Posted by little miss on September 07, 2008 at 11:23 [99.241.140.133]
In Reply to: need your help posted by Mark on September 07, 2008 at 00:07
How long ago did she get it? I think after a certain amount of years you can get a pardon and can then emigrate so maybe it wont even be a problem.
I found this that might be a help to you....
'From the Immigration rules, we can see that:
In addition to the grounds of refusal of entry clearance or leave to enter set out in Parts 2-8 of these Rules, and subject to paragraph 321 below, the following grounds for the refusal of entry clearance or leave to enter apply:
...save where the Immigration Officer is satisfied that admission would be justified for strong compassionate reasons, conviction in any country including the United Kingdom of an offence which, if committed in the United Kingdom, is punishable with imprisonment for a term of 12 months or any greater punishment or, if committed outside the United Kingdom, would be so punishable if the conduct constituting the offence had occurred in the United Kingdom (HC395, p320)
What this means is that if your fiance/spouse has been convicted for an offense that would have been punishable in the UK by a prison term of 12 months or more, then the application could be refused on these grounds. Whether a sentence was actually served or not is irrelevant to the decision.
Note also that the sentence actually received in the fiance/spouse's country is also not the deciding factor, but rather how the same offense would be handled by a UK court. The DSPs go on to say this...
Paragraph 320(18) of the Rules states that an application should normally be refused if that person has been convicted of an offence in any country which, if committed in the UK , would be punishable by imprisonment of 12 months or more. If you are not sure whether the offence would attract such a sentence, you should defer the application and seek advice from Policy Section, UKvisas.
If there are compassionate or exceptional circumstances involved, it may be possible for entry clearance to be issued on authority from the Home Office on a discretionary basis. Applications falling within this category should be referred to the ICD for a decision.
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, certain sentences are considered "spent" after a period of time (see Annex 26.3 for details). ECOs should not refuse an application under this paragraph if the applicants conviction falls within these time frames.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act refers to a law stating that after a certain amount of time, a conviction is deemed to be "spent" (or in other words, that the person has become rehabilitated). Once a conviction has been spent, it does not usually have to be declared on the VAF2 form.
Finally, the ECO will consider any compassionate grounds offered and if these are compelling enough, the visa may still be issued. If you believe you have compassionate grounds, you would be well advised to consult a solicitor or adviser before filing the application.'
Good luck :o)