Motoring offence Vs citizenship

[carprarue]

Hi there,

I recently tried to apply for my citizenship at the National checking system but they refused to receive my documents until my case court related to using a mobile phone while driving is over. They also said that if found guilty of this minor offence it will compromise my citizenship for 5 years! And it does not even matter that i am marrying my british boyfriend next year...

Is that true?

The uncredible bit of the story is that i was never using my mobile phone but my handsfree. That is why i decided to "make the right thing" and go to court to fight for the truth. I am now regretting having made that decision..

I would really appreciate if someone could help me.

Thank you

[f2k]

you might want to reconsider (if still possible) about 'doing the right thing' if you want your naturalisation application to be successful. See section 3.2.5 . Otherwise it could be another 5 years before you can apply.

[carprarue]

Thank you for your reply.

However, i am not sure whether pleading guilty at this point would be the answer. I have already been in court 3 weeks ago for this case, and there the prosecution was forced to withdrawn one offense as i probed them wrong!

The offense was not showing my driving license, but not only i gave it to the police officer but he also wrote that he had checked my personal details against my driving license!

I have got a second date to go and at some point i will have to face the police officer and try to probe him wrong, which would be more likely impossible as have not got witnesses.

Has anyone been through a similar situation?

Thank you

[f2k]

You may want to consult a lawyer on this. If you get done then according to the link i posted in my previous post, you will struggle to get naturalised in the next 5years. Of course if you win then there is no worries. Maybe you (your solicitor) can do a bit of plea bargaining with the prosecutor and have some sort of out of court settlement, you will need professional advice on this of course.

IMO you have at least 2 probs, 1 is that it is your word against that of an officer of the law, 2 - If you at any point touched your phone while driving, even to answer it then I understand you can get prosecuted for it, some say even using your hands free can be a problem if in the officers opinion you were not in full control of the car.

[carprarue]

Thank you very much for your help.

I will definitely see legal help and try to negotiate avoiding a criminal record for such a minor offense.

[mochyn]

The problem you have is that has been proved that using a hands free device means you are not in total control of your car as you do not concentrate 100% on driving as evidenced on TV police reality shows

[carprarue]

I did read that on the net somewhere as well. I do not believe it was compromising my driving as I was waiting for the traffic lights to change.

Also, can the police officers write "using a mobile phone" while one is just wearing it without any active calls?

[mrlookforward]

Better consult a traiffc offence lawayer regarding this.

[mrlookforward]

I did read that on the net somewhere as well. I do not believe it was compromising my driving as I was waiting for the traffic lights to change.

Also, can the police officers write "using a mobile phone" while one is just wearing it without any active calls?

"using a mobile" will still be an offence if you had it in your hands, and you were just parked on a street with no other cars near you and you were sat in the car with engine running.