Convicted in absence Good Character checks - British Citizenship

SA3679 wrote: ↑

Fri Nov 01, 2019 11:05 am

Thank you @apsk for your opinion. Does anyone else have any other opinion. @Amber i have read through your post on British Citizenship & Good Character. But couldn't come to a conclusion as to what shall I do in my situation. As I couldn't find any similar situation. @Amber could you please advice me further.
Thanks

SA3679 wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2019 11:29 am

Apologies if this topic has been covered already. But reading after hundreds of posts I still can’t figure out what to do. Will really appreciate if someone can give some specific advice to my situation explained below.

I came in the UK with student visa in 2004 and got my ILR back in January 2015. I live with my wife and daughter (both now British citizen). I am trying to apply for my British Citizenship now. I never had any CCJ or FPN or any points on Driving Licence. Not even a parking ticket. And always considered myself a good citizen. However suddenly back in April 2018 I received ‘Attachment of earnings order – Fines’ from ‘HMCTS Historic Debt Team Code’ addressed to my employer to deduct an amount of £20x.x0 from my salary. I was not aware of this fine and called the HMCTS team with given reference and they told me that they been instructed by xxxx Magistrate court to recover this fine from my employer and they don’t hold any further info. And I have to call xxxx Magistrate Court. When I called xxxx Magistrate court they told me that apparently I was given this penalty for not having a train ticket back xx/03/2011. And they sent me the fine notice to my home address and because I didn’t pay that fine it went to the magistrate court on xx/08/2011. And since I didn’t show up on the court the found guilty and the issued this fine.Convicted in absence. Which they only managed to take in April 2018.
They told me they don’t have any further details in record as this happened more than 6 years ago. But they confirmed the address they used to send those notices which is correct address at that time. And they also had my correct name and DOB. They suggested me to request a court extract from LMAC if wanted further details. At that point I booked a date to submit statutory declaration at Westminster Magistrate Court to plead not guilty but then cancelled again as this was for a small amount and didn’t wanted to go through all the hassle.
Honestly speaking I don’t remember this incident at all and as I was living at a student accommodation at that time and lot of members had access to each other’s name, DOB and posts. So I won’t be surprise If someone else has used my name and details and hide any letters relating to this matter. But again I am not sure.
My question now is as this happened back in 2011 and the fine been paid off in April 2018. And as I convicted in absence, do I have to still declare it under criminal conviction? If so does this falls under Non-custodial conviction. And what sort of details do I need to provide as I don’t have much details except from the Case number given from xxxx magistrate court and a reference number from HMCTS. Everything else just been informed by the xxxx magistrate court helpline member. Should I request a court extract before I apply. I have done a basic CRB check and it came clean and doesn’t shows any conviction.

Will really appreciate your valuable suggestions. Thank you in advance.

SA3679 wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2019 11:29 am

Apologies if this topic has been covered already. But reading after hundreds of posts I still can’t figure out what to do. Will really appreciate if someone can give some specific advice to my situation explained below.

I came in the UK with student visa in 2004 and got my ILR back in January 2015. I live with my wife and daughter (both now British citizen). I am trying to apply for my British Citizenship now. I never had any CCJ or FPN or any points on Driving Licence. Not even a parking ticket. And always considered myself a good citizen. However suddenly back in April 2018 I received ‘Attachment of earnings order – Fines’ from ‘HMCTS Historic Debt Team Code’ addressed to my employer to deduct an amount of £20x.x0 from my salary. I was not aware of this fine and called the HMCTS team with given reference and they told me that they been instructed by xxxx Magistrate court to recover this fine from my employer and they don’t hold any further info. And I have to call xxxx Magistrate Court. When I called xxxx Magistrate court they told me that apparently I was given this penalty for not having a train ticket back xx/03/2011. And they sent me the fine notice to my home address and because I didn’t pay that fine it went to the magistrate court on xx/08/2011. And since I didn’t show up on the court the found guilty and the issued this fine.Convicted in absence. Which they only managed to take in April 2018.
They told me they don’t have any further details in record as this happened more than 6 years ago. But they confirmed the address they used to send those notices which is correct address at that time. And they also had my correct name and DOB. They suggested me to request a court extract from LMAC if wanted further details. At that point I booked a date to submit statutory declaration at Westminster Magistrate Court to plead not guilty but then cancelled again as this was for a small amount and didn’t wanted to go through all the hassle.
Honestly speaking I don’t remember this incident at all and as I was living at a student accommodation at that time and lot of members had access to each other’s name, DOB and posts. So I won’t be surprise If someone else has used my name and details and hide any letters relating to this matter. But again I am not sure.
My question now is as this happened back in 2011 and the fine been paid off in April 2018. And as I convicted in absence, do I have to still declare it under criminal conviction? If so does this falls under Non-custodial conviction. And what sort of details do I need to provide as I don’t have much details except from the Case number given from xxxx magistrate court and a reference number from HMCTS. Everything else just been informed by the xxxx magistrate court helpline member. Should I request a court extract before I apply. I have done a basic CRB check and it came clean and doesn’t shows any conviction.

