Important information regarding the end of the Police Registration Scheme
Police registration ended on 5 August 2022
On 5 August 2022, the Home Office announced that the requirement to register with police had been abolished "with immediate effect".
Information at Gov.uk is yet to be fully updated, however a brief statement has been added to UK visas and registering with the police: Who usually needs to register.
The Immigration Rules are also yet to be amended. The UK Council for International Student Affairs (UKCISA) received a press release about it from the Home Office with this information, to be shared with all students.
What has changed?
Since the 5 August 2022, no-one is required to register under the scheme or update their local police force about changes, even if their immigration documentation says they must.
This change is retrospective and will affect those who have already registered and those who have a condition saying they must register but who have not yet done so.
Further details can be found at UKCISA - international student advice and guidance - Protecting your Student status.
What does this mean for your visa?
An FAQ document published by the Home Office, National Police Chief’s Council (NPCC), and Counter Terrorism Policing was shared with UKCISA on 8 August 2022. The document answers a number of questions about the abolition of the police registration condition/requirement:
- It should no longer be added to new grants of immigration permission.
- If it is printed on an existing visa, BRP or digital status it will not be amended by the Home Office. However, it is no longer relevant.
- If you have registered in the past and received a Police Registration Certificate (PRC), the FAQs advise that you no longer need to keep it and will not be expected to show it to anyone in the future. However, the International Student Team would strongly advise that you do keep it.
- Any fee you have previously paid for registering with the police will not be refunded.
- If you have an appointment booked, you no longer need to attend it or pay any fee for it.
- If, prior to the scheme being abolished, you failed to register within the required time-frame, you are no longer required to register. However, we remain unclear as to whether a previous breach of the police registration condition may still have an impact on your immigration history and/or future immigration applications. We don't yet know if instructions will be given to Home Office caseworkers to ignore such a breach in the future. UKCISA will be seeking clarity about this and update our university when they know more details.