bethnphoebe

I have today recieved my australian federal police check back. It says that in 2000 i was convicted of driving an unregistered vehicle and fined $100. I don't remember anything about this happening- will my application now be rejected. What do I do?

Bermudashorts

A funny thing to not remember

Anyway I wouldn't panic just yet. I am not an expert by any means but it was 9 years ago and doesn't seem like an offence that would be a bar to immigration. Perhaps somebody more knowledgeable than I will also be able to reassure.

charw

Were you drunk @ that time ?. Otherwise how can you forget?? So check with police if you frankly have no clue for such an incident....

Pollyana

If you believe that this is on your record in error, you need to contact the AFP and tell them so. They can then look into it in more detail. It is always possible that there is someone with the same name and date of birth as you, and the record actually belongs to them - its actually quite a common occurence, I used to do the checks in the UK, and can assure you that even if you think your name is unique, there could be someone else out there that shares it. If the record is wrong they can correct it and issue you with a new check.

bethnphoebe

I am so upset. I have never been to court in my life here or in OZ! I am really worried that they will reject my application now. The thing is i have only got until next week to submit my police checks to my case officer so do i send it as it is and tell her i think it's a mistake?

Bermudashorts

If this is nothing to do with you then you need to challenge it and I would not submit it to your CO until it is sorted. I would have said so in my first post but you did not sound so indignant or sure it was not you then, sorry

You should get back to your CO within the time limit but you can do this and tell them that either a) you don't have the results back or that b) you are querying them. I told my CO I could not get things done within the 28 days and they were fine.

Pollyana

See my post above. I'm serious about it, contact the AFP and ask them to sort it out for you. They should have other details on file that will help prove it isn't you. We always used fingerprints as a final resort in the UK but I am less sure of the process here. In the meantime go back to your case officer and tell them what has happened, also maybe send them a copy of your enquiry to the AFP.

http://www.afp.gov.au/business/natio...ce_checks.html

Part way down the page is a section entitled Disputed record enquiries, that's the bit you need. Try not to get too upset about it, as it really is a frequent occurence - we have even had several similar cases on BE over the years

bethnphoebe

Thanks for the replies. I will dispute the record, I just don'y know what to say to my case officer.

newjersey

just say that you believe that there is an erroneous record held by the AFP, that you intend to dispute it and have your name cleared, and request an extension from your CO.

George Lombard

Dear B and P,

This is an extremely minor offence and certainly isn't going to be a bar to skilled migration. On the other hand, if someone has successfully stolen your identity they might still be at it, so I would recommend you contact the Australian Taxation Office in addition to the police.

Cheers,

George Lombard

Deutschmaster

I remember reading in a paper how an elderly British couple got a speeding infringement from South Australia, despite never actually visiting Aus.

I think it was their daughter who actually got the ticket but wrote her parents down as the ones who were driving. She didn't think that the Aus police would send the ticket to her parents when they actually did.

Perhaps somebody else could have written your details down? If you weren't in Australia when the ticket was issued it'd probably be easy to prove that it's not yours from the immigration records.

Pollyana

May not even be a stolen identity, it could just be a coincidence of name plus date of birth. I dealt with hundreds over the years - people migrating, applying to work with children, all kinds of checks that would turn up coincidences you never thought possible. Definitely worth getting the AFP to sort it out though - and hang on to any letter saying that it IS a coincidence, because the same will probably happen if an AFP check is ever donw in the future.