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Applying for a UK visa can be a long and complicated process, and the approval or denial of your application can depend on a number of factors.Â
Skilled Worker (inc educational and health care workers), Entrepreniral and Investor Visa applications require a police criminal background check to be supplied. You can learn about the background check process for your country on the Government’s website.Â
Each country has a different application process and fee, so you must check your country’s requirements fully before you apply.
Failure to supply a background check with your visa application will likely lead to automatic rejection.
Coming to the UK with a criminal record
If you know you have a criminal record and have spent time in prison, your visa application may be automatically denied. Here are the three main reasons for denial:
- Your sentence was between 1-4 years long and ended less than 10 years ago
- Your sentence was less than 12 months but ended less than 5 years ago
- Your sentence was more than 4 years long
Examples
Approval
You are applying for a UK visa in January 2024. You spent 24 months in prison between January 2010 and January 2012. Your application will be approved because your 24-month sentence ended more than ten years ago.
Denial
You are applying for a UK visa in January 2024. You spent 24 months in prison between January 2020 and January 2022. Your application will be denied because your 24-month sentence ended less than ten years ago.
If you were sentenced to, or served, four more years in prison at any point in your life, your application will always be denied.
How we can help you
Except for a few specific circumstances, we may not be able to help you with applying for a UK visa if you have a criminal record.Â
However, if you do not have a criminal record, then we are happy to help you. Whether you are interested in applying for a type of visa, are looking into settlement under Indefinite Leave to Remain, or even want to naturalise as a British citizen, our expert law team can help you.Â
Our client success stories page has a few examples of how we have assisted clients in the past. Please visit it if you would like to find out what we have previously done before contact us.
Contact us for a FREE 10-minute assessment with one of our experts, which allows us to see how we might be able to help you. After this, you can choose to book a longer, paid consultation that will last either 30 minutes or an hour, and during which you will be given actual legal advice.
Get in touch with us today to see how we might be able to help you.Â
Ready for assistance?
If you have any questions, or want to book an appointment with one of our legal experts, contact Woodcock Law today. Call us on +44 (0)20 7712 1705 or email info@woodcocklaw.co.uk.
