applicant does not pay the spot fine it might then be up to the agency issuing the notice to go via court which now becomes a non-custodial conviction!!

Also you might want to do a SAR for the applicant who has multiple penalties.
https://www.acro.police.uk/subject_access.aspx

Ideally the applicant must get a 'No trace' found document which ensures that everything is clean.

talk2ram.28 wrote:Also you might want to do a SAR for the applicant who has multiple penalties.
https://www.acro.police.uk/subject_access.aspx

Ideally the applicant must get a 'No trace' found document which ensures that everything is clean.

As far as I understood after reading a lot about PCNs, they are not FPNs. A FPN would be issued by the police and PCN by a council, etc. None of the PCNs the dependent had stated name of the person who got them, just the car registration number. So, I can not imagine how they would be associated with any person's record unless they are unpaid and the case is investigated further. If they are not civil penalties under the Immigration Acts, my guess is that we should be fine. Am I correct?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/fixed-penal ... y-councils

FPN's can be issued by following councils.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
District council
London Borough council, Council of the City of London, Unitary authority
County council
Common Council of the Isles of Scilly
Parish council
Police Community Support Officers (on behalf of district council or unitary authority)
Environment Agency
Broads Authority
National Park Authority

It must noted that car registration number is more than enough to get personal details.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... 36/PNC.pdf
Check Pg 7

Vehicle information on the PNC
PNC also holds details of UK registered vehicles, these details are exactly the same as those held by the DVLA, and include:
 vehicle details:
o registration number
o make
o colour, and
o modifications of vehicles as well as details of cherished transfers of registration
plates
 registered keeper details:
o name
o address, and
o date since acquired
 DVLA markers
 police reports, and
 vehicle insurance details

fbutt50 wrote:No requirement to declare PCN'S.

Simple answer ..... given that you paid all the fines without the matter escalating to court.

Ignore the rest.

Hi,

I am applying for ILR based on 5 year residence in the UK (Tier 2 general visa). During this period I spent about 200 days out of the UK:

year 1: 30 days
year 2: 35 days
year 3: 20 days
year 4: 60 days
year 5: 50 days

I am a professor at a university and had multiple visits to multiple countries to present at conferences, run workshops, had short visits to my collaborators and also some for family reasons. Of course I was on payroll during all these travels.

My question is how to word reasons for absences: do I need specifically mention a conference or family visit (or both) for each absence in SET (O) form or just to say "job related". Also, what my employers (I had two of them) need to confirm in their letters - just in general that I was abroad because of my academic duties or on payed leaves or for each travel with dates they need specifically mention conference, leave, collaborator visit, workshop, etc.

245AAA and 245HH(B).

sushdmehta wrote:245AAA and 245HH(B).

sushdmehta, I understand that I did not break a continuous residency since I was less than 180 days away from the UK during each travel and was always payed, but how do I phrase reasons on the SET (O) form not to make it overcomplicated? List all absences as "employment related" since I was on payroll or mention specific reasons for each absence? The same for the letter from employers: do they just justify my continuous employment and state that all travels were "employment related" or they justify reasons for every absence with dates?

if you are still unable to figure that out, please paste in this topic the first sentence in 245HH(B).

sushdmehta wrote:Paste in this topic the first sentence in 245HH(B).

"A letter from the employer detailing the purpose and period of absences in connection with the employment, including periods of annual leave".

It is still unclear to me. It could be in the letter like:

visit 1: dates: specific reason(s), e.g. country 1, conference 1, visit to a collaborator XXX
visit 2: dates: specific reason(s), e.g., country 2, running a workshop (name?) and family visit
....
visit n: dates: specific reason(s)...

or

"During the period of a continuous employment with University XX (period) he spent XX days outside of the UK to present at scientific conferences, visit collaborators and run scientific workshops, all in line with his employment duties. During the same period he spent XXX days abroad on a payed annual leave."

Both are dealing the purpose and period of absences. However, the first one details each absence and the second - all of them.

Which one would be a right format for letters from employers?

Where are the "dates" in the second format? Isn't that part of the details?
Which purpose is associated with which period of absence? Isn't that part of the details?


The second format is what you may call a "summary". And 245HH(B) asks for letter "detailing" absences.

In what format does the form asks that absences be listed? That is hint enough too ... that HO expects you to get the letter in the same format so that the caseworker can verify the two sets of information?

sushdmehta wrote:Where are the "dates" in the second format? Isn't that part of the details?
Which purpose is associated with which period of absence? Isn't that part of the details?


The second format is what you may call a "summary". And 245HH(B) asks for letter "detailing" absences.

In what format does the form asks that absences be listed? That is hint enough too ... that HO expects you to get the letter in the same format so that the caseworker can verify the two sets of information?

OK. I see. However in that sentence they did not ask for "dates" they ask for the period of absences and the second format provides that. Also, my understanding was that in the SET (O) form they asked for a detailed format because they want to be able to match that with the passport stamp details and the employer just needs to justify that none of the absences abroad were unpaid, which would lead to a break of the stay continuity in the UK. But I might be wrong. There are so many unclear sentences.

If the employer provides details, how detailed the details should be? Saying "presenting at a conference" is sufficient or they what name of the conference? Saying visiting "a scientific collaborator" is enough or they what to have name and affiliation of that person?