Criminal record

[scotexpat]

my wife has a criminal record for "Domestic Abuse Aggravator" assault. Basically we were going through a rough patch and as i asked her to leave she slapped me. doesn't sound serious and i laughed it off. Anyway unfortunately for her a cop car passed by and seen it so arrested her. Anyway the conviction was there on the police check after we expected it not to be.

 

Her sentence was deferred / Admonished basically told not to do it again and if she did then it would be more than a kick in the arse she would get.

 

Is this likely to prevent us from getting our 190 visa?

 

​We're kinda worried now

[scotexpat]

i should say it was 4 years ago and we have moved on from that point. We have been living in Perth on a WHV the past year and now on bridging visa's

[Peach]

No, it won't be a problem providing you are upfront and declare it. A twelve month prison sentence is where things start to get sticky.

[scotexpat]

We have been told that it usually depends on the case officer but since then we are now married and it was 4 years ago. We have been together 13 years so surely it shouldn't be an issue... after all we all have dramas. It would be a shame to fall at this point in our application.

[Bamboozled]

Sounds like you've already applied and ticked 'no' to the question 'do you have a criminal record'! Oops! Don't worry, download form 1023 'notification of an incorrect answer'and send in with a letter explaining and you will be fine. Good luck with everything

[scotexpat]

humm i'll need to check on that one not sure what was ticked for that.

​I'll need to check

[coastie]

When you entered Australia for your WHV, did your wife tick YES to having a criminal record?

[thombatt]

When you entered Australia for your WHV, did your wife tick YES to having a criminal record?

 

​This is more of a problem. Your wife will have made a false declaration to the Australian government. They don't like that.

[Que Sera Sera]

This has come up time and again on here and has and could be a huge problem if she has lied on the visa application and landing card. Before you do anything I would consult a registered agent it's a very serious problem.

[Peach]

Speaking from personal experience, it is very unlikely that DIAC will make an issue of it. Whether you go through an agent or not. I opted for the piece of mind of going through an agent, but they didn't do anything different than I would have. DIAC raised no questions nor made no comment around my previous landing cards.

[Que Sera Sera]

That's not the experience two if my friends on here had and certainly not the experience many agents have had but its down to case officers at the end of the day some just seem to make things as hard as possible personally I'd want peace if mind.

[Peach]

That's not the experience two if my friends on here had and certainly not the experience many agents have had but its down to case officers at the end of the day some just seem to make things as hard as possible personally I'd want peace if mind.

 

Please do share their experiences...

[Que Sera Sera]

Both had OHs with criminal records both said no convictions one also had visited Australia and ticked no on the landing card. Both had a CO who failed there character test. Both had to the scrabble around last minute getting together letters of explanation as to why they had lied ( ie said they hadn't realised it counted etc etc) also had to provide references of their good character. Both dud get their visa but had a lot if unecessary stress. Also one very well respected Agent on here has only had one visa failure and that was someone who lied about criminal convictions on their application!

[Peach]

Both had OHs with criminal records both said no convictions one also had visited Australia and ticked no on the landing card. Both had a CO who failed there character test. Both had to the scrabble around last minute getting together letters of explanation as to why they had lied ( ie said they hadn't realised it counted etc etc) also had to provide references of their good character. Both dud get their visa but had a lot if unecessary stress. Also one very well respected Agent on here has only had one visa failure and that was someone who lied about criminal convictions on their application!

 

So not one actual example of where the landing card was the problem, just failure to declare the convictions on the application?

[Que Sera Sera]

Yes one of them did and as I explained they had to explain why they didn't realise it was necessary to declare it. This was nearly 4 years ago now but I do remember the state both of them were in at the time we were all getting visa's granted at the time and there's we're delayed. When a CO asks for extra things it slows everything down.

[wrussell]

Things in this area are considerably worse than they were. Those with a police issue and/or or a false statement issue would be well advise to check the PIC (Public Interest Criteria) in particular, Regulation 4020.

[Kevin11]

Both had OHs with criminal records both said no convictions one also had visited Australia and ticked no on the landing card. Both had a CO who failed there character test. Both had to the scrabble around last minute getting together letters of explanation as to why they had lied ( ie said they hadn't realised it counted etc etc) also had to provide references of their good character. Both dud get their visa but had a lot if unecessary stress. Also one very well respected Agent on here has only had one visa failure and that was someone who lied about criminal convictions on their application!

 

Do you know how long into their application the CO failed it for the character test?

[Que Sera Sera]

It would have been right at the end I think because we were all due our grant around about the same time and theirs was a mass panic to get the required docs in. It used to be, not sure if its the same , that the CO would ask for something and then say you have 30 days to produce something. Even if you we're able to produce it you then had to wait until the 30 days had expired to hear from the CO again. A very stressful wait indeed. Someone who is a member on here ( it's not for me to name then abviously!) rang me in tears completely stressed by it all and barely speaking to her OH.

