Settlement with a criminal record
Settlement and citizenship apply different criminality tests. This guide sets out the criminality grounds in Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules, which govern settlement, and how they differ from the good character requirement.
- Section
- ILR & Settlement
- Reading time
- 9 min
- Last checked
- 22 February 2026
- Source
- The published Immigration Rules and GOV.UK guidance, linked throughout this guide.
- Rowan does not
- Look at your own case, tell you which route to choose, or say what the Home Office will decide. This guide shows the published rules and where to read them.
In short
- SUI 5.1: refusal is mandatory for a custodial or suspended sentence of 12 months or more, for a persistent offender showing particular disregard for the law, and for an offence causing serious harm.
- SUI 5.3: refusal is discretionary for a custodial or suspended sentence of less than 12 months, a non-custodial sentence, or an out-of-court disposal recorded on the criminal record.
- Suspended sentences of 12 months or more sit in the mandatory group, added by the statement of changes HC 1691 of 5 March 2026.
- The rules apply to convictions in the UK and overseas alike.
- Good character, and its 3, 10 and 15-year thresholds, is a citizenship requirement, not a settlement one — and those thresholds now apply only to citizenship applications made before 31 July 2023.
A settlement application is assessed against the criminality grounds in Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules. Paragraph SUI 5.1 makes refusal mandatory for a custodial or suspended sentence of 12 months or more, for a persistent offender showing a particular disregard for the law, and for an offence causing serious harm. Paragraph SUI 5.3 makes refusal discretionary for shorter sentences, non-custodial sentences and recorded out-of-court disposals. The good character requirement, with its fixed waiting periods, belongs to British citizenship and not to settlement.
Two Different Tests, Often Confused
Settlement and British citizenship apply different criminality rules, and material written for one is frequently applied to the other.
- Settlement is assessed under the criminality grounds in Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules, at paragraphs SUI 5.1 to SUI 5.5. Those grounds turn on the sentence imposed. They contain no waiting periods.
- Citizenship is assessed under the good character requirement, set out in the Home Office's good character guidance. That is a broader assessment covering criminality and other matters.
The Settlement Grounds: Part Suitability
Paragraph SUI 5.1 sets out the mandatory grounds. An application for entry clearance or permission must be refused where the applicant:
- has been convicted of a criminal offence in the UK or overseas for which they received a custodial or suspended sentence of 12 months or more;
- is a persistent offender who shows a particular disregard for the law;
- has committed a criminal offence, or offences, which caused serious harm.
Paragraph SUI 5.2 applies the same three grounds to cancellation of permission already held.
Paragraph SUI 5.3 sets out the discretionary grounds. An application may be refused where the applicant has been convicted of an offence in the UK or overseas for which they received a custodial or suspended sentence of less than 12 months, or a non-custodial sentence, or received an out-of-court disposal that is recorded on their criminal record. Paragraph SUI 5.5 applies those grounds to cancellation.
The inclusion of suspended sentences of 12 months or more in the mandatory group came in with the statement of changes HC 1691 of 5 March 2026. Our guide to the 2026 good character changes covers the parallel citizenship changes, and our guides to the Life in the UK test and the English language requirement cover the other settlement requirements.
Disclosure and the Deception Ground
The application form asks about criminal history, and the rules treat under-disclosure as a separate matter from the conviction itself. Paragraph SUI 9.1 makes refusal mandatory where the decision maker is satisfied that the applicant used deception by:
- making false representations, or providing false documents or false information, in relation to the application — and the rule adds “whether or not relevant to the application”; or
- not disclosing relevant facts in relation to the application.
Paragraph SUI 9.2 allows permission extended under section 3C of the Immigration Act 1971 to be cancelled on the same basis. The effect is that a matter which would only have engaged the discretionary ground in SUI 5.3 can engage the mandatory ground in SUI 9.1 if it is not disclosed. What the form asks for is what has to be answered, including overseas convictions. Our guide to criminal records and citizenship covers the parallel questions at the nationality stage, where the Home Office applies the good character guidance instead.
Where a Sentence Is Under 12 Months
A custodial or suspended sentence of less than 12 months, a non-custodial sentence, and a recorded out-of-court disposal all sit in paragraph SUI 5.3, which says an application may be refused. It is a discretionary ground, so the outcome is not fixed by the rule.
One other route into the mandatory group does not depend on any single sentence: SUI 5.1(b) covers a persistent offender who shows a particular disregard for the law, and SUI 5.1(c) covers an offence, or offences, which caused serious harm. Neither is defined by a sentence length.
Only an adviser regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority, or a solicitor, may advise on how these grounds apply to a particular person and a particular record; Rowan sets out the published rules and does not. Our guide to what happens after a refusal covers the published remedies, and our guide to indefinite leave to remain sets out the other requirements.
Interviews and the Decision Timetable
GOV.UK names a criminal conviction as an example of a personal circumstance that can make a settlement application complex and take longer, and says an applicant will be contacted where an interview is needed for that reason. The published standard is otherwise a decision usually within 6 months of the fingerprints and photograph, which are given either through the “UK Immigration: ID Check” app or at an appointment; see our guide to the biometrics step.
Advice on an individual criminal record is regulated work. Our comparison of using a solicitor and applying alone sets out who may give it.
Questions and answers
How is a criminal record treated in a settlement application?
Under the criminality grounds in Part Suitability of the Immigration Rules. Paragraph SUI 5.1 makes refusal mandatory where the applicant has been convicted of an offence in the UK or overseas for which they received a custodial or suspended sentence of 12 months or more, is a persistent offender who shows a particular disregard for the law, or has committed an offence or offences which caused serious harm. Paragraph SUI 5.3 makes refusal discretionary where the sentence was custodial or suspended for less than 12 months, or was non-custodial, or where an out-of-court disposal is recorded on the criminal record.
Do spent convictions have to be declared?
Immigration applications ask for convictions, including overseas convictions, and non-disclosure engages a separate ground: paragraph SUI 9.1 makes refusal mandatory where the decision maker is satisfied that the applicant used deception by making false representations, providing false documents or information, or not disclosing relevant facts in relation to the application. That ground applies whether or not the underlying matter was itself relevant to the application.
Are there fixed waiting periods after a conviction?
Not for settlement. The criminality grounds in Part Suitability turn on the sentence, not on how long ago it was. Fixed periods of 3, 10 and 15 years did exist, but they belong to the good character requirement for British citizenship, and the Home Office good character guidance now applies them only where a decision is outstanding on a citizenship application made before 31 July 2023. For citizenship applications made since then, the guidance says a person will normally be refused if they have received a custodial sentence of at least 12 months in the UK or overseas, consecutive sentences totalling at least 12 months, are a persistent offender showing a particular disregard for the law, have committed an offence causing serious harm, or have committed a sexual offence or are recorded on a register. Below 12 months, it is a balance of probabilities assessment.
This guide is general information about published immigration rules. It is not advice about an individual application under s.82 Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and Rowan is not regulated by the Immigration Advice Authority. Immigration rules change several times a year. For advice on a particular situation, contact an adviser authorised by the Immigration Advice Authority or an immigration solicitor. Always check GOV.UK for the authoritative current rules.