Criminal History and chances of approval

Hi All,

I keep seeing back and forth opinions on chances of getting approval, but it seems to be from people that are mostly guessing, and this seems like the best forum to post to for actual information, so thanks in advance.

I have a conviction on my record from a little over 10 years ago. It was for selling drugs, and I was sentenced to 8 months in jail, of which I did 3 months. Since then, my record has been squeeky clean, and I've gone back to college, started a great career, and am now looking forward to going to graduate school in the UK. I've been accepted for the Fall 2017 and am starting to get my info together now.

I wanted to ask if anyone has seen a similar case to mine, and if that person has gotten approval for a visa. Also, is there anything I can provide to increase the chances of my getting an approved visa? Does hiring a solicitor help? I figured my app would definitely be reviewed in more detail, but that given the time that has passed and all other considerations, I hope they would approve.

Thanks for the info!

Solicitor cannot fix this.
If you are a student you should be organised, methodical and intelligent enough to apply by yourself.

Check out requirements - its all about fulfilling them.
And declare everything.

Thanks for the reply, I certainly do plan on declaring everything. I plan on giving loads of documents to cover all bases and show as much detail into my life as possible. I'm not trying to hide anything.

According to this, I meet the requirements. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration ... or-refusal

I've unfortunately heard that the wording on this changes though. Some of what I have read mentioned that they would judge your sentence as if the offense was committed within the UK. If so, my sentence could have likely been higher, and I would no longer meet this requirement. Does anyone have light they could shed on the differences?

As for a solicitor, glad to know that before I bothered hiring one. I am actually a very meticulous and detail oriented person, so I don't think I would miss anything on the initial application. I just wasn't sure if a solicitor helped sway a decision in someway or if they just filled out the application just like I could do at home.

Does anyone know how the UK does their background checks in the US? I'd assume through the FBI, but do they check state and local also?

And how thorough do they get? Do they check credit or DMV records?

rhlsf wrote:Does anyone know how the UK does their background checks in the US? I'd assume through the FBI, but do they check state and local also?

And how thorough do they get? Do they check credit or DMV records?

We don't work for HO/UKVI and therefore have no knowledge or insight of what their internal processes are. You need to declare your conviction and UKVI will do whatever checks they deem necessary.