PAF

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone may have had a similar experience and may be able to chip in with how their experience went (good or bad) and what my chances are like to getting our visa accepted.

I'm a 41 year old estate agent in London and too old or don't have any skills for OZ. My wife has been offered a sponsorship with her firm to move out to Melbourne which we are going to try and do on a 457 Visa and have myself added on as a dependant. We are lucky as we have a migration firm about to start the process for us and we are currently gathering all of our documents ready.

The only issue I see us having is that I have a petty criminal record from a long time ago which has gone back to bite me and which I'm pretty embarrassed and ashamed of.

The first was a caution for theft in 1990. My father has the hub caps stollen from his car and I got caught stealing someone else's, admitted it and received a caution (16 years old).
The second is in 1997 when I had a bad crash on my motorcycle which I went to court and got charged for careless driving and received 6 points.
The third is a drunk and disorderly and prosecution in 2001.

Obviously this is not going to help the application and I feel terrible as I'm letting my wife down and possibly going to put this move in jeopardy.

I'm about to send away for an ARCO police certificate which will state all of my cautions / prosecutions in order to sent to the migration officer in order for our visa.

I'm keeping fingers and toes crossed that as these are 'small' offences and a long time ago 15+ years ago that they may accept me as a dependant on my wife's Visa.

If anyone has had a similar experience or has any knowledge on what is acceptable or not, it would be great to hear your thoughts / story.

Cheers

Bermudashorts

I wouldn't worry about it. Yes it will get picked up and you are probably going to get some questions, maybe have to provide references or something. But I see no show stoppers for an Australian visa. Be honest, show remorse, demonstrate your clean record since.

PAF

Hi thanks for your reply, I hope this is the case! Let's see how things go. Hopefully there may be others who have gone through something similar?
I feel I'm the weak link as I don't have a degree and a lot to offer as far as they may see?

Bermudashorts

They will not be interested in your education.

Dorothy

Someone else's experience will not have any effect on what happens with your application. Each case is determined on an individual basis. So , what happened to me, even if our circumstances were similar, wouldn't necessarily be what happens to you.

As Bermuda says, it should not be a problem. Your offenses were a long time ago and they are not particularly serious. You have an agent. What does he/she say?

PAF

Dorothy, thank you for your input.
I've now had an email from our migration lady.

As it is more than 10 years ago it shouldn't be a problem, but we I need to disclose it. I am to arrange a police clearance just for myself. The police clearance will likely show 'No live trace' as it is more than 10 years ago.


[email protected]
Website

https://www.acro.police.uk/Police_Ce...es_Online.aspx

Additional information

Relevant document: ‘NPCC Police Certificate’.

Note: If your certificate states ‘No Live Trace', you will need to provide written evidence of your 'stepped down' convictions. You can request details of these if required from the

PAF

We got our Visas and fly to Melbourne in December, we are so happy.

We got the visas the first week of October. Not a bad turn around.

It pays to be upfront with everything !

Jilliebee

Congratulations - enjoy the adventure x

moneypenny20

Well done and I hope you love your new adventure.