Police Registration in the UK: The Scheme Ended in 2022
The UK police registration scheme ended on 4 August 2022. This guide explains what the scheme was, why nobody needs to register or update a certificate, what to do with an old one, and which duty did survive.
- Section
- Costs, English & General
- Reading time
- 4 min
- Last checked
- 9 March 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
- The police registration scheme ended on 4 August 2022.
- Nobody needs to register on arrival in the UK, or after being given permission to stay longer.
- Anyone who had an appointment did not need to attend it, and the 34 pound fee already paid is not refunded.
- An old registration certificate does not need updating. GOV.UK asks people to destroy it securely.
- Reporting a change of circumstance to the Home Office is a separate duty that still applies.
Police registration was a visa condition that required people of certain nationalities to register in person with the police and keep a certificate up to date. It ended on 4 August 2022. Nobody needs to register on arrival, nobody needs to register when given permission to stay longer, and nobody needs to update an existing certificate. Telling the Home Office about a change of circumstance is a different duty and still applies.
The Scheme Ended on 4 August 2022
The UK police registration scheme closed on 4 August 2022. GOV.UK states that you no longer need to register with the UK police after you arrive in the UK, and no longer need to register after you are given permission to stay longer if you are already here.
This applies to everyone. It does not depend on your nationality, your visa route, or how long your permission lasts. There is no replacement scheme: the requirement was removed rather than moved somewhere else.
What the Scheme Was
Until August 2022, some UK visas carried a condition called police registration. It applied to people of certain nationalities who were given permission to stay for longer than 6 months, and it was printed on the visa sticker or the biometric residence permit card.
Someone in that position had to:
- register in person, usually within 7 days, at a police station or at an office called an Overseas Visitors Records Office
- pay a fee of 34 pounds
- bring a passport, photographs, a UK address and details of an employer or place of study
- carry a police registration certificate and go back to have it updated after a change of address, job, course, passport or immigration status
None of that applies any more.
If Your Visa or Letter Still Mentions It
Documents printed while the scheme was running still carry the old wording. That includes visa stickers in passports, biometric residence permit cards, and Home Office decision letters issued before August 2022. Some university and employer welcome packs have never been updated either.
The condition is not in force, so the wording has no effect. GOV.UK also confirms that anyone who had already booked a registration appointment did not need to attend it or pay, and that the 34 pound fee is not refunded to people who had already paid it.
Biometric residence permit cards themselves stopped being issued at the end of 2024. Immigration status is now held online in a UK Visas and Immigration account — see the eVisa guide for how that works.
What to Do With an Old Certificate
A police registration certificate is now just an expired document. There is nothing to hand back, nothing to update, and no office that keeps the record current.
Because it holds a photograph, an address and passport details, GOV.UK asks people to destroy an old certificate before throwing it away — for example by shredding it or cutting it into pieces.
The Home Office does not ask for a police registration certificate in applications to extend permission, to settle in the UK, or to become a British citizen. Not having one, and not having registered before 2022, is not something those applications ask about.
The Duty That Did Survive: Telling the Home Office
Police registration and reporting changes to the Home Office were always two different things, and only the police one ended. If your personal details or circumstances change while you have permission to be in the UK, the Home Office may still need to be told — for example a change of address, a new passport, or a change of name.
What has to be reported, and how, depends on the permission you hold. The guide to reporting changes to the Home Office sets out the published rules for each situation.
Sponsored workers and students have a second, separate route: a sponsor has its own duties to report certain changes about the people it sponsors. That sits with the sponsor, not with the person sponsored.
Where to Read Next
The published source for everything on this page is the GOV.UK page Register with the police, which now exists only to say the scheme has closed.
Related guides:
Questions and answers
Do I still need to register with the police in the UK?
No. The police registration scheme ended on 4 August 2022. GOV.UK states that you no longer need to register with the UK police after you arrive in the UK, or after you are given permission to stay longer if you are already here. This applies whatever your nationality and whatever your visa says.
My visa or decision letter says I must register. What now?
Older visa stickers, biometric residence permits and decision letters were printed while the scheme was running, so some still carry the wording. The condition is no longer in force. GOV.UK says nobody needs to register, and that anyone who had booked an appointment does not need to attend it or pay to register.
What should happen to an old police registration certificate?
It has no further use. GOV.UK asks people to destroy an old certificate before throwing it away, for example by shredding it or cutting it into pieces, because it contains personal details. There is nothing to hand back and nothing to update.
Do I still have to report a change of address or a new passport?
Not to the police. GOV.UK states that you do not need to tell the police if any of the information you gave them has changed. Reporting changes of circumstance to the Home Office is a separate duty that still exists, and it depends on your immigration permission rather than on the old police scheme.
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.