Submitting clarification after application

[redblue99]

I'm hoping someone will please advice me, as I think I have made a huge mistake on my naturalisation application.

I had received a council tax late payment notice in 2019 that I have forgotten to disclose in my application, and have already had my biometrics. I had received a final notice and made the council tax payment. Soon after making the payment, I received a liability order notification after the payment was made, as this was sent before the payment was received. I had made the payment and highlighted this to the council, and did not receive any further letters from them.

This completely slipped my mind during the application, and I feel really horrible about this. Wanted to see what the best route would be for me here? Would you recommend reaching out via the general enquiries and sharing the situation with them?

[alterhase58]

I don't think there's anything to worry about - or having to disclose.
You were late and missed a council tax payment and you got a final notice which crossed with your payment.
You have addressed the issue, i.e. paid and clarified with the council and no further action from them.
If you had been taken to court, got county court judgement, etc that would have to be disclosed, but even that won't affect your application as long as you dealt with the matter.

[redblue99]

Thanks a lot for this!

I do recall there being a fine associated with the late payment, so I was wondering if that is a factor here? The naturalisation handbook states you should disclose "include any out-of-court disposal such as a fine, a caution, a warning or reprimand, a community sentence, a civil order, a civil penalty, a civil judgment,
a hospital order or a restriction order", so I was wondering the late payment fine would apply for this?

[contorted_svy]

The liability notice likely has been cancelled as soon as the council received your payment and it isn't any of those listed in the guidance. Disclosing is the safest choice of course but if this is your only infraction it is very unlikely to affect your application.

[redblue99]

Would there be any options for me to disclose this now after I have had my biometrics? Would there be any avenue for me to share an email or letter to clarify this?

[alterhase58]

Even if you disclosed it it wouldn't affect your application - note that refusals are only given for a small numbers of reasons, due to not meeting statutory requirements. If you are nervous about this you are free to include a note about this of course.
Send an email with your personal details and explantion to these emails: viewtopic.php?p=2093594#p2093594
They will receive it but won't acknowledge unless they really want further clarification (unlikely).

[redblue99]

Thanks, would you suggest I share an email for piece of mind with the addresses above?

I understand I shouldn't expect a response from the emails, but would they definitely receive it and include it as part of the application pack that is assessed by the case worker?

[alterhase58]

The email addresses are official Home Office, we recommend to use these to members here almost daily. Some get acknowledgements, most don't and nobody has reported they were refused for minor issues which most issues are. I am going by some eight years worth of posts I have seen on this forum.

[contorted_svy]

We can't know that. We have a list of email addresses we routinely advise that caseworkers should receive - forum members use them to good avail but we can't guarantee anything 100%. Your case is really not that serious so send the email if you wish and then try to focus on other things, you won't get refused over something so menial.

[redblue99]

Thanks, I'll use the email addresses shared by alterhase58 in the thread above.

I did notice 4 email accounts shared, so was wondering if there is a particular email from the ones listed below that you would recommending contacting first? Alternatively, would you recommending sending the email to all 4 email accounts separately to be safe:

1. furthernationalityenquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
2. NationalityEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk
3. citizenship.Support@homeoffice.gov.uk
4. NationalitySupportTeamFMT@homeoffice.gov.uk

[alterhase58]

Just send one email to all four addresses. The system will deliver an email to each address. We can’t say what is the best email.