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Celebrating 30 years if intercultural understanding through the arts

INFO & RESOURCES
Here you will find guidance and help sheets if you are planning to present arts and artists from overseas in the UK for the first time. You will also find these help sheets useful if you are an overseas artists and have never presented work in the UK. Please note, you will need Adobe® Reader® to access these documents.

Some foreign nationals who visit the UK for more than six months are required to register with the police in the local area in which they are based, as stipulated in UK Immigration (Registration with Police) Regulations, 1972. The Regulations state that a person is normally required to register if he/she is a “relevant foreign national”. A list of countries that this refers to is available on the Border and Immigration Agency website at:
www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/lawandpolicy/immigrationrules/appendix2

Spouses and children over 16 of those required to register must also register with the police.

N.B. Immigration Officers and Entry Clearance Officers have discretionary power to require that any foreign visitors to the UK, other than the requirements stated above, must register with the police.

The following guidelines are taken from the IND’s website at:
www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/idischapter10/. Please refer to this for more detailed information.

Exemptions from Police Registration

• Visitors who are citizens of EEA and Commonwealth countries (including British Overseas Territories). 

• Dual nationality visitors who hold a British, EEA or Commonwealth passport.

Registration Procedures

1. Since November 2003 the requirement to register with the police on entry into the UK has been printed on the entry clearance documentation

2. Within seven days of their arrival relevant foreign nationals are required to register at a designated police station for the area in which they are living, or if staying in London, to the Overseas Visitors Records Office.  Details of other registration locations can be obtained, either from the Overseas Visitors Records Office on 020 7230 1208 or a local police station.

3. Visitors will need to bring their passport and/or travel documents; two passport-sized photographs; any correspondence from the Home Office; and their Work Permit (if applicable).  A fee for police registration is charged which is currently £34. A foreign visitor registered with the police who visits the UK again within less than one year of their original visit, is not required to pay this fee again.

4. The police will issue the visitor with a registration certificate.  If this is lost or stolen, the visitor is required to buy a new one from the police.

5. Foreign visitors are required to notify the police if they change address; get married; get a new passport; or if their employment circumstances change.  If a visitor is granted an extension to their stay in the UK, they must renew their police registration.  There is no fee for doing this.

What happens if visitors do not register?

Failure to register is an offence, and the police have the right to consider prosecution.  At point of entry, Immigration Officers are required to record the UK address given on a visitor’s landing card, and these contact details are forwarded to the police.  

What happens after the visitor leaves the UK?

The registration certificate is usually removed by an Immigration Officer when a visitor leaves the UK, or occasionally it may be sent to the IND. The certificate is usually kept by the police for two years.

Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks

If you are going to be working with children or vulnerable adults, the UK organisation you are working with may ask you to have a CRB check. These checks are carried out by the Criminal Records Bureau (an Executive Agency of the Home Office) to ensure that you are suitable to work in such environments.

It is not a legal requirement to have a check done, but a decision made at the discretion of the organisation you are working for. The CRB currently does not carry out checks on overseas addresses. If you do not have a UK address and need to have a check done, a Certificate of Good Conduct from the police in your country of origin should be accepted as a substitute.

Detailed information can be found at www.crb.gov.uk or by phoning the CRB on 0870 90 90 822.

Useful Contacts and Information

The Police Services of the UK has a Regional Index search function to find contact details for regional police authorities in the UK. At the time of producing these pages this website was not available as a new system was being developed and being tested. For details visit: www.met.police.uk

To register visitors in London contact:

Overseas Visitors Records Office
Brandon House
180 Borough High Street
London SE1 1LH
Telephone Information Line: 020 7230 1208

Open between 9am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday.
Closed Bank Holidays, public holidays and weekends.

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Contents

Introduction

Work permits

Contracts and employment - the legal aspects

Artist’s contracts and written agreements

Visas; entry clearance; leave to enter

Police registration; CRB checks

Tax     

Insurance and medical services

Fees for artists and performers

Transporting equipment and ATA carnets

Passenger airport security in the UK

Final checklist

Glossary – list of forms

National Campaign for the Arts briefing paper: Changes to immigration policy and pricing - June 2008

INFO & RESOURCES

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