How many years must pass before deemed rehabilitation applies to a single non-serious conviction?

The law sets a fixed number of years that must pass after a sentence is fully completed — not just the date of conviction — before deemed rehabilitation can apply to a single, less serious offence. "Completed" means everything: any jail time served, probation finished, and fines paid in full, not merely the date a judge handed down the sentence. Because the clock only starts once every part of the sentence is behind you, someone who assumes the countdown began at conviction can be surprised to learn they still have years left to wait.

The exact number of years is set out in the immigration regulations and isn't something to guess at or rely on from an old source, since it can depend on precisely how the offence is classified. It's also worth remembering that deemed rehabilitation is available only for a single, non-serious offence in the first place — a second offence, or one that qualifies as serious criminality, takes a person out of deemed rehabilitation entirely regardless of how many years pass. Anyone trying to work out whether they already qualify, or when they will, should get their specific conviction and sentence checked against the current regulatory threshold before making travel plans.