can a d-r-o affect citizenship

[saguy1984]

I have really bad mental health(borderline personality disorder) and was drinking heavily..it affected my finances..i think I will need to take out a debtm relief order..can anyone tell me if this will affect my application for uk citizenship..i came to the uk on an ancestral visa then i got my ilr...i wanto apply for citizenship but is it worth me doing it? thank you

[contorted_svy]

Being in debt has no bearing on naturalisation, as long as you have a plan in place to repay your debt. Do you have any debts with goevrnment entities (eg council tax, DVLA, HMRC, NHS)?

[saguy1984]

hi contorted..thanks...sadly yes..it is hmrc debt...im guessing that is bad?

[contorted_svy]

Can you please explain more? Have you been fined, and when? Have you been declared bankrupt? Were you a director of a liquidated company?


Debt per se is not a deciding factor on good character but read the following from the good character guidance https://assets.publishing.service.gov.u ... racter.pdf

Factors to consider
A person will not normally be considered to be of good character if there is
information to suggest that any of the following apply:
• criminality - if they have not respected or are not prepared to abide by the law
for example, they have been convicted of a crime or there are reasonable
grounds to suspect, meaning it is more likely than not, they have been involved
in crime
• international crimes, terrorism and other non-conducive activity – if they
have been involved in or associated with war crimes, crimes against humanity
or genocide, terrorism, or other actions that are considered not to be conducive
to the public good
• financial soundness – if their financial affairs have not been in appropriate
order - for example, they have failed to pay taxes for which they were liable or
have accrued significant debt
• notoriety - if their activities have been notorious and cast serious doubt on
their standing in the local community
• deception and dishonesty - if they have been deliberately dishonest or
deceptive in their dealings with the UK government, for example they have
made false claims in order to obtain benefits
• immigration-related matters - if they have breached immigration laws, for
example by overstaying, working in breach of conditions or assisting in the
evasion of immigration control, where such matters are not to be disregarded
for that person. See: Non-compliance with immigration requirements
• deprivation – if they have previously been deprived of citizenship

Debt

An application will not normally be refused simply because the person is in debt,
especially if loan repayments have been made as agreed or if acceptable efforts are
being made to pay off accumulated debts.
However, where a person deliberately and recklessly builds up debts and there is no
evidence of a serious intention to pay them off, the application will normally be
refused.

You would need to show you are making efforts to repay the debts. If I had to take a wild guess, the fact you are taking a DRO but have £1500 to spend on a citizenship application rather than pay off your debt with HMRC would perhaps raise an eyebrow.

Do you have any other issues affecting your good character? Could you wait until your finances are in a better state?

[saguy1984]

thanks for the reply...i have not been fined...i am self employed..not a business...i cant afford the citizenship right now...jsut asking if i would affect me in future...or if i should go bankrupt? thank you

[CR001]

Bankruptcy will highly likely affect a citizenship application.

Why didn't you apply last year when you asked about a caution in 2009?

viewtopic.php?p=2172866#p2172866

[saguy1984]

have not had the funds to apply

[contorted_svy]

I would focus on trying to get your finances back in shape and pay HMRC what you owe before planning for a citizenship application.

[saguy1984]

thank you everyone...and contorted..i appreciate the replies