Commonwealth & EU Countries

Can a Commonwealth citizen register to vote?

Qualifying Commonwealth citizens are entitled to register as Parliamentary and as local government electors provided that on the relevant date they also fulfil the age and residence requirements for registration and are not subject to any other legal incapacity.

Citizens of Commonwealth countries other than the United Kingdom are not eligible to register as overseas electors.

Meaning of qualifying Commonwealth citizen

A person is a qualifying Commonwealth citizen if they do not require permission  to enter or remain in the UK, or they do require permission to enter or remain in the UK but have been granted such permission , or are treated as having been granted such permission.

Any type of leave to enter or remain is acceptable, whether indefinite, time limited or conditional.

Commonwealth citizens temporarily in the UK and pending removal

The Home Office have advised that Commonwealth citizens who are temporarily in the UK pending removal, are not in the UK legally whilst arrangements for their removal are being made. As these citizens do not have permission to enter or remain they are not eligible to register to vote.

Citizens of Commonwealth countries that have been suspended from the Commonwealth retain their voting rights. Their voting rights would only be affected if their country was also deleted from the list of Commonwealth countries in the British Nationality Act 1981 through an Act of the UK Parliament.

Citizens of the following countries are part of the European Union.
Citizens of these countries cannot vote at a UK Parliamentary General Election.