Traffic infringements and applying for citizenship

[mro]

Hi all,

I'm applying for NZ citizenship by grant. One of the questions on the application form says:

Question 21:
"Have you ever been convicted or found guilty of any offence against the law of New Zealand or any other country?"

My question is: Do I have to list speeding fines from New Zealand and other countries I've lived in?

My initial thought is no. However, in the Guide Notes Pg 4, with regard to questions 21-30 it says:
"If you have had 100 or more demerit points in the last 2 years and/or you have had a significant history of infringements and fines, this may affect the outcome of your application."

To me, that implies they're interested in infringements. There were some traffic infringements/speeding fines in my country of origin, but that was 6+ years ago. I've never gone to court for a speeding fine. Just paid the fee.

Any thoughts?

P.S. Here's the link to the application form I'm looking at:
Application Form

[JandM]

Infringements are NOT convictions, so the strict answer is 'no'. To be totally honest - always a good idea - you can add 'paid infringements only' and give details.

[mro]

I agree that they're not convictions. But then I read this article, and it makes me doubt myself: Teacher 'made to feel like a criminal' over speeding fines

They also talk about "speeding fines" in that article, but the correct term is "infringement fee", though I also used the term "speeding fine". The difference, as per the police infringement bureau website:

When you are issued a ticket (an 'infringement notice') the monetary penalty recorded on it is called an 'infringement fee'. If the infringement fee is not paid in full by the due date it is referred to the Ministry of Justice for enforcement, when it becomes a 'fine'.

[JandM]

Reading that article, it appears that one large part of the teacher's problem came from that fact that she did not mention what she had. As you will see above, I recommended doing so. Teachers are in a peculiar position compared with the rest of society - because they have responsibility for and are an example for children, they are expected to be morally whiter than white, so small faults that would pass in the population at large are magnified. Also, that teacher claimed that her infringements had been wrongly listed, which can't have helped.

However, it is true that, for the purpose of citizenship (and for PR), the NZ authorities do consider a pattern of repeated infringements, as it says in the Guide you quoted, as a considerable drawback.