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Morning all,

We're now able to apply for British Citizenship for my wife. Mega embarrassing and hate talking about it, but 4 years ago she claimed on a car accident that was ruled as Fundamentally Dishonest in court and we were ordered to pay costs etc. We paid within 3 weeks and I have done 2 x CCJ records for her and there is nothing in her name.

Other than that everything else is in order: ILR, etc etc. Reference proving Good Character for British Citizenship, is it best to declare the court ruling, even though there appears to be no CCJ?

I've purposefully left the application for over 3 years since Aug 2021 when the court case took place. Just not sure what the correct approach should be.

If the advice is to declare it, what would one put in the letter (how to even write a letter?) to cover off what happened and to prove that this was a blip and now of good character? Nightmare!

Many thanks in advance!
Neil.

You do need to declare it. Just state the facts of what happened and provide evidence that her character has changed (eg she volunteers in the communal or similar). Does she have anything else against her character?

No, she doesn't have anything else against her name. She doesn't (currently, but maybe something we should pursue) volunteer for anything. She works as a care assistant and as a nursing assistant in the hospital, but they're paid jobs.

Whilst I do think you're right about declaring...from what I've read it's seems a potential slam dunk refusal and we might need to wait 10 years or so?

Also, I presume if you start volunteering now and then apply X amount of months after, it could be seen that you're only volunteering to just get a good character reference?

If you don't declare it and then it comes up (and it will) your wife would get refused for intentionally omitting it.

They wouldn't judge the intention behind volunteering. She didn't get a custody sentence, right? Can you quote where in the guidance it says that a CCJ disqualifies one for 10 years?

contorted_svy wrote: ↑

Sun May 11, 2025 10:49 pm

If you don't declare it and then it comes up (and it will) your wife would get refused for intentionally omitting it.

They wouldn't judge the intention behind volunteering. She didn't get a custody sentence, right? Can you quote where in the guidance it says that a CCJ disqualifies one for 10 years?

Thank you for the info! No, she didn't get a custody sentence or anything like that...just a ruling that we had to pay costs for the case etc, which we did immediately. I can't see anywhere in the guidance where it states 10 years...I think I must have read 10 years somewhere just googling this, so no idea where I got that from.

Do you think this type of case would be an 'interpretation thing' by the judge, or just a yes/no? I mean, she was found Fundamentally Dishonest by a court in an insurance claim, that was over 3 years ago, that's the only blemish (albeit does sound awful), and we'd declare it...is that then discretionary or a direct yes/no?

I am not an expert enough on the details of good character to comment on that. Custodial sentences are usually worse. I would advise she takes up some volunteering to show she is of good character and maybe consult a solicitor if you want a professional opinion.

contorted_svy wrote: ↑

Tue May 13, 2025 4:18 pm

I am not an expert enough on the details of good character to comment on that. Custodial sentences are usually worse. I would advise she takes up some volunteering to show she is of good character and maybe consult a solicitor if you want a professional opinion.

Thank you anyway! Much appreciated.