BRITISH CITIZENSHIP (Good character requirements)

[happy sailor]

Hi Everybody,
I am a Non EU and had a permanent residence card which expired in August, 2019. Never applied for Nationality. I will try to make my case simple and short here.

I got my BRP, " Settled status, ILR" under the current EU Scheme settlement in July,2019 and now intend to apply for my Naturalization (Nationality application ) very first time.

I got a big issue here. Unfortunately, I have got a criminal conviction, which took place in July, 2012. I got a SUSPENDED PRISON SENTENCE of 11 months, suspended for 18 months. Never went to prison. I did declare the said conviction in my EU settlement application in 2019 but it went through without any problems. My solicitor informed me that Nationality department is different from ILR settlement department and they may or may not approve my Naturalization application on the basis of my past conviction ( About 9 years ago). I have no other convictions before and after.

I have gone through the Home office official Guide AN Naturalization Booklet, The requirements, April, 2021 regarding good character requirements. The said guide shows the implication of different types of criminal convictions on the Naturalization application. They made a TABLE of SENTENCE VS IMPACT ON NATIONALITY

Quote and unquote, It says that a SUSPENDED PRISON SENTENCE will be treated as a " non-custodial or other out of court disposal that is recorded on a person's criminal record. According to that, when you enter in the table of SENTENCE VS IMPACT ON NATIONALITY, It says as follows.

SENTENCE
A non-custodial offence or other out of court disposal that is recorded on a person's criminal record

( please note that my suspended sentence falls into this category)

IMPACT ON NATIONALITY
Application will normally be refused if the conviction occurred in the last 3 years.

( Please note that my conviction occurred in July, 2012, about 9 years ago )

So it means, I should be OK according to that ruling.

My solicitor informed me that it all depends on your case worker. Every case is considered on its merit

So here we are guys. What you guys think of my chance of success ?
Anybody with the same or similar story, please make comments. Much appreciated and sorry about the long msg. I had to write all above to make the picture clear.

Please reply.

Thanks

[wootme]

I suggest you read the guidance document here:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... gov-uk.pdf

It has more details than the booklet. Good luck

[HCJNL]

As you point out, it's more than 3 years ago. So if that's all you have regarding Good Character you will be OK. But the case worker will study your application extremely carefully. Good luck.

[happy sailor]

Thanks for replying my post and sending me a link to read further on good character requirements.

Yes, I have also gone through Guide AN Good character.

The said guide says the same thing about the affects of "SUSPENDED SENTENCE" on a Naturalization application. This guide ( Good character ) explains more or less the same Sentence based threshold regarding the good character requirements as the Guide AN Naturalization.

I have gone through almost all HO publications on the Good character requirements and looked for the implication of a Non custodial suspended prison sentence on the naturalization application. All ruling says the same thing that a suspended prison sentence. which I already mentioned in my first post on this topic.

Another fellow on this form also suggested that , I should be ok if conviction occurred 3 years ago. (as a matter of fact it occurred 9 years ago ). Please consult the table of SENTENCE VS IMPACT ON NATIONALITY in Guide AN Naturalization and also Guide AN Good character requirements. According to that my conviction falls right in the bottom of that table.

You are also right to say that, the case worker will deal with my application very strictly as conviction is there regardless when did it happen. They take so many factors into account when considering a conviction in the past. like, when did it happen and under what circumstances, how many convictions in total, the length of sentence imposed, the age of applicant and so on.

Once again, thanks a lot to everybody for their replies to my post. If u would like to add some more to it, please do so. that will be very helpful to me.

Lastly, I would also request to senior moderators to through some light on my issues using their expertise.

Many thanks

[MYA]

My suggestion is you must declare this in application form AN.
Most importantly also mention in the section where it says (have you got any other reasons that you want to declare that you should be granted citizenship) here you explain them the rule in guidance about time period and explain that yours has more than 3 years ago(9years) so please consider my application by keeping that factor as well.

You can also mention this in seperate covering letter but in that case there might be chances that it misplaced in the post or by HOMEOFFICE staff. So what ever you write within the application form is safest and case worker will read it definitely.

So mention the rule and mention your case , I know the HOMEOFFICE knew the rule but some time it can easily be misunderstood or ignored by staff who are less experienced or never come across this situation so explain

Best of luck and post the outcome when you get for others please.

[happy sailor]

Thank you MYA for your good advice on my immigration issues.

I will take your advice onboard, while filling up online Naturalization application. I will definitely mention the said rule regarding the suspended prison sentence in the extra space provided for extra information.
Let see, what interpretation of Good character home office takes as there is no definition of Good character in the rules.

At the moment i am in the process of gathering information required for online application. I will certainly mention my convictions in my application. When I applied for my settled status ( ILR) under the settlement scheme EU in 2018, I did mention the said conviction in my application and it went through without any problems.

I will let u guys know the outcome of my application when it happens. Please keep advising.

Thanks