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Reporting to the police

If you are a citizen of certain countries, are aged 16 or over, and have been given permission to stay in the United Kingdom for more than six months, you will normally be required to register with a police station in the area you are living in. This may also apply if you are stateless or hold certain types of passport. For information on which countries, you should see the right side of the page.

If it applies to you, the visa we put in your passport will clearly say so. You must register at a specified police station within seven days of the requirement being made.

If you are living within the area of London covered by the Metropolitan Police, you must register at the Overseas Visitors Registration Office at:

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 Border and Immigration Agency about this, and two passport-sized photographs. You will have to pay a registration fee. This is currently £34.

The police station will record your:

  • full name;
  • sex;
  • marital status;
  • date and country of birth;
  • nationality;
  • address in the United Kingdom;
  • the address of the last place you lived outside the United Kingdom;
  • date, place and method of arriving in the United Kingdom;
  • passport details;
  • place of study (if you are a student);
  • employment details (if you will be working);
  • how long your visa allows you to stay in the United Kingdom and any conditions it makes on your stay.

If any of this information changes, you must report it to the same police station, but do not have to do this in person.

You will not have to register if you have been given temporary permission to come to the United Kingdom:

  • 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 United Kingdom or the unmarried partner of a person settled in the United Kingdom;
  • as a person exercising access rights to a child resident in the United Kingdom;
  • as the parent of a child at school; or
  • following the grant of asylum.

You will not have to register if:

  • you have permission to live permanently in the United Kingdom;
  • you are a member of the family 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 , for which registration is required. You should see the right side of this page for the list.

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Terms explained

  • Dependant

    Someone who depends on you financially, such as a husband, wife, partner, or child.

  • 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.

  • Stateless

    Someone who is not considered as a national by any country under the terms of its laws.

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