Good character requirement for British citizenship and fines in your absence for draft evasion

[random_name]

Hello,

I am a Ukrainian citizen, moved to the UK 5.5 years ago (I left Ukraine 8 years ago and lived in other countries before moving to the UK) and recently got an ILR in the UK. I left Ukraine and entered the UK in a 100% legal way, never had any legal issues in any country I lived in. I don't have any property in Ukraine, no close relatives, literally nothing. In the UK I have a job and a house with a mortgage.

According to the new legislation, Ukrainian government can issue fines and potentially open criminal cases against males who permanently reside outside of Ukraine. I.e. the government will be sending letters to everyone's last known address and if they don't show up (regardless if they still live there or not) - they are breaking the law and the government can issue a fine in your absence, then another one and potentially open a criminal case against you. I.e. they consider such letter to be received even if the person is no longer living at that address.

This will start working in about two-three months time. I will be able to apply in 5-6 months, so there's a chance I will get some fines in that time period.

My question is basically if something like this can affect my chances to get British citizenship or not?

Thanks.

[alterhase58]

It's one of those questions for which there's no ready-made guidance.
There is caseworker guidance on the Good Character Requirement (https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... y-guidance). You may have it already.
The threat of fines or criminal proceedings alone is not enough.
It's hard to see that you could be refused by the Home Office - bearing in mind the political situation.

[random_name]

Thanks for quick reply, I read the guidance several times, but I still couldn't come up with a clear answer to this question.
It says that overseas convictions are treated in the same way as UK convictions unless it's not a crime in the UK, but equally the UK is not at war, so it's not quite comparable + it doesn't really say anything about convictions or fines that you get for breaking the laws of other country while living in the UK without even visiting it.

[contorted_svy]

It is a grey area. I would suggest given your timeline, it is rather unlikely you will receive a letter, be expected to show up and receive a fine in the short time between this new law coming into force and you becoming eligible. I would suggest getting everything ready and submitting as soon as possible after you are eligible.