Applying for a UK Marriage Visa with 2 DUIs (2003 / 2005)

Hi,

This forum has been super-helpful - I wondered if anyone could offer advice or shed light on our marriage visa application, in relation to potential issues with previous DUI convictions. I would love to hear from someone who has been through something similar ... 

Overview

• I am a British citizen, born in Scotland, living in Seattle on a Green Card. I have a UK passport.
• She is an American citizen with 2 DUI convictions - one in 2003, the other in 2005.
• We are getting married in Scotland in June this year (2020), returning to Seattle to live for the foreseeable future.
• We obviously need to apply for a Marriage Visitor Visa, and are concerned that DUI convictions may be cause for the Visa refusal. Everything is booked and paid for, so we really hope not ... 
• The Marriage Visitor Visa is just to cover the 3 or so weeks that we will be in the UK.

Other info ...

• We don't have any information on either DUI - we were able to pull a background check to attempt to get conviction dates, but it only returned the conviction from 2003. There was some sort of appeal for the second conviction which seems to cause confusion (and means it's lacking details), but a reference to it did appear when we were pulled over at the Canadian border (and denied entry)
• For the 1st one, she had community service and was on probation for a year, had to do the required drink-driving class.
• For the second one, she had to do an enhanced class, was on probation with random alcohol screening for 1 year, and had 3 days in custody.
• She is now an upstanding member of the community with no other convictions, impressive career, etc.

Thank-you so much in advance ...

Hi,

This forum has been super-helpful - I wondered if anyone could offer advice or shed light on our marriage visa application, in relation to potential issues with previous DUI convictions. I would love to hear from someone who has been through something similar ... 

Overview

• I am a British citizen, born in Scotland, living in Seattle on a Green Card. I have a UK passport.
• She is an American citizen with 2 DUI convictions - one in 2003, the other in 2005.
• We are getting married in Scotland in June this year (2020), returning to Seattle to live for the foreseeable future.
• We obviously need to apply for a Marriage Visitor Visa, and are concerned that DUI convictions may be cause for the Visa refusal. Everything is booked and paid for, so we really hope not ... 
• The Marriage Visitor Visa is just to cover the 3 or so weeks that we will be in the UK.

Other info ...

• We don't have any information on either DUI - we were able to pull a background check to attempt to get conviction dates, but it only returned the conviction from 2003. There was some sort of appeal for the second conviction which seems to cause confusion (and means it's lacking details), but a reference to it did appear when we were pulled over at the Canadian border (and denied entry)
• For the 1st one, she had community service and was on probation for a year, had to do the required drink-driving class.
• For the second one, she had to do an enhanced class, was on probation with random alcohol screening for 1 year, and had 3 days in custody.
• She is now an upstanding member of the community with no other convictions, impressive career, etc.

Thank-you so much in advance ...

Welcome. 
 
Others are more knowledgeable about criminality than I am so until they appear, have a look at this.  Hopefully you'll be able to decipher how it pertains to your situation.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/general-grounds-for-refusal-considering-entry-clearance

The golden rule always is though, until you have your visa in hand,  never book anything which is not completely refundable.

As these DUIs are relatively minor and happened a long time (>10 years) ago, so long as they're declared on the form, I'm given to understand it should be just fine you just provide what information you can about it and supply that with the application.

I'm with larrabee though, there are people around here that know a lot more than I do - wait for them!

The DUIs must be declared on the application and any paperwork you have that relates to them must be sent. However, they are unlikely to affect the visa decision.

- if they happened more than 12 months ago, and they only incurred a fine and no jail time, they must be declared but the visa cannot be refused because of them

- if they were sentenced to less than 12 months in prison, and more than 5 years has passed since the end of the sentence, they must be declared but the visa cannot be refused because of them

- if they were sentenced to more than 12 months but less than 4 years in prison, and more than 10 years has passed since the end of the sentence, they must be declared but the visa cannot be refused because of them.



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