Don't know how long ago this was introduced but one is now now required to declare "criminal conviction(s) and civil judgement(s)" using the
migrant change of circumstances form. Likewise, Tier 1 (General)
application form asks the applicant to declare any "criminal conviction(s) and civil judgement(s)".
Being issued an
FPN by police or any other public authority is not a criminal conviction. A court issued fine may be - but that is also subject the nature of the offence and circumstances of how the matter is dealt with in the court.
What is a Fixed Penalty Notice?
1. The FPN is not a fine.
2. The FPN simply discharges your liability to conviction for which the notice was issued.
3. The FPN is not an admission of guilt, it only removes the possibility of you receiving a record of Criminal Conviction.
4. Receiving a penalty notice does not mean that you have received a criminal conviction. The FPN is given instead of a prosecution in court.
5. If you have received an FPN, you have 14 calendar days to pay the penalty or to request a hearing.
6. Failure to pay a penalty may result in a higher fine imposed by the court or imprisonment.
General principle - if there is no court involved there is no criminal conviction or civil judgement.
But if convicted by court, then depending on the offence you may have an unspent conviction. If you wish to, you can
check for unspent convictions on your own.
Endorsements and
penalty points must stay on your driving licence for four or eleven years depending on the offence. But just an endorsement on a driving licence or a driving disqualification doesn't affect the result of a Tier 1 (General) immigration application.
