Visa Criminal Record Or Not ?

[raven0099]

Im currently doing the toursist visa application for my gf and im a bit concerned what to put in the section for criminal convictions/record.

Basically a couple of years ago my gf and her friends were harrased by a drunk man at the night market , anyway this guy ended up hitting her friend so she retaliated and threw a glass at him which cut his arm open , now according to her she was taken by the police and as she says i had to go to justice and pay fine for make ok again , i asked so do you have a criminal record/history , no she says i have only been to justice pay money to make ok , so basically im not sure what to put on the application as im filling it out , do i leave it blank or do i include this , if i do include it will it affect her application ? If i dont include it because i think she doesnt have a criminal record and it turns out she does then will that be considered as giving false information and she gets banned for a decade ! not good and most likley the end of the road for us ! so its a dilemma and i just dont know what to do ?

[glennsdaf]

very good Luck my situation is much the same as yours and we have just had secound refusal

[raven0099]

very good Luck my situation is much the same as yours and we have just had secound refusal

I see , was that because you didnt mention it ?, or was it because of an official criminal record that you did mention ?

[gburns57au]

You dont say which country the visa is for.

However, I suggest you send her to get a police clearance.

The Police Clearance Service Center is located at Building 24, Royal Thai Police Headquarters,

Rama I, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330

Phone numbers: 0-2205-2168-9 Fax: 0-2205-2169

E-mail: [email protected]

That should solve the problem

If you dont declare it now, then it may cause issues with more substantive visas in the future,

Hide all the glassware in your house.....

Edited August 7, 2010 by gburns57au

[raven0099]

You dont say which country the visa is for.

However, I suggest you send her to get a police clearance.

The Police Clearance Service Center is located at Building 24, Royal Thai Police Headquarters,

Rama I, Pathumwan, Bangkok 10330

Phone numbers: 0-2205-2168-9 Fax: 0-2205-2169

E-mail: [email protected]

That should solve the problem

If you dont declare it now, then it may cause issues with more substantive visas in the future,

Hide all the glassware in your house.....

The visa is for the uk

[7by7]

The police clearance mentioned above isn't necessary for a UK application; but in this case may be an idea.

From what you have said, it appears she wasn't charged and simply paid what in the UK would be a fixed penalty.

Para 320(18) of the immigration rules says that a conviction would only be grounds for refusal if the offence is one which could have attracted a prison sentence of 12 months or more had it been committed in the UK.

I would mention this incident in the application. As can be seen from Para 320(18) (and the entry clearance guidance) it is highly unlikely that she will be refused because of this. However, if she doesn't mention it and the ECO finds out (Can they? I don't know; do you want to take that risk?) then not only would this application be refused she could also be banned from applying again for up to 10 years.

BTW, I've amended th topic title to include UK.

[lennya12threh]

How much does this police clearance thing cost?

[gburns57au]

It takes two weeks and is valid for 12 months.....I believe it is free and if you want it sent it to a home address then you have to pay the postage.

[THAILIBAN]

just out of interest, can you get a police clearing in Thailand too if you are just here on a multiple-entry VIsa (B or O), where you have to exit the country each 90 days ?

or what are the requirements ?

[Mercury]

The police clearance mentioned above isn't necessary for a UK application; but in this case may be an idea.

From what you have said, it appears she wasn't charged and simply paid what in the UK would be a fixed penalty.

Para 320(18) of the immigration rules says that a conviction would only be grounds for refusal if the offence is one which could have attracted a prison sentence of 12 months or more had it been committed in the UK.

I would mention this incident in the application. As can be seen from Para 320(18) (and the entry clearance guidance) it is highly unlikely that she will be refused because of this. However, if she doesn't mention it and the ECO finds out (Can they? I don't know; do you want to take that risk?) then not only would this application be refused she could also be banned from applying again for up to 10 years.

BTW, I've amended th topic title to include UK.

As others suggested, she should get her record from the police ASAP.

My guess would be that there is not a lot of paperwork on this but it would really depend on whether she really went to court. Thais seem to glaze over things like this in my experience, thinking that it won't matter or they can suddenly remember later on !

My gut feeling is that as you say, the sentence would not be more than 12 months imprisonment, then as the application does not ask for it, she should not declare it. For her visa to be refused on the basis of her not declaring something which did not need to be declared is illogic and likely ultra vires.

The question does remain as to whether someone checks her record before issuing any type of visa. Were the process totally professional then I would think that they do and that is why they feel no need to ask for submission, simply because they will find it all out anyway. However, I don't think it is all that professional job and rather slap dash and without clear procedures and as such, I'm not sure they even check the records. One could make an equal argument that they do not check simply because they do not believe that Thai records are accurate and wholly legitimate.

I'd do the police check, have it professionally translated and see what that says but my gut feeling would be to not mention it on a visa form.

[gburns57au]

Generally I dont cross into the UK arena....as I have posted on here initially before the country was stated then I will add one more thing.

The OP states that the application asks if the applicant has a criminal record/conviction, she doesnt appear to know the answer to that. Getting the clearance will tell her if she does or not.

If the clearance doesnt show anything then she can happily answer the question in the negative.

If the clearance does show a conviction then she will need to declare that, she doesnt according to 7by7 have to include the clearance certificate in the application.

I believe that is the answer the OP was looking for.

[raven0099]

Yes i think its best to do the check , but we were talking about it today and she said she paid 10000 baht to clear it , and no she got no paper and they did not put it on a computer , but is there not a chance that in doing this police check thing it could open up a can of worms , i mean if the cops took a bribe ?