When to apply for spouse visa with past convictions

[yankeebrit]

Hi,

I am just trying to decide when to apply for a spouse visa for my wife. She has a past conviction in the USA from 2009 for which she received 3 years probation...

According to the new rules on criminality posted in December 2012 she should be clear of the criminality threshold if she has not been convicted of a non-custodial sentence in the past 24 months...She has not.

However, her conviction will not be "spent" until April 2014. The new rules do not mention convictions being spent anymore...

Can we apply now? Or is it better to wait until it is spent next year? Will it make a difference?

Many thanks for any info you may have.