British Citizenship – Good Character Requirement FAQs

[llcozac90]

Dvla road tax issue

[Qwerty123456789]

hello
I have received residence permit January 2016 as a family member of EU citizen.
we got married November 2009 ,I applied for visa in December 2009 , received it in may 2010.
prior to it I did not have a visa. due to good character requirements when is the earliest I can apply for naturalisation November 2019, December 2019, May 2020?
thank you

[Hstepper07]

hello
I have received residence permit January 2016 as a family member of EU citizen.
we got married November 2009 ,I applied for visa in December 2009 , received it in may 2010.
prior to it I did not have a visa. due to good character requirements when is the earliest I can apply for naturalisation November 2019, December 2019, May 2020?
thank you

Your 10 years will be completed in November 2019 so you can apply from December 2019. It depends on the day in the month though. If 10yrs falls on 19th November then you can apply from 20th November

[Qwerty123456789]

thanks

[Sam1140]

Hi all,

I am going to apply for BC next month and was wondering if we need to enclose all the FPNs we received regardless of the outcome of the council challenge?

I received an FPN for littering early this year and challenged the council by providing the CCTV footage, council apologised and rescind the penalty charge notice,

My question is Do I still need to declare this FPN?

Thanks
S

[Hstepper07]

No you do not need to declare it.

[Sam1140]

thanks for your reply, Hstepper

[Mikky99]

Good day everyone.

I was stopped by the Police

After some days. Was sent a letter of conditional

Offer of fixed penalty for

Leaving my front fog lamps on.

Payment made already £50 through on line system

Would this have any bearing on me

When applying for Citizenship.

This is not a protest mail. All I need is advice

Concerning my BC which I am applying for.

Thanks

[Hstepper07]

It should have no bearing on your good character unless you have received numerous FPN's.

[Natbay]

Hi there,
I have had good guidance in this platform previously for my settlement (ILR) application. I would be appreciated if you could advise me now for my naturalisation application.
I came to UK as a student in 1997. I then had extensions on my student visa at most times by the end of 2007-althoguh I was refused a number of times, I won my case against the HO and was finally granted. I then applied for ILR in 2017 on the basis of 10 year lwaful residency. However, I was refused for settlement as claimed that I had over 28 days overstay between my two applications in 1999, as claimed by the HO. I then appealed the HO decision of refusal my ILR application. I lost all my appeals, including the final appeal at the High Court. It took around 1 years all of these appeal processes. Before the High Court's decision, I made additional application to the HO on the basis of my postgraduation study for work permit. I did not hear from the HO regarding the decision of the High Court and work permit application two more years. I worked pt/ (20 hours maxiumum as I had right to work as student) during these years. I completed 14 years in 2011 and without waiting response to my existing application, I applied for settlement on the basis of 14 years long residence. I was then granted ILR in the same year. My solictor advised me to apply for naturalisation after one year without waiting for 5 years. I did but then I was refused claimed as I was in breach of immigration between 2007 and 2011. Now, I have completed 7 years since I was granted ILR. I now would like to apply for naturalisation again, but need your advice on the basis of good character. My soilicitor said that we should explain your immigration history in details, but I could still be refused. What would your advice be? In short, I allways made my applications on time within the past 10 years; I logged another application before the High Court's decision; I did not have another refusal after the High Court decision; I did not ether hear to my variation application for work permit-altough I had a confirming letter saying my application was passed on the caseworker.
Many thanks

If they refused your application for naturalization because you were in breach of immigration rule between 2007 - 2011, they will most likely refuse you again as you have not completed 10 yrs since you got your ILR in 2011. You did not need to have a legal status to apply under the 14yr rule.
If you made an in time application when you applied for ILR in 2007, you should have been covered by sec 3c which will be extended if you also made subsequent in time appeals. Where you given right to work throughout this period? if your period of application and appeals were covered under sec 3c, maybe you have to prove this to HO. If not, wait till 2021 bf you apply.

By the way, the info you have provided is quite confusing. You said you were granted ILR in 2011 under 14yr rule. You then applied for ILR in 2017 on the basis of 10 yr lawful residence. I take it that you meant 2007?

Hi again,
Many thanks for your reply. Yes, I made in time application in 2017. I also made subsequent application whilst my appeal to high court was being considered prior to the High Court refusal. Sorry, I meant 2007, not 2017. I applied for a teaching job in the begining of 2008, while my ILR application was being considred by the HO. The college I applied to teach at wrote to the HO asking If I had right to work. I was told by the college a week later that they heard from the HO, and HO approved that I could be employed. Therefore, I was employed by the College. I worked part-time at the College for a year, and then did different works. They were all part-time. However, I do not have any document from HO confirming their approval my work right. I always worked less than 20 hours a week (as a student I had this right to work) until I was granted ILR in 2011.

