I got this repsonse from the Criminality Policy Team, UKBA
Seems there is no hope for applicants with unspent driving convictions.
[quote]Thank you for your e-mail of 6 April.
The Government has stated that it wants to reduce the overall net migration number over the lifetime of this Parliament. They also want to break the link between temporary and permanent migration and remove the perception that a grant of settlement will be automatic.
With regard to your personal circumstances, I understand that you are regretful for what happened. But, in introducing these changes, the Government is more directly responding to the criminal justice system who impose an appropriate penalty, commensurate with the offence in question. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 also prescribes how long a person should declare these offences for. Regarding your point about how this is unfair, the Government takes the view that it is perfectly reasonable for them to make amendments to the rules to ensure that in addition to being reasonable and fair, they work for the benefit of the UK. Migrants must meet the rules that are in place at the time when they apply. Again, settlement is not an automatic right.
Moving on to your application, I hope you can appreciate that it would be somewhat irresponsible for me to provide any guarantees either way on how your case may progress, particularly given that it will not be me, personally, who makes the decision on it. However, in terms of the general point you have raised, an application for settlement is unlikely to be successful if you have an unspent criminal conviction. This is now a mandatory refusal under the rules.
You may not need to fulfil this requirement if you are covered by the Highly Skilled Migrants Programme Indefinite Leave to Remain Judicial Review Policy (‘the HSMP ILR JR Policy’). Information on the HSMP ILR JR Policy, including who may be covered by it, can be found on our website at:
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... -09-policy.
Criminality will still be assessed as part of that consideration process, but it will be part of the ‘character, conduct and associations’ requirement contained within paragraph 322(5) of the Immigration Rules. A one-off “minorâ€