[sineadallen]

sorry to butt in...my OH has a caution which we will declare on the visa application and on the landing card. does anyone know what kinda grief you get at the airport when you do declare a caution/conviction?

ta

s

[Peach]

sorry to butt in...my OH has a caution which we will declare on the visa application and on the landing card. does anyone know what kinda grief you get at the airport when you do declare a caution/conviction?

ta

s

 

You are taken to oneside and asked what the conviction was and how long ago. Happens to me each time I come through immigration. It isn't really a hassle. Once you become a citizen the problem goes away.

[Kevin11]

It would have been right at the end I think because we were all due our grant around about the same time and theirs was a mass panic to get the required docs in. It used to be, not sure if its the same , that the CO would ask for something and then say you have 30 days to produce something. Even if you we're able to produce it you then had to wait until the 30 days had expired to hear from the CO again. A very stressful wait indeed. Someone who is a member on here ( it's not for me to name then abviously!) rang me in tears completely stressed by it all and barely speaking to her OH.

 

 

Cheers for the reply.

 

We were asked for more evidence at the start and given the 30 days to produce it etc. I too am in the same boat as your friend (failure to declare on a landing card on a WHV) so just wondering at what stage they asked for character refs, I would have thought at the start they would know you had failed the character test and asked for the references along with evidence ? Also before doing the medical...

[sineadallen]

thanks

[Chall77]

I see people talking about declaring cautions in this thread. As I understand it, cautions will show on a police check but you only need to declare convictions. Is this correct??

[Que Sera Sera]

I honestly don't know what order they do it in but the final decision is right at the end so maybe that's when they ad up the evidence etc then make the decision I would imagine a non straightforward app goes to a higher decision maker , I don't know what I do know from my own experience is they can and do ask for anything. Myself and my OH have a completely clear criminal record , not even a parking fine ( mind you in OH's case that's more luck than judgement I reckon !:wink:) whilst our application was being dealt with my Ex Husband kindly emailed DIAC and said my OH was a thug and was always in trouble with the law!!!. Our case officer despite having our two completely clear Police Checks decided to act on the info and sent a message to my Agent to say we had 30 days to return a CRB. Now an individual is not able to obtain a CRB only companies can do that. So we sent a message to our CO explaining that, had to wait 30 days then received instruction that we had to supply a Police Person check within 30 days. Well with them they show every single mention of you on any police computer ( all clear! ) we sent them back had to wait and then.........they stopped processing our visa as they had used all the allocation for that visa arrrrgggh! Anyway to cut a long story short our visa was granted a full 6 months later! Sorry to the OP for the long story but just a warning that no two applications are necessarily the same and a CO can ask for anything so never hide the truth or omit stuff.

[RivieraKid]

I honestly don't know what order they do it in but the final decision is right at the end so maybe that's when they ad up the evidence etc then make the decision I would imagine a non straightforward app goes to a higher decision maker , I don't know what I do know from my own experience is they can and do ask for anything. Myself and my OH have a completely clear criminal record , not even a parking fine ( mind you in OH's case that's more luck than judgement I reckon !:wink:) whilst our application was being dealt with my Ex Husband kindly emailed DIAC and said my OH was a thug and was always in trouble with the law!!!. Our case officer despite having our two completely clear Police Checks decided to act on the info and sent a message to my Agent to say we had 30 days to return a CRB. Now an individual is not able to obtain a CRB only companies can do that. So we sent a message to our CO explaining that, had to wait 30 days then received instruction that we had to supply a Police Person check within 30 days. Well with them they show every single mention of you on any police computer ( all clear! ) we sent them back had to wait and then.........they stopped processing our visa as they had used all the allocation for that visa arrrrgggh! Anyway to cut a long story short our visa was granted a full 6 months later! Sorry to the OP for the long story but just a warning that no two applications are necessarily the same and a CO can ask for anything so never hide the truth or omit stuff.

 

On the other hand, I have an old motoring conviction from about 20 years ago. It's spent under the UKs Rehabilitation of Offenders act but there will obviously still be a record somewhere. I declared it and explained the circumstances on our Form 80 (just as I did with my 676 a few years ago) and fully expected my PCC to show "No Live Trace", indicating the spent conviction.

 

However, the PCC came back as "No Trace", indicating for immigration purposes that I'd never had a conviction.

 

The moral of the story is - you have to tell DIAC everything, because there's no way to know what they'll dig up and if you don't disclose something that they feel you should have, the consequences may not make you happy.

 

Let's face it, it's part of the character test and not disclosing something (such as making a false statement on an immigration document) when you are specifically asked, or it can be reasonably expected that you should, says something about your character. Conversely, disclosing something when you can reasonably know that it wouldn't be discovered (I could easily have had my PCC previously and known there was no trace) also says something about your character.

 

Regarding caution vs. conviction, in another thread it was suggested that DIAC make no distinction between cautions and convictions. I have no idea how true that is, but isn't it the best option to be honest and not start your new life based on deception?