Hi all
it's 3 months until I can apply for ILR, which I plan on doing premium/in person, so something like 3.5 months until I apply for citizenship. I'm starting to get my affairs in order for these.
I'm slightly concerned about the character test. I've reviewed the new guidelines here
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/770960/good-character-guidance.pdfThere's an 'accruing of debt' section and like 3 reasons this concerns me:
1) I have a lot of student loans *waves in millennial* they are a combo of private and federal loans.
2) I don't pay on the federal loans because of the living overseas loophole. however, I always file my paperwork correctly and although I am not making payments, they are in good standing.
3) I.....defaulted several years ago on a private student loan. this may actually no longer appear on my credit report (I'm having some trouble actually getting a credit report!) because it was over 7 years ago.
so, questions:
1) does the amount of debt matter? we're talking around $90k left to pay, combined.
2) if i don't make payments, but the loans are listed as up to date, does this meet a good standard?
3) if this is no longer on my US credit report, do I need to disclose it on my citizenship application? It was around $10k, if that matters.
SEPARATELY, driving citations question.
I requested my driving record from my home state. I'd completely forgotten that there was a citation against me right before I moved to the UK in 2011; I wrote to appeal it in court, but then left the country before I was issued a court date. Obviously I was found liable as I was not there, and then paid the fine (though late). Does this count as a conviction? As of now, there are no points or active citations or anything on my license.
I know I had speeding tickets in other states in the early-to-mid 2000s, but I couldn't tell you exactly where (I moved a lot, and played a sport that had me on the road every weekend, and lived in those tiny east coast states so was always crossing state borders). however, all of these tickets would have been before I turned 18. do they matter? I *think* I got 3 speeding tickets, but I could have sworn one was in my home state, and that didn't turn up in my driving record, so I'm not even sure you can request details from other states if you were under 18?
thanks for any help and guidance here!