Changes for Overseas electors
From January 2024, the 15-year limit on British citizens living abroad will end. Any British citizen (which includes eligible Irish citizens and citizens of the Crown Dependencies) previously registered to vote in the UK, or who previously lived in the UK, will be able to register to vote, regardless of how long they have lived abroad.
British citizens living abroad will be able to register to vote using the address where they were last registered to vote in the UK. If they were never registered to vote in the UK, they can register using the last UK address they lived at.
British citizens living abroad will no longer have to register as an overseas voter every year. Instead, they will have to register every three years.
What are the eligibility rules?
British citizens, which includes eligible Irish citizens and citizens of Crown Dependencies, may register as overseas voters if they are now living abroad, providing they were:
- previously registered to vote in the UK, either before they left the UK or as an overseas voter.
- previously resident in the UK, but not registered or were too young to be registered when they left the UK.
- last registered on the basis of a declaration of local connection, as a merchant seaman or as a service voter.
- a person of no fixed abode when they left the UK and would have been eligible to make a declaration of local connection or who left the UK before 2001.
Overseas British citizens must apply to register as a voter using the address where they were last registered to vote in the UK or, if they have never been registered, the last address at which they were resident in the UK.
What if voters have been registered at more than one address in the past?
If an applicant has been previously registered at more than one address, they use the most recent address at which they were registered.
How do voters register?
Overseas voters can apply to register in the same way as any other voter. They can apply online at www.gov.uk/voting-when-abroad or by sending a paper form to the relevant local authority.
Those who were previously registered will have to provide details about the address and time they were last registered.
Those who previously lived in the UK, but were not registered, will need to provide details about the address and time where they were last resident at that address.
How do overseas voters prove those details?
The relevant local authority must be satisfied that the applicant was registered or lived in the area previously, and must be able to verify an applicant’s identity.
We have a number of resources for verifying this information, including checking previous registers, other locally-held records, or evidence provided by the applicant.
How often do overseas voters need to register?
Under the new rules, overseas voters need to provide a renewal declaration every three years. Previously, it was every 12 months. This cannot be done online and you will be contacted by the electoral services office in the months before your declaration expires to do this. You should ensure that we have an up to date email address and correspondence address for you so our renewal invitation reaches you.
A renewal declaration confirms that the details held on the electoral register are accurate and provides an opportunity to update correspondence details if necessary.
Registration will need to be renewed before 1 November, three years after the voter registered as an overseas voter, unless the voter has successfully renewed their voter registration in the meantime. So, if a British citizen living overseas is first included on the register on 1 March 2024, they will need to renew their application before 1 November 2026.
If you do not complete the invitation to renew your Overseas registration then you will need to make a completely new full registration application.
Are overseas voters allowed to donate money to UK political parties?
Yes, under electoral law, those on an electoral register are also permitted to donate to political parties and campaigners campaigning in UK elections.