From 6th April 2017, UK Home Office introduced a requirement of providing a ‘criminal record certificate’ for entry clearance applications for applicants applying as a Tier 2 (General) migrant coming to work in the health, education and social care sectors; as a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) migrant and as a Tier 1 (Investor) migrant.


This certificate will confirm an individual’s criminal record is usually issued by the police or by an appropriate law enforcement agency. A certificate will include information about an individual’s criminal record, including any past offences, and information relating to recent arrests which are pending further action such as prosecution. The certificate will also confirm that the individual does not have a criminal record.


Tier 2 (General) entry clearance applicants who are subject to the criminal record certificate requirement are determined by the standard occupational classification (SOC) code attributed to their employment role in the UK. This will provide additional safeguards where a migrant’s job involves working closely with children and vulnerable people.


This requirement also extends to the entry clearance application as a spouse, civil partner, unmarried or same sex partner of a Tier 1 (Entrepreneur), Tier 2 (Investor) and Tier 2 (General) migrant working in health, education and social care sectors.


Certificates should be from the applicant's most recent country of residence and should be issued within the last 6-month period prior to the application submission. Certificates from countries prior to applicants most recent country of residence must normally cover the entire period they were resident there (up to ten years or less if the applicant is aged 18 to 27 prior to the application date) but will otherwise be considered valid indefinitely.

A criminal record certificate is required for each country except for the UK.