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I'm a US permanent resident (30+ years) and applied for a UK visitor visa. There was a question concerning whether I had ever been "convicted" of a crime. I plead guilty to a crime in 1997 (white collar) and adjudication was withheld so I answered "no". My visa was denied because I answered NO and they saw my record when they ran my prints (I traveled without a problem to the UK in 2000).

Refusal letter

Should I reapply and explain, or wait a while, or forget about it because they'll never approve it?

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    Even if adjudication was withheld, did the court find you guilty and sentence you for the crime? That is likely enough to fulfil the UK legal definition of a conviction, although your local legal definitions (Florida?) are different.
    – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo
    Commented Mar 8, 2016 at 2:36
  • I'm surprised you didn't attract a ban. Anyway, depending upon the crime, they may have now recorded you as an illegal entrant in 2000 making matters worse. Based upon what you wrote, it's a duplicate. If you want to scan, redact, and upload your refusal notice into a NEW question, you can get some useful answers (given that it's not a duplicate also).
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Mar 8, 2016 at 3:09
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    @MichaelHampton Unfortunately a white collar fraud conviction (medical billing fraud) where the loss to the victim is more than $10k (victim was the State of FL) is an aggravated felony for immigration purposes and keeps you from being a citizen for life.
    – user40983
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 3:24
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    @CMaster, thanks for the ping; I will reopen this right now. You can give an answer to the OP straight-away, thanks again note also he is now an illegal entrant from 2000 for deception by silence per the 1998 Act
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 13:41
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    @user40983, there isn't a question explicitly on the application. You become an illegal entrant when you use deception by silence and do not disclose material information. You did that in 2000. They will have already recorded it during your application. Also, in your application, you also did not check the box about good character, and you will not be back in the UK for a long, long time. 10 years is just the start.
    – Gayot Fow
    Commented Mar 9, 2016 at 14:47

1 Answer 1

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Accordng to the letter your have received, you can reapply whenever you like, but you will be refused for at least the next ten years - 23/02/2026 is the date that the automatic refusal ceases to ocur, according to your above letter.

You can find the immigration rules on the offical UK government website here. The relevant sections say that (emphasis mine):

V 3.7 An applicant will be refused:

  • (a) if the applicant previously breached UK immigration laws as described at V 3.9; and
  • (b) if the applicant is outside the UK, the application is made within the relevant re-entry ban time period in V 3.10 (which time period is relevant will depend on the manner in which the applicant left the UK).

And

V 3.9 An applicant, when aged 18 years or over, breached the UK’s immigration laws:

  • (d) if deception was used in relation to an application or documents used in support of an application (whether successful or not).

V3.10 (f) states that the ban for deception in an application lasts 10 years.

Note the use of the term will - there's no discretion here given to the person assessing your application, they are required to refuse you on the basis of this refusal.

If you feel you have been treated unfairly, and that you have a case to make that this was all an innocent misunderstanding and can be put right, and you really want to visit the UK, you could look into hiring a UK-based immigration lawyer. They will be able to tell you if there is any chance of you being reconsidered or not, but it will cost you a considerable amount of money.

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