Previous convictions

[English86]

My wife is an american, applying for a visa to come and live in the UK. When she was young (well before she met me) she got arrested for underage drinking aged seventeen. This was in 2004.
She didn't go to court but was fingerprinted and paid a fine. She did a background check a couple of weeks ago, and this came back as no record found. We are both a little concerned about what to put on the question about previous convictions in any country.
We have had conflicting advice about whether to answer this question "yes" or "no"
We don't want to be seen as trying to hide anything, the arrest was several years ago, and for a minor offence. I'm not sure if it even counts as a conviction. But the other problem is, if no record of her arrest exists, how do we supply the supporting evidence that the guidance notes ask for.

Any advice would be happily received. We're trying to get her application in before the July 9th deadline

[2farapart]

You can answer 'no'.

You only have to mention charges where the conviction is 'unspent' (the rehabilitation period set for particular crimes). The rehabilitation period where a fine is given is five years, so given she paid the fine and it was over five years ago with no repeat offence, it would now be considered 'spent' and you're not required to disclose it.

[English86]

Is the rehabilitation period an english or american thing? Or does that not matter.

The answer you've given is the one i wanted to hear, and I think the one I was leaning towards. I guess I'm just concerned that with the rule changes, and a flood of applications, UKBA will be looking for easy reasons to reject a person!!

[2farapart]

Originally Posted by English86

Is the rehabilitation period an english or american thing? Or does that not matter.

The answer you've given is the one i wanted to hear, and I think the one I was leaning towards. I guess I'm just concerned that with the rule changes, and a flood of applications, UKBA will be looking for easy reasons to reject a person!!

It's part of English law and is set out in the Rehabilitation Of Offenders Act 1974 (here's a fairly good description: Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 | Convictions & Offences).

The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 enables some criminal convictions to become 'spent', or ignored, after a 'rehabilitation period'.

A rehabilitation period is a set length of time from the date of conviction. After this period, with certain exceptions, an ex-offender is not normally obliged to mention their conviction when applying for a job or obtaining insurance, or when involved in criminal or civil proceedings.

The UKBA observes this law and only expects the mention of 'unspent' convictions. Typically, where a fine is given for a non-minor offence (and drink-driving is specifically mentioned as NOT minor in UKBA guidance) the period of rehabilitation is five years, unless your wife was 17 or under, in which case it was half that time.