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UKVI - overseas criminal record certificates

From April 2017, the Government plans to extend the requirement to provide a criminal record certificate to Tier 2 visa applicants coming to work in education, health and social care sectors and to their adult dependants.

UKVI - overseas criminal record certificates

The extension of this requirement will strengthen safeguards against those with a criminal history seeking to come to the UK.

Tier 2 visa applicants who are coming to work in an occupation defined by the relevant Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code, and their adult dependants, will need to provide a criminal record certificate from any country they have lived for 12 months or more in the past 10 years.

It is the sponsor’s responsibility to inform their prospective employee of the new requirement. Failure to do so may result in refusal of the visa.

We recognise the need to give those affected sufficient time to obtain a criminal record certificate which is why the new requirement will not be implemented before April 2017. It will therefore not affect those required to apply for a visa before then.

To ensure those applying for a visa from April 2017 are made aware of the new requirement, we advise sponsors to inform prospective employees assigned a certificate of sponsorship from January 2017. The UK Home Office will announce the precise timing of this new requirement in due course.

Further guidance about the requirement is available here.

Published 23 February 2017