The Home Office announced the decision with no prior notice on 4 August. Those with existing appointments, where they would have attended the police station in person to have their documents checked, will no longer need to attend.
A note from the Home Office to be circulated to constabularies said: ‘We are abolishing the requirement to register with the police as the police registration scheme in its current form is outdated and no longer provides any public protection benefit to either the Home Office or the police.
‘The data a migrant provides to the police on registration is already captured by the Home Office at the visa application stage, and is available to the police on request via Immigration Enforcement, so there is no need for it to be provided twice.’
The note advised that ‘migrants who have been issued with a visa with the requirement to register on it do not need to go to a police station to register’, and those who have previously registered with the police do not need to do anything.
Joanna Hunt, head of immigration at Fieldfisher, said: ‘The fact that the government has finally decided to drop the requirement for certain visa holders to register their status and address with the police is great news and a step in the right direction for making the UK a more welcoming place.
‘The Home Office keep their own records on migrants in the UK so the records that the police held were largely redundant. What they did serve to do was alienate and discriminate against those nationalities who had to register, thus tainting them with the appearance of criminality.
‘Registering with the police therefore played a role in creating a hostile and unwelcoming environment for foreign migrants and it is for this reason it's (quiet!) suspension is good news indeed.’
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