Section 9A — Citizenship Act 1977: Disqualifying convictions

9A Disqualifying convictions (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) , the Minister must not authorise a grant of citizenship under section 8 or section 9 to a person who has been convicted of an offence if— (a) the person was sentenced on conviction to— (i) a term of imprisonment of 5 years or more; or (ii) an indefinite term of imprisonment capable of running for 5 years or more; or (b) within the preceding 7 years the person was subject to a sentence of imprisonment of less than 5 years or was subject to release under subpart 2 of Part 1 of the Parole Act 2002 ; or (c) within the preceding 3 years the person was convicted of an offence but did not receive a sentence of imprisonment. (2) The Minister may however authorise a grant of citizenship to a person to whom subsection (1) applies and who otherwise meets the requirements of section 8 or section 9 if satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances relating to the conviction such that a grant of citizenship should not be precluded. (3) Nothing in this section limits the Minister's discretion to refuse a grant of citizenship if the Minister is not satisfied that the applicant is of good character. Sections 9A and 9B were inserted, as from 21 April 2005, by section 7 Citizenship Amendment Act 2005 (2005 No 43). See section 17 of that Act for the transitional provisions relating to applications for citizenship.