Penalty Notice for Disorder

[Zebesee]

I know this is a topic of frequent discussion but it remains confusing because of the alphabet soup of acronyms and because I've seen moderators giving conflicting advice.

My understanding is a PND is a type of FPN (that's also what gov't guidance says: https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... e-officers).

I received a PND for cannabis possession in 2019, the week before I submitted my IRL application. I declared it, and the application was still approved. I'm now applying for naturalisation and I'm not sure whether to declare.

The Home Office Nationality: good character requirement guidance says only convictions need to be declared, which would mean PCNs and FPNs do NOT need to be declared, as they are not convictions. However, it also states that a pattern of PCNs and FPNs could be a sign of bad character and disregard for the law. So is the idea I don't need to declare unless I get several?

I have seen CULLINAN tell people to declare FPNs but not PCNs (british-citizenship/no-insurance-fpn-no ... l#p1942229).

I have also seen Zimba say there is no need to declare either FPNs or PCNs (indefinite-leave-to-remain/pcn-and-ilr- ... l#p1945575).

My strict reading of the rules is I do not need to declare my PND, although some seem to say to declare them to be safe (as seagul does here: indefinite-leave-to-remain/pcn-and-ilr- ... l#p1945580).

I'm also not sure if declaring it on my IRL application but not my naturalisation application would be considered deception. I've told them once, do I need to tell them again?