[zyab85]

Hi
I hope the experts here will be able to shed some light on below issue. Which just struck me when i was recalling old times with a friend...
In September 2008 i applied for PSW using the infamous Cambridge College of Learning certificate, i got my PSW approved in October 2008. Before the expiration of my PSW i left Uk in September 2010. In 2012 i came back to UK on spouse settlement Visa and got my Ilr in 2014. After waiting another 3 years to qualify for 5 years residency preiod i applied for My naturalisation application in June 2018. I had 3 points on my license in 2008, a pollice caution in 2010 and council tax arrears( as Landlord was to pay council tax as per my tenancy agreement, which he did not pay for over 2 years- i made arrangements with council to pay and chasing landlord privately for the payment) which i declared and wrote a cover letter.
Now my question is, Can Home office hold the application made in 2008 for PSW using CCOL certificate agaisnt me in my citizenship application, even though i was granted PSW and i left UK for almost 2 years and came back on spouse and got settled and got the Ilr as well. I did not mention about my previous stay here and PSW on CCOL certificate as they Staff in NCS told me to write the date when i came here to settle, which was my spouse settlement visa in 2012 applied overseas.
Can they take it as a deception for not mentioning about PSW on CCOL? Even though i got my PSW and in my 4 years of stay btw 2006-2010 and then 2012- present never had any application refused.
your expert opions will be greatly appreciated.

[hoods24]

Hi

Has anyone been granted citizenship after refugee ilr? And was an overstayer before claiming asylum?
I think with good character requirement now they require u to spend 4 more years to make it 10 years without any bad record.

Any one related to this? Id appreciate the advice.

[Obie]

Disappointing Court ruling on the lawful residence character requirement.

Al Enein, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWHC 1615 (Admin) (26 June 2018).

[babe_khyber]

Hi members, (Refugees with ILR status)
I was initially applied naturalisation application with my MN1 Registration application for my children on
21 February 2014. And inquiries done on several occasions because the home office delayed decision. Every time i was asked for updates the home office reply under consideration. Then approach MP to intervene and received on different occasions we will investigate his war crime involvement if we discover any possible involvement then we will strive his citizenship. Anyway after 2 and half year MP received a letter from the immigration minister him self and confirmed any investigation has been completed and the home office didn't revealed any cause of concerns about his good character. The case is allocated to caseworker team for decision. But unfortunately after 2 month in May/June 2016 received refusal letter. Reason good character.
Again applied reconsideration state after a year I requested MP again and he received the letter from different immigration Minister and again confirmed any checks were completed and no problem at all no concerns about good character. Buy after 18 month ones again received refusal with the right of reconsideration. But they didn't mention the 10 year banned whether lifted or not.
Then applied Pre action protocol for JR but home office didn't reply within 14days period lapse.
The applied for permission in Court JR 30 January 2018. And today I received email from solicitor the court has sent us response.
In a letter court says I initially in mind to grant permission but I give the defendant the opportunity to reconsider the Naturalisation application and resolve the matter by 31st August 2018 if not then the matter will be transfer to Judge for decision.
Now I don't know what can be happen. Wither it is good sign or not any experienced person if you have any ideas or suggestions please let us know I am waiting since Feb 2014 to fight. Anyway I am sorry for a very lengthy post to share with you.
Any reply will be appreciated Thanks.
Baby Khyber

[Sami 9191]

Dear People,

I need your help, I will be applying for the citizenship next month and I am very concerned as I have CCJ issued last November 2017 due to an unpaid phone bill and I have made arrangement with the debt collector to pay them on monthly basis and have proof that am paying them. My question is; Is there anyone applied with a case that's similar to mine and got rejected ?

Your help is much appreciated

Many thanks

[alterhase58]

Dear People,

I need your help, I will be applying for the citizenship next month and I am very concerned as I have CCJ issued last November 2017 due to an unpaid phone bill and I have made arrangement with the debt collector to pay them on monthly basis and have proof that am paying them. My question is; Is there anyone applied with a case that's similar to mine and got rejected ?

Your help is much appreciated

Many thanks

CCJ is not an issue unless you have been collecting many against your name.
Main thing is that you are complying with the arrangements you have made to clear the CCJ.

