Police Registration Certificate

The condition to register with the police is given to people:

of certain nationalities. Read Appendix 2 of the Immigration Rules ('Appendix 2') for which nationalities; and
who come to the UK for more than six months

The OVRO office at Fettes re-opened on 26/04/21.

For initial registrations

All students required to register with the police will need to email them at SCDOVROEast@Scotland.pnn.police.uk with the following information;

Name and Nationality
Have you ever registered with the police in the UK
Place of Study/Employment and permanent address
Date of arrival into the UK and which country you started your journey
If you have quarantined and the end date of the quarantine (even if date has passed)

They will then be given an appointment date and time with specific instructions as to where to attend and what you will be required to bring with you. You will be advised that you must attend this appointment even if you have class scheduled for the same time. You will need to advise your tutors if you require time off for your appointment.

You will be advised the Police have a very limited amount of people who can be in the building at any point which will be strictly adhered to therefore they request that you attend your appointment only 5 minutes before hand, if you are any earlier you will not be allowed access to the building nor will you be able to wait outside due to current government guidance. You will be required to leave the building as soon as your registration has been completed, you will not be able to wait in or around the building.

You will need to attend your appointment on your own, unless you have children or are attending with a spouse whom is also registering.

You will be required to wear a face covering whilst in the building and will only be able to remove it briefly when asked by the registration officer when checking your identity. You will be required to use the hand gel provided in reception when entering and leaving the building.

For those whom have a certificate of registration

As of 26/04/21, you will be able to attend your local police station to make changes to your certificates as per normal. Although the Police advise that you do not attend in groups and attend on your own. You will be required to wear a mask within the station and may be refused entry if there are too many people attending at once. Please note that St Leonards and Gayfield Square stations are open 24 hours per day so you do not need to attend during office hours and can attend at weekends.

No changes will be done at Fettes reception and no one will be seen there without a prior appointment.

If you are required to register, the condition is likely to be printed on your 30 or 90 day entry clearance vignette in your passport. Alternatively, if you have been granted leave to remain following an application made in the UK, it might be printed on your biometric residence permit (BRP). It may also be included in your letter from the Home Office and not on your visa.

There is a fee of £34 to register with the police. When you register, you will receive a Police Registration Certificate.

You must register within seven days of collecting your BRP. You can register with the police before you have collected your BRP, but you should then check with the police whether you will need to register again after collecting your BRP. Check whether your college or university has made special arrangements with the local police which allow you to register with them outside of this seven-day period.

After you have registered, you always need to update the police within seven days if you ever:

change your address; and/or
extend your Tier 4 leave; and/or
change college or university; and/or
renew your passport; and/or
get married; and/or
if any of the other details on your Police Registration Certificate change

If you fail to comply with a condition to register with the police, or to notify them of changes, the Home Office can refuse future immigration applications or remove you from the UK. Additionally, you might be barred from returning to the UK for a certain period.

The Home Office has made an error, if you have either:

been given the police registration condition but your nationality is not listed in Appendix 2 (above); or
not been given the police registration condition but your nationality is listed in Appendix 2 (above) and you have come to the UK for six months or more

If you have been given the police registration condition in error

Read Passport, visa and BRP problems for how to correct this error. If you decide not to request a correction of such an error, you should try to register with the police. However, it is unlikely that the police will allow you to register, in which case retain evidence that you tried to comply with this condition of your leave, even though it was given to you incorrectly (for example, you could ask the police to confirm in writing that you tried to register with them). Nevertheless, if the police will not allow you to register, and will not confirm this in writing, you are not obliged to have this error corrected.

If you should have been given the police registration condition but it is missing

There is no need to register, or to take any action to correct the error. However, your Tier 4 sponsor is obliged to report to the Home Office any incorrect conditions that it becomes aware of. If this happens then the Home Office may take steps to re-issue your leave with the correct conditions.