I suggest you review the Good character guidance
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... racter.pdf
Financial soundness
This section explains the financial situations that can affect a person’s good
character and how to consider them when deciding an application.
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy occurs when a person is unable to meet their debts and has had a
bankruptcy order made against them. A bankruptcy order can be made by a court
after a petition either by the individual (on a voluntary basis) or by a creditor or
creditors.
Fraud can occur during the bankruptcy process. This can take a number of forms but
may typically involve:
• concealment of assets
• concealment or destruction of relevant financial documents
• fraudulent claims
• false statements or declarations
Making false declarations on bankruptcy forms can constitute perjury.
Where there is information to suggest on the balance of probabilities that bankruptcy
fraud has taken place, the application will normally be refused.
For details of all un-discharged and recently discharged bankrupts search the
insolvency registers for:
• England and Wales
• Scotland
• Northern Ireland
Liquidation
Liquidation occurs when a company is ‘wound up’. There are also alternatives to
liquidation that may come up during the course of a citizenship application. These
include:
• informal arrangements - the company may have considered writing to all its
creditors to see if a mutually acceptable agreement can be reached
• company voluntary arrangement (CVA) - this is a formal version of the
arrangement described above: the directors would need to apply to the court with
the help of an authorised insolvency practitioner, who would supervise the
arrangement and pay the creditors in line with the accepted proposals
• administration - this is a court procedure that gives the company some breathing
space from any action by creditors: a court can grant an administration order to
enable the company to:
o survive, in whole or in part, as an ongoing business
o organise a voluntary arrangement or compromise with its creditors
o get a better realisation of assets than would be possible if the company went
into liquidation
Further information on liquidation can be found at GOV.UK.
Consideration of financial soundness
If a person states that they have been declared bankrupt or have been a director or
involved in the management of a company (either wholly or partly) that has gone into
liquidation, further enquiries must be made.
On receipt of information, an application can be granted where there is evidence
that:
• the bankruptcy order has been annulled
• the person was discharged at least 10 years ago
• the person was declared bankrupt abroad
• the person was involved with a company that was liquidated over 10 years ago
If the conditions above are not met but there is evidence that the person has been
bankrupt or been involved with a company that went into liquidation, you must:
• take account of the scale of the bankruptcy or liquidation
• take account of the economic circumstances at the time of application when
looking at any mitigating circumstances
• make a judgement about how culpable the person was in either becoming
bankrupt or their involvement in the company that went into liquidation
You must consider whether the person was reckless or irresponsible in their financial
affairs leading to their bankruptcy or their company’s liquidation. If so, it is likely to be
reflected by a disqualification order which prevents a person from being a director or
taking part in the management of a limited company for a period of up to 15 years.
Details of all disqualifications are on the Companies House website. Where a person
has a disqualification order, an application will normally be refused.
An application will also normally be refused where the person has deliberately relied
on a recession to avoid payment of taxes or payment to creditors.
However, where the person was made bankrupt or their company went into
liquidation through little or no fault of their own, the application will not normally be
refused. For example, they may have simply been a victim of the poor business
decisions of others or their business has been severely affected by an economic
downturn.
Debt
An application will not normally be refused simply because the person is in debt,
especially if loan repayments have been made as agreed or if acceptable efforts are
being made to pay off accumulated debts.
However, where a person deliberately and recklessly builds up debts and there is no
evidence of a serious intention to pay them off, the application will normally be
refused.
NHS debt
A foreign national may have an NHS debt if they have received free secondary
healthcare, which is healthcare provided to the person by a hospital, to which they
were not entitled. NHS bodies use their own internal processes to recover the
monies owed and will only notify the Home Office once the debt has been
outstanding for 2 months and there is no agreement to pay by instalments.
Where a foreign national has an NHS debt of more than £500 this is a ground for
refusal under Part 9 of the Immigration Rules. A person will not normally be
considered to be of good character if they have outstanding debts to the NHS in
accordance with the relevant NHS regulations on charges to overseas visitors.
Official sensitive - start of section
The information on this page has been removed as it is restricted for internal Home
Office use.
Official sensitive - end of section
You must write to the applicant in all cases where checks have identified there is an
outstanding NHS debt and ask them to demonstrate they have paid their debt.
Evidence of payment must be in the form of receipts from the healthcare provider
who charged for the treatment.
Once an NHS debt has been cleared you must not count it when assessing whether
an applicant is of good character. However, even if an individual has paid previous
debts, they may have incurred further charges. They may also have previously
gained entry to the UK with the true intention of receiving NHS treatment to which
they were not entitled. See the section on deception and dishonesty.
Fraud in relation to public funds
An application must not be refused simply because the person is reliant on public
funds.
However, an applicant may be knowingly claiming, or has knowingly claimed, public
funds to which they are not entitled. Where this is the case, the application for
citizenship will normally be refused.
See also non-compliance with immigration requirements where a person may have
failed to comply with the conditions of their leave by accessing public funds when
they were prohibited from doing so.
Non-payment of council tax
An application will not normally be refused where the person has been unable to pay
council tax because of their financial position, particularly if an arrangement is being,
or has been, negotiated with the relevant authority. However, payment of council tax
is a legal requirement and non-compliance is a punishable offence.
Therefore, an application will normally be refused where a person has either:
• unreasonably failed to pay
• provided a false statement or statements, including failing to declare their full
circumstances, to avoid paying the correct rate.
I am not entirely sure what part of this applies to you. Did you live in the UK 4 years ago, or in Germany? On what tiescale did you accumulate debt and how come it was there, not here? It may be helpful to speak to a solicitor.
All advice comes from personal research and experience and should not be regarded as professional opinion.
