Citizenship query

[arunuk2000]

Dear Friends

Can someone advise on this, as i am bit worried

Got my ILR (on HSMP basis) in 2011 and need to apply for citizenship in 2012. My wife and child also got ILR based on my application

I have been booked for drunken driving in Hyderabad- India after getting ILR, I been to hyderabad court and it ordered me to pay the fine. This was obviously paid

Note:- All they(traffic dept in Hyderabad) have taken my details are my name(as K. Arun), my father’s name, and bike registration (its not my bike), and the address(not detailed address, but just a place)

1) Does the UKBA check our back round (criminal record or traffic offences) in India?

2) Does this traffic offence effect my citizenship application?

3) Does traffic department record this in their computer data base which can be retrieved if required?

4) How can I check if my case has been record in computer data base in india?

5) Should I specify about this in my citizenship application?

6) If my citizenship application got rejected, then how can I apply citizenship for my children who are in ILR.

PLEASE ADVISE

Arun

[aprilclub]

As far as I can tell, Bombay High Court is still arguing if drink driving is a cognizable offence or not. I am assuming you had no accident etc; but was pulled up by the police.

I will be very surprised is anyone ( including the Indian Bureaucracy) can extract info about a fine given in a local court for a non-cognizable offence on a matter of state law jurisdiction.

You obviously have to decide for yourself how you wish to proceed.

However, all info asked for in the form should be given accurately.

As to your children, your wife can apply along with the children. The requirement is that one parent has to apply/have citizenship and the other parent have to have ILR. SO they are OK. Your wife is not your dependent in ILR so she is free to apply for citizenship on her own ( I am assuming she had got her ILR after 5 years of stay as did your children)

[JulesN19]

If you were convicted under the law of the India, then you must declare it on your application. The application asks you if you have any unspent convictions in the UK or any other country. A knowing or reckless misstatement on a naturalisation application can, in addition to resulting in criminal prosecution, lead to the Home Office refusing citizenship applications for the next 10 years.

The exception to the above is for convictions that are "spent" under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Generally speaking, a conviction that results in a sentence of nothing more than a fine becomes spent after 5 years. (Please note that any sentences of imprisonment that are suspended on condition of good behaviour and payment of a fine are treated, for the purposes of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, as sentences of imprisonment even if you did not spend a minute in custody. Sentences of imprisonment have longer rehabilitation periods.)

The UKBA generally takes a dim view of drink driving and, if you have an unspent conviction for it, there is a serious risk that your application could be refused. You may want to wait until your conviction becomes spent.

As you say that your wife has ILR, she could potentially apply for naturalisation before you do, provided she meets all the requirements for naturalisation in her own right. She could also apply at that time to register your children as British citizens.

[aprilclub]

However, I suspect there is no concept of 'spent' in India. How will he show it has been spent. Or the lconcept of spent as in UK law will apply?

Also check out this website

http://www.htp.gov.in/Services.html

[JulesN19]

However, I suspect there is no concept of 'spent' in India. How will he show it has been spent. Or the lconcept of spent as in UK law will apply?

Also check out this website

http://www.htp.gov.in/Services.html

Whether India has an equivalent of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act is irrelevant for the purposes of whether the UK authorities regard the conviction as spent. Section 1(4) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act clarifies that references in that Act to convictions include overseas conviction. A conviction that is validly made in India does, for the purposes of all implications under British law, involve a rehabilitation period at the end of which the conviction will be spent for UK purposes.

Court records showing the date of conviction and full details of the sentence would be sufficient to demonstrate whether the conviction is deemed spent under UK law.

Please note that the fact that a conviction is spent for UK purposes may not prevent the conviction from creating problems outside the UK. The federal government of the US, for example, does not regard convictions as spent regardless of where they are obtained. A UK conviction that is regarded as fully spent by all UK authorities must normally still be disclosed on a US visa application.