Will really appreciate your valuable suggestions. Thank you in advance.

SA3679 wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 20, 2019 3:37 am

Thank you @Amber for your response. That is such relief. So would it be a good idea to apply now declaring the incident for naturalization? As I have been suggested by some friends( not qualified) to wait untill 2021 for the conviction to be lapsed over 10 years time. And what when I am declaring how much information do I need to provide. I do not have much details with me. However I have been told I could get a court extract for further information. Will it be a good idea to do so.
Thank you again for your help. Really appreciate your effort in trying to help people in need. Godbless.







[qquote=Amber post_id=1859718 time=1576812130 user_id=84875]

SA3679 wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2019 11:29 am

Apologies if this topic has been covered already. But reading after hundreds of posts I still can’t figure out what to do. Will really appreciate if someone can give some specific advice to my situation explained below.

I came in the UK with student visa in 2004 and got my ILR back in January 2015. I live with my wife and daughter (both now British citizen). I am trying to apply for my British Citizenship now. I never had any CCJ or FPN or any points on Driving Licence. Not even a parking ticket. And always considered myself a good citizen. However suddenly back in April 2018 I received ‘Attachment of earnings order – Fines’ from ‘HMCTS Historic Debt Team Code’ addressed to my employer to deduct an amount of £20x.x0 from my salary. I was not aware of this fine and called the HMCTS team with given reference and they told me that they been instructed by xxxx Magistrate court to recover this fine from my employer and they don’t hold any further info. And I have to call xxxx Magistrate Court. When I called xxxx Magistrate court they told me that apparently I was given this penalty for not having a train ticket back xx/03/2011. And they sent me the fine notice to my home address and because I didn’t pay that fine it went to the magistrate court on xx/08/2011. And since I didn’t show up on the court the found guilty and the issued this fine.Convicted in absence. Which they only managed to take in April 2018.
They told me they don’t have any further details in record as this happened more than 6 years ago. But they confirmed the address they used to send those notices which is correct address at that time. And they also had my correct name and DOB. They suggested me to request a court extract from LMAC if wanted further details. At that point I booked a date to submit statutory declaration at Westminster Magistrate Court to plead not guilty but then cancelled again as this was for a small amount and didn’t wanted to go through all the hassle.
Honestly speaking I don’t remember this incident at all and as I was living at a student accommodation at that time and lot of members had access to each other’s name, DOB and posts. So I won’t be surprise If someone else has used my name and details and hide any letters relating to this matter. But again I am not sure.
My question now is as this happened back in 2011 and the fine been paid off in April 2018. And as I convicted in absence, do I have to still declare it under criminal conviction? If so does this falls under Non-custodial conviction. And what sort of details do I need to provide as I don’t have much details except from the Case number given from xxxx magistrate court and a reference number from HMCTS. Everything else just been informed by the xxxx magistrate court helpline member. Should I request a court extract before I apply. I have done a basic CRB check and it came clean and doesn’t shows any conviction.

Will really appreciate your valuable suggestions. Thank you in advance.

