Registering with the police is a legal requirement imposed by the Home Office under Section 26(1) (f) of the Immigration Act 1971, as part of the terms of your visa conditions.

If you are required to register with the police, it will say so on your vignette or your decision letter. It will not be shown on your BRP.   
It may say:

• ‘Pol Reg’ or
• ‘Police Registration’ or
• ‘Register with Police in seven days of UK entry’

You need to register with the police if you are aged 16 or over, have been granted limited leave to enter or remain in the UK of over 6 months and if your country of nationality is listed below:

Afghanistan Algeria Argentina Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Belarus Bolivia Brazil China Colombia Cuba Egypt Georgia

Iran Iraq Israel Jordan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lebanon Libya Moldova Morocco North Korea Oman Palestine

Peru Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Sudan Syria Tajikistan Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Ukraine Uzbekistan Yemen

 

If Police Registration is a condition of your visa, you must do so as it is a legal requirement. 

Not registering is a breach of the Immigration Rules and is against the law. You could be fined up to £5,000 and/or put in prison for six months if you do not register when required to do so.

Your current or any further applications for stay in the UK could also be affected.

You must register online within seven days of arriving in the UK if you applied for your visa from outside of the UK, or within seven days of receiving your Biometric Residence Permit if you applied to extend your visa from inside of the UK.

You will need to provide information on the following:

• Personal details
• Contact details
• Family member’s details (if required)
• Study details
• Travel, Passport and Visa details
• You will need to attach a passport style photo showing a close-up of your head and shoulders (no shadow, object or people in the photo with you) 

The photo can be taken on your phone and should be no larger than 170 x 132

The photo can be in the format of: Jpeg, Png, Jpg.

Make sure you have your documents with you when completing the online registration form. There is a 20 minute time limit for completing the registration process and you won't be able to save your form, so please make sure you have everything before you start.

If you are registering for the first time, you will need to start the process online

1. You need to visit the police website Thames Valley Police and register there
* Note: the system does not work with certain email address'. If this happens to you, please use another email address to register with.
2. Log into your chosen email and confirm/verify your account. It can take a couple of minutes for the email to come through.
3. Once you have confirmed your account, login, and select ‘create a new registration.’ 
4. You need to complete all sections of the online form within 20 minutes. If not completed in 20 minutes, it will log you out and you will have to fill in the form all in again.
5. Book your police appointment (the appointment does not have to be within 7 days, please do not miss class).
* If there are no appointments available, then please regularly check the online portal for more appointments. Appointments are released weekly. At busy times of year, your appointment may be several months in the future.
6. Attend your police appointment.

Reading Police Station: Castle Street, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 7TH     

Loddon Valley Police Station: Rushey Way, Earley, Reading, Berkshire RG6 4PS    

On the appointment screen, Abingdon police station is the default venue. Click where it says ‘Abingdon police station’ and it will bring down a list of all the other available venues.

• Your current passport
• Your Biometric Residence Permit
• The Home Office letter that approved your application for leave (if you have one)
• Current fee of £34.00 in exact cash, card is not currently accepted
• Confirmation of enrolment letter containing your UK address (you can download this from the student portal or obtain one from your Support Centre).
- PhD students will need to obtain one from the Doctoral Research Office.

Please make sure you arrive ten minutes before your appointment time – if you're late, the police will not be able to deal with your registration.

• The appointment should last around 20 minutes
• Documents will be checked by the Front Counter Officers
• They may ask you some questions
• You will be issued a Police Registration Certificate (PRC)

Your police registration certificate (PRC) is a legal document. Please keep it in a safe place with your passport and travel documents as you will need to include it if you make another visa application within the UK or if you need to inform the police of any changes.

You should tell the police if your police registration certificate is lost or stolen.  You should then get a replacement. Login to your account and select ‘Request new certificate’. Please note that a replacement certificate must be paid for so only apply for a replacement certificate once all methods of finding the certificate have been exhausted.

You will need to inform the police within seven days when any of the details on your police registration certificate changes. 

Login to your account and select ‘Change your details’

Changes include:
• Change of address
• Change of college/ university/ course
• Change of occupation
• Change in marital status
• Change of visa/ extension of visa
• New passport details
• Any children born whilst you are in the UK
• Exemption from Police Registration

Some changes can simply be reported online, some will require an appointment at a police station as well.

If you have already registered with the Police in another force area and have moved to Reading, you must update your Police Registration Certificate with this information. 

Please create an account with Thames Valley Police and select ‘Transfer from another force.’