Citizenship application with detrimental information

[swangchuk]

Hello forumites,

I have applied for nz citizenship on 03/03/21 and got a response from DIA last week regarding some detrimental information received by them from NZ police.

According to the police check, a family harm incident was reported by NZ police and i was the aggressor in that incident, i have pleaded guilty and got discharge without conviction last month after appearing before court, which means i have accepted responsibility of this serious matter, took steps to avoid that in future like attending anger management course, donation to charity etc. We as a family has moved on from this and started living our normal life.

I have been given 2 options, withdraw application and get refund, continue applying (give character references, proofs etc.)

I cant sleep thinking all these and cannot makeup my mind whether to withdraw or continue. If i decide to continue DIA will send my application to minister of immigration and then he will decide on granting me citizenship or not.

I thought discharge without conviction will help me and NZ police wont disclose this information, but i was wrong, only thing worrying me is this incident has happened recently i.e. 6 months ago and not so much time has been lapsed.


So, looking for your humble advise or suggestion moving forward.

Thanks in advance,

Cheers,
Sonam

[Kelerei]

I am in no position to give you any advice or suggestions, but I can tell you what the Department of Internal Affairs' policy is on such matters. This may help you make an informed decision yourself.

The policy on family harm events is that you will not meet the good character requirement unless or until:

• you take responsibility for their part in the violence
• you take steps to address its underlying causes
• any protection order has been discharged, and
• the violence is firmly in the past.

There is further information, concerning the process that is followed where detrimental information is received, character references that you may provide, etc. that may be found in the Citizenship Guidance Document.

My one and only recommendation is that, should you choose to continue with your application, you obtain professional advice on how to proceed. You will surely need this in order to prove to the Minister's satisfaction that you are of good character.

[swangchuk]

Unfortunately my application has been submitted to minister, it's now upto minister to decide about fate of my application.

Case officer said they don't have any timeframe set for this process so just wondering how much time it take by minister to make the decision?

[JandM]

As the CO told you, there aren't any guidelines made available publicly on that, and I don't remember seeing anyone's story shared on the threads that would give you anything to compare with.

[swangchuk]

https://fyi.org.nz/request/1768-citi...ial-submission

Found this on Google, though it's 8 yrs old but gave me enough insights re the process.