Citizenship with a criminal record for speeding?

[lpossamai]

Kia ora!

Has anyone ever applied to Citizenship with a Criminal Record for speeding?

If so, was it approved? Did you guys have any problems with it? I'll be applying this year and am kinda worried.

Screenshot 2024-02-08 at 2.20.56 PM.jpg

Cheers!

[JandM]

https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports...-requirements/

[lpossamai]

https://www.govt.nz/browse/passports...-requirements/

Yes, I've seen that page, but was more after to someone that has been through that to know their outcome.

[JandM]

Kelerei's explanation on this thread https://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=57424 may be of interest - he studied the regulations in more detail there.

Also, if you Google site:enz.org driving conviction and citizenship, several threads come up with people's past experiences.

[Kelerei]

Kia ora!

Has anyone ever applied to Citizenship with a Criminal Record for speeding?

If so, was it approved? Did you guys have any problems with it? I'll be applying this year and am kinda worried.

Screenshot 2024-02-08 at 2.20.56 PM.jpg

Cheers!

That looks like a conviction in court without a sentence of imprisonment to me, and if that's the case, you will be caught by Section 9A(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act 1977. Specifically, you are disqualified from the grant of citizenship until 3 years have passed since your conviction: in your case, 21 November 2025. Unless you have exceptional circumstances relating to the conviction itself, applying before this date is pretty much guaranteed to result in your application being declined -- see the Citizenship Guidance Document for more information on this.

Note that after your period of disqualification is ended, you will still need to satisfy the Citizenship Office that you are of good character: you will not meet the good character requirement by means of the disqualification period ending alone. Again, the Citizenship Guidance Document will help you out when the time comes.

[lpossamai]

That looks like a conviction in court without a sentence of imprisonment to me, and if that's the case, you will be caught by Section 9A(1)(c) of the Citizenship Act 1977. Specifically, you are disqualified from the grant of citizenship until 3 years have passed since your conviction: in your case, 21 November 2025. Unless you have exceptional circumstances relating to the conviction itself, applying before this date is pretty much guaranteed to result in your application being declined -- see the Citizenship Guidance Document for more information on this.

Note that after your period of disqualification is ended, you will still need to satisfy the Citizenship Office that you are of good character: you will not meet the good character requirement by means of the disqualification period ending alone. Again, the Citizenship Guidance Document will help you out when the time comes.

Thanks for the reply Kelerei. The "CITIZENSHIP GUIDANCE" document explains it well. Cheers!

[JandM]

Don't answer this if you don't want to, but why did you have to go to court when it was a speed camera you were caught by?

[lpossamai]

Don't answer this if you don't want to, but why did you have to go to court when it was a speed camera you were caught by?

I was caught at 200km/h in a 80km/h zone.

[JandM]

Ah...

[HowardSmith]

Kelerei's explanation on this thread https://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=57424 may be of interest - he studied the regulations in more detail there.

Also, if you Google site:enz.org driving conviction and citizenship, several threads come up with people's past experiences.

Thanks for the thread link, I will check it.