Reporting to the police
This page explains who may be required to register with the police while in the UK, and what you need to do.
Who needs to register?
You will normally be required to register with the police in the area where you live if:
- you are a citizen of a country listed in Annex A to Chapter 10, Section 1 of our Immigration Directorate Instructions (IDI), which you can download from the right side of this page;
- you are aged 16 or over; and
- you have been given permission to stay in the UK for more than six months.
You may also need to register if you are stateless or hold a certain type of passport.
You will not need to register if you have been given temporary permission to come to the UK:
- as a seasonal agricultural worker;
- as a private servant in a diplomatic household;
- as a minister of religion, missionary or member of a religious order;
- because you are married to or in a civil partnership with a person settled in the UK, or the unmarried/same-sex partner of a settled person;
- as a person exercising access rights to a child resident in the UK;
- as the parent of a child at school; or
- following the grant of asylum.
Additionally, you will not need to register if:
- you have permission to live permanently in the UK;
- you are a family member of a citizen of the European Economic Area; or
- you have citizenship or nationality of more than one country, unless all of those countries are on the list of countries in Annex A.
What do I need to do?
If you need to register with the police, the visa in your passport will clearly say so. You will need to register at a specified police station within seven days of the requirement being made.
If you live in the area of London covered by the Metropolitan Police, you must register at:
Overseas Visitors Registration Office
Brandon House
180 Borough High Street
London
SE1 1LH.
If you are living elsewhere, we will tell you which police station to report to.
When you register, you will need to take with you:
- your passport or identification document;
- any letter you have received from the UK Border Agency about this; and
- two passport-sized photographs.
You will need to pay a registration fee, which is currently £34.
The police station will record:
- your full name;
- your sex;
- your marital status;
- your date and country of birth;
- your nationality;
- your address in the UK;
- the address of the last place you lived outside the UK;
- your date, place and method of arrival in the UK;
- your passport details;
- your place of study, if you are a student;
- your employment details, if you will be working; and
- how long your visa allows you to stay in the UK, and any conditions it makes on your stay.
If any of this information changes, you must report it to the same police station, but you do not have to do this in person.
See also
News & updates
Terms explained
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Dependant
Someone who depends on you financially, such as a husband, wife, partner, or child.
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European Economic Area
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Irish Republic, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are not members of the European Union (EU) but citizens of these countries have the same rights to enter, live in and work in the United Kingdom as EU citizens.
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Stateless
Someone who is not considered as a national by any country under the terms of its laws.