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I was wondering if there are anyone willing to state there experience on refusal of british citizenship base on convictions here.

My friend N was told and show some paper at the checking centre (where you take your bc app to be checked for a fee before sending off to ukba) that he will have to wait 5 years from the date his sentence ends to apply for bc in other to be successful. I'll like to know if this is correct. He wasn't given this paper.

My friend N has been in the UK on ILR I believe since 2004 as a dependant of his father. He has only be out of the country on one occasion to Italy for 2 weeks or 4.

N was banned for drink driving in 2009 for 20 months which he served/observed

Can you guys please advice if this is true that he had to wait 5 years from the end date of he driving ban in order to successfully apply for bc

Can you guys please post any related experience of yours when I comes brushes with the law. e.g driving ban or prison sentence etc

Criminal Convictions: Civil Judgments
3.6 Do you have any criminal convictions in the UK or any other country (including traffic offences) or any civil
judgements made against you?
Yes No
If you have answered Yes above please give details below for each sentence starting with the most recent one. If you have received more than two sentences you should continue on page 13. Convictions spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 need not be disclosed (see page 16 of the Booklet AN). If you have answered No please go to question 3.7.

Please feel fee to ask questions or comment.

Thanks in advance.

bluecole2 wrote:Can you guys please advice if this is true that he had to wait 5 years from the end date of he driving ban in order to successfully apply for bc.

He can only successfully apply for BC when all convictions have become spent. Which is in this case indeed after 5 years, although the offence will remain on his driving licence for 11 years. See the DirectGov website on driving offences, the UKBA good charachter explanations, the Rehabilition of Offenders Act and this thread for further details.

Without an extremely good reason for leniency, no application for BC will succeed as long as there is an unspent conviction.

bluecole2 wrote:that he will have to wait 5 years from the date his sentence ends to apply for bc in other to be successful.

Just to add the date his sentence started will probably be the date on which he was found guilty, not the date on which he committed the crime.

Say he was found driving while drunk in March 2009, and convicted in September 2009 for something which will be spent in 5 years, the conviction will become spent in September 2014.

That without taking in consideration LASPO, and its effects from April 2013 onwards.

bluecole2 wrote:I was wondering if there are anyone willing to state there experience on refusal of british citizenship base on convictions here.

My friend N was told and show some paper at the checking centre (where you take your bc app to be checked for a fee before sending off to ukba) that he will have to wait 5 years from the date his sentence ends to apply for bc in other to be successful. I'll like to know if this is correct. He wasn't given this paper.

My friend N has been in the UK on ILR I believe since 2004 as a dependant of his father. He has only be out of the country on one occasion to Italy for 2 weeks or 4.

N was banned for drink driving in 2009 for 20 months which he served/observed

Can you guys please advice if this is true that he had to wait 5 years from the end date of he driving ban in order to successfully apply for bc

Can you guys please post any related experience of yours when I comes brushes with the law. e.g driving ban or prison sentence etc

Criminal Convictions: Civil Judgments
3.6 Do you have any criminal convictions in the UK or any other country (including traffic offences) or any civil
judgements made against you?
Yes No
If you have answered Yes above please give details below for each sentence starting with the most recent one. If you have received more than two sentences you should continue on page 13. Convictions spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 need not be disclosed (see page 16 of the Booklet AN). If you have answered No please go to question 3.7.

Please feel fee to ask questions or comment.

Thanks in advance.

Hi this is from the guidance

Sentence
Rehabilitation Period
A sentence of imprisonment or corrective training for a term exceeding 30 months or preventative detention or detention during Her Majesty’s pleasure or imprisonment or detention for public protection
This will not become “spent”
* Imprisonment or youth custody for 6 months to 30 months.
10 years
* Imprisonment or youth custody up to 6 months.
7 years
* Fine, community service/community punishment order or compensation order
5 years
Bind over, conditional discharge or supervision order
One year, or when the order ceases to have effect, whichever is the later.
Absolute discharge
6 months
Driving disqualification
Once the disqualification has ceased
Please note: If you have received more than one sentence for any conviction you should ensure that each seperate sentence is spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 before you make an application.
For example: If you were convicted for speeding and received a 12 month driving disqualification and a fine - although the driving disqualification would be considered spent at the end of the 12 month period, the fine would not be spent for 5 years. You should therefore wait 5 years before you make an application for citizenship.
Please note that a driving conviction may not yet be “spent” under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 despite any penalty points being removed from your driving licence.
The following table gives examples of sentences and rehabilitation periods. In calculating the spent period it is the prison sentence that counts, not the time served, and a suspended sentence counts as if it were a prison sentence.
If you have a conviction which is not yet spent you are unlikely to be naturalised, as the Home Secretary would not be satisfied that you are of good character. An application would fail and the fee would not be fully refunded. Similarly if you have been charged with a criminal offence and are awaiting trial or sentencing, you are advised not to make any application for naturalisation until the outcome is known. If you are convicted, you should then consult the following table of sentences and the rehabilitation periods.
* all halved if the person is under 18 when convicted