TV Licence Evasion

[juliajules1979]

Does getting fined for TV licence evasion affect a citizenship application?

Friends husband has recently been fined for this and I wondered that the outcome would be.

Many thanks.

[JulesN19]

Does getting fined for TV licence evasion affect a citizenship application?

Friends husband has recently been fined for this and I wondered that the outcome would be.

Many thanks.

If the fine has been imposed by a Magistrates' Court, then the person being fined has been convicted for an offence. Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, a conviction that results in a sentence of a fine becomes spent after five years. An applicant for naturalisation would be required to disclose all unspent convictions, including one for TV licence evasion.

I can only speculate as to how the UK Border Agency would treat such a conviction, but my guess is that they would take a dim view of any applicant for naturalisation who committed an offence by failing to pay money due to a public institution.

[juliajules1979]

Many Thanks for your reply, I thought the same. I will have to relay the bad news to them!