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Hi All.

My father is now finally in the process of applying for Naturalisation after having arrived in the UK in the late 80s and I am helping him get the application and supporting paperwork in order.

He was granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the early 90s.

He received a driving ban in the early 90s for Drink Driving with no bans/convictions since (I have done a Subject Access Request to determine to specific offence and am waiting to hear back).

He has however, managed to rack up 9 Penalty Points within the last year (No excuses, I know!)

I can see from the guidance documents that Penalty Points are not usually considered unless they 'call into question your respect for the law' (9 points in a year might suggest this...) which would affect the Good Character requirement for Naturalisation.

I am unsure as to whether to engage a solicitor before we apply or wait to engage if and when there are any queries from the Home Office.

Considering the above, would you have any advise?

Thanks in advance.

Can you elaborate on why he got the driving ban? and how many offences exactly did he commit in the last year?

It is possibly for the best to get your dad to take some safe driving course or to do something that shows he understands his mistake and won't do it again. I would advise that he waits for a while if he got more than 3 fines this year.

Hello,

Thanks for getting back to me. I will look into the driving courses you've mentioned.

I understand the driving ban was for drink driving in the early 90s. (I have done a Subject access request with the Criminal Records Bureau on his behalf to get the exact details as his paper records are patchy at best but waiting to hear back).

The Penalty points are 3 lots of 3 points for exceeding speed limit on public road SP30 - all received in 2025.

Thanks again

So he didn't cause serious harm? that is quite important to understand.

I would recommend to wait for another year without further offences and take a driving course and/or do some volunteering in the community to show the change in character.