Urgent - Old Court Case

[nachieket]

Hi,

This is may be saddest day of my life!

I just got a notice from a council where I rented a flat in 2009. The notice says I did not pay some due council tax at that time and they went to court in 2010 and court issued a fine in March 2010. I really have no memory of what might have happened in 2009 but as I remember, I did notify the council and should have paid all dues. Unfortunately, I have no proofs as of now. I anyways made a payment today.

I heard somewhere that after a court case, you need to wait for 2 years for ILR. Is that after a court case judgement? Or is that after you pay the fines and settle the claim? So to match my case - can I still apply for ILR by Oct end when I become eligible or do I now need to wait for Oct 2015?

I am also thinking how come people at council with infinite wisdom waited to find my new address for more than 3 years?

Can some expert thorow some focus here as soon as possible based on any previous experience/knowledge?

Thanks,
N

[nachieket]

I found below case which is similar to mine except that the applicant applied for ILR (and got ILR approved) after around 1.5 years of paying council tax.

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewto ... 3be1b73294

I also found below from Case Worker Instructions PDF:

6.4 Non-Payment of Council Tax

The decision maker will not normally refuse an application where the person has been unableto pay Council Tax because of their financial position. This is particularly true if some sort of 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, a decision maker will normally refuse an application where a person has:

a. unreasonably failed to pay, or

b. provided a false statement or statements – including failing to declare their full circumstances – to avoid paying the correct rate.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
N

[Amber]

Consider seeing whether you can request the case to be set aside (click).

As you've paid the liability order, you should be ok, provide proof of repayment.

[nachieket]

Hi Amber,

Thanks for a reply.

I just talked to Council over phone and the lady there said she believed that Liability Order is just a Summons and it is neither Criminal Conviction or Civil Judgement - though she was not 100% sure.

I am not sure what I should do at this stage but I'd welcome any further comments or advice on this. May be from someone who knows laws exactly. Or I would just seek some solicitor advice.

I'll definitely update you guys with what happens to my application.

Thanks,
N

[Amber]

Consider seeing whether you can request the case to be set aside (click).

As you've paid the liability order, you should be ok, provide proof of repayment.

A Liability Order is not a CCJ or criminal conviction.

[nachieket]

Thanks again Amber. So I think I do not fall in to criteria mentioned in following thread:

http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=120784

And as I understand, I do not need to wait for 2 years now. I can straight away go with my application in the end of October.

Needless to say that I'll be mentioning this Liability Order lark in Personal History section of ILR Application with a note in Cover Letter that I did not mention this while Visa Renewal because I just came to know about it in October 2013.

Hope, that should be enough for Case Worker to think that I did not or am not trying to deceit UK Government.

Regards,
N