martin1978

I have just received my subjest access back after applying for it in January. (slow or what) Anyway it is showing an impending prosecution for criminal damage. The incident was in february and apparently I am going to receive a caution for it soon. It was a small domestic mishap with some nasty neighbours and is the 1st time i've been in any trouble in my 30 years.

Obviously I am now going to have to get a new subject access after the caution as it will obviously look better than an impending prosecution but how will the caution affect my application for PR? Would it show up at all on the APCO.

For information I currently am not allowed to apply for an APCO until the caution is given and there is no impending prosecution.

Pollyana

Don't know if it'll appear on the ACPO check as thy seem to be making up their own rules, and its so new that as yet it is unclear what will/woin't show, but a caution like that is highly unlikely to affect your PR. Just write a note to go with it explaining what happened, with any mitigating circumstances.

Bit worrying if you can't apply for an ACPO check with impending prosecutions though, as some cases can drag on for months. Wonder how DIAC will get round that one?

martin1978

Thanks for the reply. I'm still going to be bricking it now for the next 6 months. Near enough severed all my ties with the UK now.

JAJ

Have you taken legal advice as to whether or not you should accept the caution (you can choose to go to court instead).

martin1978

a little. point is, if I go to court, (which could take ages, bare in mind i'm coming to Oz on a WH visa in 3 weeks) if I lost it would be even worse.

JAJ

Once again. Get legal advice. Do bear in mind that a caution is now treated as a de-facto criminal conviction for many purposes.

Pollyana

Hey JAJ,
Any comments/thoughts on the last sentence in the original post -

"For information I currently am not allowed to apply for an APCO until the caution is given and there is no impending prosecution."

Thanks

JAJ

I am not aware of any such bar but from memory, the immigration forms do ask about impending charges/prosecutions.

martin1978

Its not that you can't apply, they don't have the facility to deal with it and have to wait until its either dropped or causes a conviction/caution. its wierd.

Pollyana

Polly shakes head in disbelief...the info is all there on the PNC, so they should be able to produce the print-out. One wonders how they would cope with a case that was likely to take months to go to court, and whether in those circumstances DIAC would accept the Subject Access check.

martin1978

your subject access would say impending prosecution though like mine did and you woul then be looking at a 99% chance of refusal.

Pollyana

Mm, its an interesting one. Can DIAC legitimately refuse to accept a Subject Access check if ACPo won't provide one with THEIR check, and can ACPO legitimately refuse to process one's request for a check just because of an impending prosecution?
Under Subject Access the report MUST be supplied within 40 days, with whatever information is on it at the time. Surely ACPO should be answerable to the same parameters? Might be challengeable in court if they refuse to supply the information...

(you can tell that I didn't lose interest in the field just cos I left the job, can't you!!)

martin1978

The annoying thing for me though is if they had done it when I requested and within the 40 days they were supposed to mine would have been completely clean.

martin1978

Another question polyanna. sorry.

I am supposed to be flying out to Oz in less than a month on a WH visa which I obtained last November. Am I supposed to now declare that I have got a caution. (change of circumstances). On the app form it just asked if you had been convicted of a crime of offence, not found guilty of like in the PR form. Would they see it as bad character through past and present general misconduct.

Also if I declared it and the visa was cancelled because of it I would be permenently excluded for ever. True?