Applying
for a UK visa
from New York?

13 March 2015

If you are applying for a UK visa through the British Consulate in New York and have been convicted of a criminal offence in the past, you will now be required to provide the court documents as part of your visa application.

This requirement will only be necessary if your case went to court. Currently, all visa applications must declare whether or not the applicant holds any criminal convictions. The British Consulate in New York, however, has gone a step further and recently decreed that any declaration of criminal offence must be accompanied with written confirmation that the offence either:

• Did not go to court and there are no documents to submit; or
• Was heard in a court and the court papers are attached.

If the offence is declared as having gone to court, the relevant court papers must accompany the visa application and should show the date of the offence, the charge and the sentence imposed.

In many cases, applicants no longer have access to the necessary court documents and will need to request them from the relevant authorities. Since retrieving such papers can take several weeks to organise, this could result in an unnecessary delay to your UK visa application process.

If you in hold a criminal conviction, you are strongly advised to plan ahead and apply for your UK visa in good time. For further clarification on this change, please speak to a member of the Smith Stone Walters Team based in New York.

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