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-   Moving back or to the UK (https://britishexpats.com/forum/moving-back-uk-61/)
-   -   UK court records needed? (https://britishexpats.com/forum/moving-back-uk-61/uk-court-records-needed-50495/)

Ukjeffry Oct 21st 2001 1:34 pm

Please can someone help me :)

I'm in the latter throes of an I-130 petition, having waited patiently for a year now
since marrying my US wife here in the UK. Being apart for this length of time is not
good for any relationship and we are keen to be together permanently.. so.. can
anyone help me with this last leg pleeeeze - We are fed up with being apart and
waiting.. and waiting.. and waiting!!!!

On the OF-230 form it asks if you have attended court since the age of 16, well, I
have. How do I obtain court records in the UK? They were 23 years ago and 17 years
ago, one was when I was 16 and rode a motorcycle whilst underage, the other was for
criminal damage when I was 22, we pushed a couple of sheds over - minor offences.
I've no idea of the exact dates and seem to be going around in circles obtaining
these records.

Firstly, I've obtained a police certificate that states there are no records against
me and that I have a clean bill of health. Visited the police station who pointed me
in the direction of the courts and they seemed to think that these were minor
blemishes on my record and would not matter. Next off to the court, they need exact
dates and well, I've no idea when they were. Again, they insinuated that because the
offences where such a long time ago it probably wouldn't matter.

So.. HEEELP! Went to the library hoping to go through newspaper records in order to
find exact court dates, we gave up! The librarian phoned Scotland Yard who stated
that minor offences commited over 10 years ago were wiped off your record.

Now - can you see my quandry? Do I lie on the OF-230 and state - as is on the police
certificate - a clean record and that I haven't ever been to court? Or can somebody
please point me in the right direction to find these court records as no official
body is of much help right now.

Really appreciate any feedback :) Both Heidi and myself totally sympathise with
everyone who has to be apart for so long due to beaurocratic red tape. I will post a
Bill Bryson travel writer exerpt which I think sums our feelings up later!

Thanks in anticipation xoxo

Heidi & Jeffry

Alvena Ferreira Oct 21st 2001 1:51 pm

UKJeffry wrote:
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Go to the Doc Steen site and read the criminal record link. There you should see that
because these are so long ago, they will not affect your getting the visa, especially
since they were not crimes of "moral turptitude." I personally think that you should
relax, because these are not going to affect your getting this visa, nor are the
court records going to be required, IMHO. Alvena
-----------------------
Doc Steen Site: http://www.mindspring.com/~docsteen/...o/visainfo.htm
=========================================
I am not a lawyer and this is not immigration advice. This is my personal opinion,
posted for the purpose of discussion only. Locate an immigration attorney in your
area at: http://www.aila.org
=========================================

Doug Melville Oct 22nd 2001 2:22 am

Hello Jeffrey,

I was in a similar position, what i did was write to the clerk of court concerned,
who sent me back a letter saying it was impossible to provide records as details of
summary offences are destroyed after 10 years (breach of the peace 1984).

I will be taking that letter to the K1 interview, and im sure it will be ok, so i
would suggest that you try to obtain a similar letter, just in case your interviewer
is unfamiliar with UK court procedure and is in a bad mood.

Lying by omission, IMHO is not recommended in case something comes back to bite you
on the bum at some future date.

cheers

Doug

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feelings up
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Sinsy Oct 22nd 2001 11:59 am

Well I'm going through the same myself and waiting for all the police stuff to turn
up, when I chased up about a court report knowing I would need one I was told that
they were destroyed after 7 years...Help, now I'm confused, if it is 10 years I may
need to get one, yet everyone keeps telling me its 7....does anyone else know??

I hate this process and it really is getting the better of me!!

Doug Melville Oct 22nd 2001 4:00 pm

I can only comment on scottish sherrif courts, it may be different in different
jurisdictions/courts.. I would advise you get a letter or some sort of official
confirmation of the period before destruction.

Stick with the process, its painful and horrible, but believe me, its worth
it. I think everyone goes through the same sort of period when it feels like it will
never happen.

Doug

http://www.marriagebasedvisas.org/ho...elanie-n-Doug/

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Larry Or Robin Oct 22nd 2001 4:01 pm

I managed to obtain court records from the 70's both from Crown Court and the
Magistrates Court in Bristol. I would guess that if your local court does not keep
records after so long you would need a letter from them to that effect.

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