All convictions must be declared, regardless if “spent”. You should have made a statutory declaration and had the conviction set aside under s.14 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980 and in Rule 24.17 of the Criminal Procedure Rules and if the CPS wished to prosecute they could. The fact you’ve been aware of the conviction and never did the statutory declaration straight away means the likelihood of this being accepted now is slim. Nonetheless, the fact that this is a non custodial conviction from 2011 and it’s been settled, should mean any application for naturalisation will be successful insofar as you do not have any other adverse history and meet the other general requirements.

Amber wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 20, 2019 3:43 am

SA3679 wrote: ↑

Fri Dec 20, 2019 3:37 am

Thank you @Amber for your response. That is such relief. So would it be a good idea to apply now declaring the incident for naturalization? As I have been suggested by some friends( not qualified) to wait untill 2021 for the conviction to be lapsed over 10 years time. And what when I am declaring how much information do I need to provide. I do not have much details with me. However I have been told I could get a court extract for further information. Will it be a good idea to do so.
Thank you again for your help. Really appreciate your effort in trying to help people in need. Godbless.







[qquote=Amber post_id=1859718 time=1576812130 user_id=84875]

SA3679 wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 24, 2019 11:29 am

Apologies if this topic has been covered already. But reading after hundreds of posts I still can’t figure out what to do. Will really appreciate if someone can give some specific advice to my situation explained below.

I came in the UK with student visa in 2004 and got my ILR back in January 2015. I live with my wife and daughter (both now British citizen). I am trying to apply for my British Citizenship now. I never had any CCJ or FPN or any points on Driving Licence. Not even a parking ticket. And always considered myself a good citizen. However suddenly back in April 2018 I received ‘Attachment of earnings order – Fines’ from ‘HMCTS Historic Debt Team Code’ addressed to my employer to deduct an amount of £20x.x0 from my salary. I was not aware of this fine and called the HMCTS team with given reference and they told me that they been instructed by xxxx Magistrate court to recover this fine from my employer and they don’t hold any further info. And I have to call xxxx Magistrate Court. When I called xxxx Magistrate court they told me that apparently I was given this penalty for not having a train ticket back xx/03/2011. And they sent me the fine notice to my home address and because I didn’t pay that fine it went to the magistrate court on xx/08/2011. And since I didn’t show up on the court the found guilty and the issued this fine.Convicted in absence. Which they only managed to take in April 2018.
They told me they don’t have any further details in record as this happened more than 6 years ago. But they confirmed the address they used to send those notices which is correct address at that time. And they also had my correct name and DOB. They suggested me to request a court extract from LMAC if wanted further details. At that point I booked a date to submit statutory declaration at Westminster Magistrate Court to plead not guilty but then cancelled again as this was for a small amount and didn’t wanted to go through all the hassle.
Honestly speaking I don’t remember this incident at all and as I was living at a student accommodation at that time and lot of members had access to each other’s name, DOB and posts. So I won’t be surprise If someone else has used my name and details and hide any letters relating to this matter. But again I am not sure.
My question now is as this happened back in 2011 and the fine been paid off in April 2018. And as I convicted in absence, do I have to still declare it under criminal conviction? If so does this falls under Non-custodial conviction. And what sort of details do I need to provide as I don’t have much details except from the Case number given from xxxx magistrate court and a reference number from HMCTS. Everything else just been informed by the xxxx magistrate court helpline member. Should I request a court extract before I apply. I have done a basic CRB check and it came clean and doesn’t shows any conviction.

Will really appreciate your valuable suggestions. Thank you in advance.

All convictions must be declared, regardless if “spent”. You should have made a statutory declaration and had the conviction set aside under s.14 of the Magistrates Court Act 1980 and in Rule 24.17 of the Criminal Procedure Rules and if the CPS wished to prosecute they could. The fact you’ve been aware of the conviction and never did the statutory declaration straight away means the likelihood of this being accepted now is slim. Nonetheless, the fact that this is a non custodial conviction from 2011 and it’s been settled, should mean any application for naturalisation will be successful insofar as you do not have any other adverse history and meet the other general requirements.