Traffic offence and Naturalisation

[smiles345]

in the year 2005-august i was commited traffic offence and were convicted by the court [Speeding in the motorway -SP50] i'm due to apply for a naturalisation by the end of august. i recently changed my address and informed DVLA and when i got the license the endorsments has been wiped off.
do you guys think that i should mention this in the naturalisation application? it will be five years by august and that will be spent isnt it? i dont even know the date of offence ven if i need to mention in the application. when i rang DVLA they said they havent got a record of it any more? please advise friends.

[John]

What was the sentence for the crime you committed? Were you fined as well as given points on your licence?

[NiiKpani]

in the year 2005-august i was commited traffic offence and were convicted by the court [Speeding in the motorway -SP50] i'm due to apply for a naturalisation by the end of august. i recently changed my address and informed DVLA and when i got the license the endorsments has been wiped off.
do you guys think that i should mention this in the naturalisation application? it will be five years by august and that will be spent isnt it? i dont even know the date of offence ven if i need to mention in the application. when i rang DVLA they said they havent got a record of it any more? please advise friends.

You can always find the specific date of conviction from the court you were convicted at. Seeing as you've got the month and year, it shouldn't be too hard to fish out your record. If you want more details of the conviction you can subject access that court and they will provide you with a memorandum of conviction.

You've rightly pointed out that if the conviction is spent you needn't mention it in your application. If indeed it will be spent by the time of your application, whether you received a fine or not is inconsequential.

I really don't know what you're worried about. the guidelines clearly state that you don't need to declare the conviction if it is spent.

or is there anything else we need to know

[smiles345]

John, NiiKapani, many thanks for your replies. i had foreign license at the time of speeding offence committed. and they endorsed 3 points when i obtained the provisional license. i was living in bristol at that time and i rang bristol magistrate office. they havent got any record of it. although its been over 5years , i still want to declare it as i notice in the forum that someone has been banned 10years as they had failed to declare it in the naturalisation application. please advise.

[NiiKpani]

John, NiiKapani, many thanks for your replies. i had foreign license at the time of speeding offence committed. and they endorsed 3 points when i obtained the provisional license. i was living in bristol at that time and i rang bristol magistrate office. they havent got any record of it. although its been over 5years , i still want to declare it as i notice in the forum that someone has been banned 10years as they had failed to declare it in the naturalisation application. please advise.

You might be complicating your application if you declare it when you clearly don't have to. Firstly DVLA or the magistrates court has no record of the offence or conviction. Secondly the rehabilitation period is spent. I know you are worried but you needn't be. Obviously it is your choice if you wish to declare it but i wouldn't advise it especially as it is spent. Even if you declare it i think it will be overlooked as it was for speeding as indicated by the guidelines so far as you haven't committed any other offence


The person who was banned probably had a very different set of circumstances to yours. In my personal experience i had a conviction for driving without road tax and prior to this i had been stopped twice for driving without insurance at a time i hadn't even gotten my license. although my conviction was recorded at the magistrates office, the DVLA had no record of it and when i got my license it was clean. Anyways by the time i made my application for naturalisation the conviction was spent and thus i chose not to declare it. It was approved

[smiles345]

NiiKapani, many thanks for your detailed advise

[jimbo_uk]

in the year 2005-august i was commited traffic offence and were convicted by the court [Speeding in the motorway -SP50] ....

Be mindful that the 5 year period for a spent conviction begins from when the conviction is issued, not the date the offense takes place.

If you were convicted in August 2005 then you are OK if you apply at the end of August. If you committed the offense in August, but were convicted in a later month (say September), you will need to wait a little longer...

[NiiKpani]

in the year 2005-august i was commited traffic offence and were convicted by the court [Speeding in the motorway -SP50] ....

Be mindful that the 5 year period for a spent conviction begins from when the conviction is issued, not the date the offense takes place.

If you were convicted in August 2005 then you are OK if you apply at the end of August. If you committed the offense in August, but were convicted in a later month (say September), you will need to wait a little longer...

yeah..thats a good point to note there

[smiles345]

jimbo_uk, many thanks for yr reply. the endorsement date on the license wa 25th august 2005. the date i mentioned was on the counterpart license.

[smiles345]

i'm confused the dates. i'm not sure whether it is on 28th august 2005 OR 25th August 2005. where i find out this. the DVLA hasnt got any record now. please advise?

[mrlookforward]

If would be the date you appeared in court. If you can't remember the exact date, then the best way would be not to apply in august. Apply in the first week of september, then you can be sure that your sentence is spent.

[smiles345]

Mr.lookforward , many thanks for your reply. if i apply on september first week, i dont need to declare it ? do i? is there any way we can get a letter from HMCS that its actually spent etc.. is there any central office for that? please reply.

[mrlookforward]

There is no certificates or letter issued to say that a conviction has been spent. No government department has the power to say that when a conviction should or would be spent. The rehabilitation happens automatically under the rehabilitation of offenders act 1974.

So, if your were convicted on 25th August 2005, then it will be spent on 25th August 2010, simple.

You can contact the court you were convicted at, and ask them the date of your conviction if you are not sure. If you are not sure of the exact date, but you are sure that the conviction did happen in August 2005, then you can be assured that it would have been spent beginning of september.

[smiles345]

Mrlookforward-: many thanks for your help and replies.