Criminal Record

[Isafella 0]

We are currently at our NOA2 stage of the K1 visa. I am about to apply for my police certificate but have a question.

When I was 18 I got in physical fight with someone. About a week later the police station called me up and requested I came in for questioning regarding this. When I arrived I was told that if I wrote an apology then the other party would not press charges. I gave my account, wrote out my apology and was told I was free to go and it was all done – never heard anything since.

Is this going to show up on my record? I assume it will say ‘No Live Trace’? I know that I was told it wouldn’t show up to any employers that request a CRB check but I don’t know if it will show up on the ACRO - Does this count as some sort of caution or reprimand?

I didn’t declare in my original application that I had been arrested or convicted because I have not. Will this affect my application?

[TBoneTX 43,022]

*** Country-specific thread moved from K-1 Process forum to the UK regional forum. ***

[rob999 51]

I don't know if it would or not, You weren't arrested and wasn't charged so I would guess it may not. But you ought to be applying for the police certificate now anyway so you'll see if it did or not. If something did come up then I suspect this will be queried during the embassy interview.

[ChasUno 101]

Is this going to show up on my record? I assume it will say ‘No Live Trace’? I know that I was told it wouldn’t show up to any employers that request a CRB check but I don’t know if it will show up on the ACRO - Does this count as some sort of caution or reprimand?

There's only one way to find out if it will show up on your ACRO, and that's to apply for it. I would also apply ASAP as if you've reached the NOA2 stage then you aren't far away from medical and interview, and you will need it for you medical as well as interview. This is also one of those documents that you should've applied for earlier in the process, not least because if it does show as a "no live trace" then you will have to apply to have a full disclosure. It all takes time, and could mean you having to delay your medical if it can't be produced in time.

Will your incident show up? I think probably not, though it might depend on how long ago this incident occured. I was involved in an incident involving the aiding and abetting of a motorvehicle being taken without the owner's consent, the said vehicle being crashed and both me and the driver of the vehicle being under age (no licence, no insurance). It was a stupid thing to do, though we were both 16 at the time (in 1985). I had to go and be reprimanded by the chief inspector at the local Police Station but that was it. No formal caution, no charges. I still had to declare this on my ACRO application, and thankfully, it came back as a "No Trace". In other words, my record is clean. Whether that was because it was so long ago and so minor that it wasn't recorded, that it pre-dated electronic records or that I was legally a "Juvenile" at the time and it got scrubbed when I reached 18, I don't know.

In your case, you need to apply for it and only once you get it will you know if you do/ do not need to take any further action. I think you will be fine, but only the ACRO report will confirm that. No one else can say for sure except the ACRO!