i looked this up but can't really find anything.....i just got my police cert back with that on, i've been arrested twice, once got a caution and the other time they just let me out with no charge....do i need to get anything else to do with my police cert? Would no live trace have come up if i had done something more serious and am i going to have to convince the con off that i'm not a hardened criminal? Thanks.

"No live trace" means you have something on your record. You should bring the MOC and all documentation of the conclusion of your incidents.
You can search on that phrase in the main Immigration group, where there have been many reports on how to get the paperwork from the courts.

i just had a quick look but i've never been to court or had a proper conviction, just a caution......would i still apply for the moc?

The procedure for a British "caution" fits within the US definition of an "admission" of the crime.

If you can, you should.

I honestly don't understand why you're unclear about what to do. Don't you want the visa? If so, it seems that you should be doing everything possible to make it easy for the officer to say "approved".

You ask about the MOC as though it's a tremendous hardship to get, or perhaps something with which you shouldn't be bothered. It is in your own best interest to get everything that demonstrates that the whole incident was relatively minor.

Ian

Go to the cop shop where you got the caution and see if they've got any paperwork on it. If they haven't, a letter saying they haven't is better than nothing.

thanks i'll go down tomorrow.

Do it for both the caution and the no charges.

tut, 2 stations

Better than screwing up and being told later on to go and visit two stations...

1972, Jethro Tull.

Ian

A little off topic, but related to the thread title.

Someone in another thread had an incidence where there cert came back with "No trace" yet they admitted to having some run ins with the law. Someone responded about time since last conviction etc.

My questions are;
Is it true that someone could at one pint apply for a police cert and have it come back "no live trace" but leave sufficient time, apply again and have it come back "No trace"

If the answer to the last question is yes, can someone give an example [or point me to a link] that explains the parameters that would support that happening? i.e. offense was petty or was xx number of years ago or was conducted in Scotland not England etc.

I'm sure there are many out there who would be eager to learn the answers counting on the number of "visa with conviction" threads that pop up.

Yes it IS possible to get a "No live trace" at one point, followed by a "No trace" the next time a search is done.

The "no live trace" means there is something on the microfiche record, and it has never been transferred to the Police National Computer record. All there would be on the computer is a record of the name, date of birth, and Criminal Records Office file number.
If that item turns out to be something which is eligible for weeding, due to age etc, then the microfiche can be destroyed, and the basic "shell" of the record removed from PNC.
Then the next time a check is done, there is absolutely no trace of the person, and the police check issued to them will reflect this with the words "No Trace"

Polly (I used to weed the records!)

Since you will disclose it anyways, it makes no difference if it says "no trace."

Thanks Polly, that's interesting. I can understand "weeding" the microfiche, but due to the relative cheapness of computer storage I would have thought they would have maintained the PNC criminal records file number [even if ultimately it became impossible to trace it back to the original file due to it being destroyed]

Thanks.