[avatar16]

Hi All;

i had a conditional caution in 2010 and it was registered in my CRB for couple years but last years and during a process of recruitment i received my CRB and i noticed it that it doesn't exist any more ant it came with the word NONE on my CRB is like it been deleted. so should I mention it or Not for naturalization? I'm a bit worried if i don't mention it they may take it as I'm hiding things and may band for 10 years to apply for citizenship. and i do mention it, it may cause me losing that citizenship as i had a caution. please please can someone who been like me to advice me.

thanks

[Rockefeller]

Hi everyone,
I need some advice about good character as I plan to apply for British citizenship. I have received these driving penalty notices

1. January 2006 - 3 points for driving not in accordance with license
2. December 2012- 6 points for driving withiout licence
3. December 2014- 3 points for not stopping at red light
4- April 2018- 3 points for speeding

The last conviction is the only unspent conviction on my license. However, I am really concerned after reading the guidance where it says
"Section 3: Good character
3.1 - 3.2 You must give details of all criminal convictions both within and outside the United Kingdom. These include road traffic offences.
Fixed penalty notices (such as speeding or parking tickets) must be disclosed, although will not normally be taken into account unless:
• you have failed to pay and there were criminal proceedings as a result
• you received 3 or more fixed penalty notices at any level
• in the past 3 years you received 2 or more fixed penalty notices, at least one of which, was at the upper levels (fine of £200 or more)

My question does anyone know what it means by 3 or more penalty at any level?

[allyf]

Hi everyone,
I need some advice about good character as I plan to apply for British citizenship. I have received these driving penalty notices

1. January 2006 - 3 points for driving not in accordance with license
2. December 2012- 6 points for driving withiout licence
3. December 2014- 3 points for not stopping at red light
4- April 2018- 3 points for speeding

The last conviction is the only unspent conviction on my license. However, I am really concerned after reading the guidance where it says
"Section 3: Good character
3.1 - 3.2 You must give details of all criminal convictions both within and outside the United Kingdom. These include road traffic offences.
Fixed penalty notices (such as speeding or parking tickets) must be disclosed, although will not normally be taken into account unless:
• you have failed to pay and there were criminal proceedings as a result
• you received 3 or more fixed penalty notices at any level
• in the past 3 years you received 2 or more fixed penalty notices, at least one of which, was at the upper levels (fine of £200 or more)

My question does anyone know what it means by 3 or more penalty at any level?

Hi Rockefeller,
Have you received an answer to your above questions? I too will be applying for citizenship if my ILR is granted, but now I’m worried about the speeding offenses I’ve received over the years..

[AnotherUUID]

Dear all,

I submitted my application for naturalisation in early December, declaring that I have not had any penalties issued against me by ticking the appropriate checkbox.

However, I have literally just remembered that I had previously received two PCNs for parking offences both due to absolute negligence on my part. As such, and because I always abide by the regulations, I had completely forgotten about them, and hence unintentionally not disclosed them in the original application.

I have prepared a short letter to send asap to the HO explaining this and providing further details on the matter. Has anyone had any similar experience with providing further clarification on the GCR post-submission?

I really hope it would be okay, as it would be a shame to be given a refusal (and possibly a 10y application disqualification) due to this ...

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[linguk]

Hi everyone,
I submitted my application on 02/Oct and have received the approval letter on 08/Dec. I would like to share my experience here just in case it can help other people.

I had a simple police caution 10 years ago and a speeding ticket in 2015. When I filled my application form, I was not sure if I should mentioned my police caution. Several friends have suggested me not to mention it in the application since it happened so long time ago.

However, my police certificate showed "No Live Trace", which means that there is criminal record information held on the Police National Computer but it has been ‘stepped down‘. The immigration officer will find all your caution/convicts and the details no matter how long ago it occurred. Thus I mentioned the caution very honestly in the application and wrote a detailed explanation about it.

So my suggestion is that "please mention all the cautions you received", otherwise the immigration officer could think you submit false documents.

[allyf]

Hi everyone,
I submitted my application on 02/Oct and have received the approval letter on 08/Dec. I would like to share my experience here just in case it can help other people.

I had a simple police caution 10 years ago and a speeding ticket in 2015. When I filled my application form, I was not sure if I should mentioned my police caution. Several friends have suggested me not to mention it in the application since it happened so long time ago.

However, my police certificate showed "No Live Trace", which means that there is criminal record information held on the Police National Computer but it has been ‘stepped down‘. The immigration officer will find all your caution/convicts and the details no matter how long ago it occurred. Thus I mentioned the caution very honestly in the application and wrote a detailed explanation about it.

So my suggestion is that "please mention all the cautions you received", otherwise the immigration officer could think you submit false documents.

Thank you linguk for this detailed information. Was the caution from 10 years ago here in the uk? Do we need to mention speeding tickets from other Countries if they happened even 20 years
Back?

