Convictions and Good Character Issues: Clean Slate and Immigration Consequences
Introduction
- Section 14(1) Criminal Records (Clean Slate) Act 2004:
“If an individual is an eligible individual, he or she is deemed to have no criminal record for the purposes of any question asked of him or her about his or her criminal record.”
- In the April 2017 amendments (Amendment Circular No 2017/05) instructions were added to the Operational Manual at R5.95.10 prohibiting the use of information covered by the Clean Slate scheme when assessing a supporting partner’s character requirements under R5.95(a).
- Another point to note is that INZ’s forms no longer ask the question: “Have you ever been charged etc” but now ask only questions about the present: “are you currently…”
Questions about the past, however can come up in oral interviews or in PPI letters. Further, does the duty of candour to be truthful require a visa applicant to answer historical questions. Are the following, questions about a person’s criminal record and are they prohibited by the Clean Slate scheme?
To read more, please click here: Convictions and Good Character Issues