[QUADRATIC FUNCTION]

Hi
I hope the experts here will be able to shed some light on below issue. Which just struck me when i was recalling old times with a friend...
In September 2008 i applied for PSW using the infamous Cambridge College of Learning certificate, i got my PSW approved in October 2008. Before the expiration of my PSW i left Uk in September 2010. In 2012 i came back to UK on spouse settlement Visa and got my Ilr in 2014. After waiting another 3 years to qualify for 5 years residency preiod i applied for My naturalisation application in June 2018. I had 3 points on my license in 2008, a pollice caution in 2010 and council tax arrears( as Landlord was to pay council tax as per my tenancy agreement, which he did not pay for over 2 years- i made arrangements with council to pay and chasing landlord privately for the payment) which i declared and wrote a cover letter.
Now my question is, Can Home office hold the application made in 2008 for PSW using CCOL certificate agaisnt me in my citizenship application, even though i was granted PSW and i left UK for almost 2 years and came back on spouse and got settled and got the Ilr as well. I did not mention about my previous stay here and PSW on CCOL certificate as they Staff in NCS told me to write the date when i came here to settle, which was my spouse settlement visa in 2012 applied overseas.
Can they take it as a deception for not mentioning about PSW on CCOL? Even though i got my PSW and in my 4 years of stay btw 2006-2010 and then 2012- present never had any application refused.
your expert opions will be greatly appreciated.

you acquired PSW using a false certificate so it should be on the record and you continued to live in the country for 2 years on a visa which was granted on the basis of a fake educational qualification, this is the whole point of good character requirement. Any applications made in the past using illegitimate documents are detrimental to ones future and things always surface due to the filters in place.

Now my question is, Can Home office hold the application made in 2008 for PSW using CCOL certificate agaisnt me in my citizenship application, even though i was granted PSW and i left UK for almost 2 years and came back on spouse and got settled and got the Ilr as well.

Regardless of the fact that you left the country for 2 years after having lived for nearly two years on a visa acquired through false document, there is a strong possibility that it would be looked at as deception and intentional act to deceive, therefore goes against the good character requirement. This is a very tricky situation as you didn't declare it in your ILR and other previous applications which might come to light in your citizenship application. BC applications are thoroughly scrutinised and your whole personal history is stringently checked which includes your previous immigration history.

Can they take it as a deception for not mentioning about PSW on CCOL? Even though i got my PSW and in my 4 years of stay btw 2006-2010 and then 2012- present never had any application refused.

If it comes to light in your BC application then it's highly likely that it will be looked at as deception as you supplied a false document to support your application and then stayed in the country for two years.
sorry to disappoint you but it is what is.

[DocKnow]

Dear all,

I submitted my application for naturalisation in early December, declaring that I have not had any penalties issued against me by ticking the appropriate checkbox.

However, I have literally just remembered that I had previously received two PCNs for parking offences both due to absolute negligence on my part. As such, and because I always abide by the regulations, I had completely forgotten about them, and hence unintentionally not disclosed them in the original application.

I have prepared a short letter to send asap to the HO explaining this and providing further details on the matter. Has anyone had any similar experience with providing further clarification on the GCR post-submission?

I really hope it would be okay, as it would be a shame to be given a refusal (and possibly a 10y application disqualification) due to this ...

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

PCN need not be disclosed because

1. AN form does not ask for them and there is no place you can mention them. You could put them in the additional information section but in my opinion they should not be put there either because of point 2.

2. AN guide and booklet makes it clear that all penalties linked to a criminal offenses must be disclosed. These include FPN and PND which are given for minor criminal offenses. PCNs are civil offenses and therefore need not be disclosed.

The above is just my personal opinion.

[AnotherUUID]

PCN need not be disclosed because

1. AN form does not ask for them and there is no place you can mention them. You could put them in the additional information section but in my opinion they should not be put there either because of point 2.

2. AN guide and booklet makes it clear that all penalties linked to a criminal offenses must be disclosed. These include FPN and PND which are given for minor criminal offenses. PCNs are civil offenses and therefore need not be disclosed.

The above is just my personal opinion.

I tend to agree, especially due to PCNs technically being somewhat "anonymous". Unless they are by default assigned to the registered keeper of the vehicle (as with speeding camera tickets) unless said keeper notifies them otherwise. I'm not really sure how it works, as I've never gone that far.

However, Section 3 on Good Character Requirement of Guide AN explicitly says:

Fixed penalty notices (such as speeding or parking tickets) must be disclosed, although will not normally be taken into account unless:

• you have failed to pay and there were criminal proceedings as a result
• you received 3 or more fixed penalty notices at any level
• in the past 3 years you received 2 or more fixed penalty notices, at least one of which, was at the upper levels (fine of £200 or more)

I have thus decided to play it safe and sent a letter to UKVI/HO disclosing the two PCNs and the circumstances around them.