- Who can register as an overseas voter
- How to register to vote as an overseas voter
- How to vote as an overseas voter
If you are a UK citizen, you can register to vote in elections in the UK no matter where you live!
Which elections and referendums can I vote in?
If you are registered as an overseas voter, you can vote in the following elections in the UK:
EU referendum
Registered overseas voters will be able to vote in the upcoming referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union.
The referendum will take place on Thursday 23 June 2016.
Read more about the EU referendum
Overseas voters should apply to register to vote by 16 May 2016 and once registered, must apply to vote by post or proxy in order to be able to vote from outside the UK.
Read our overseas voter FAQs for the EU referendum
Who can register as an overseas voter?
If you are a UK citizen living abroad, you can apply to be an overseas voter.
You must have been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years and be eligible to vote in UK Parliamentary general elections and European Parliamentary elections.
If you were too young to register when you left the UK, you can still register as an overseas voter. You can do this if your parent or guardian was registered to vote in the UK, as long as you left the UK no more than 15 years ago.
How can I register to vote?
To register to vote in England, Scotland or Wales, you can register online in the same way as all other voters in Great Britain. Register online any time at gov.uk/register-to-vote.
To register to vote in Northern Ireland, visit the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland website to download the correct form.
How can I vote?
You can choose your method of voting depending on your personal circumstances.
In 2014 the way we register to vote changed, and if you want to vote by post or by proxy you must be registered under the new system. To check if you're correctly registered, contact the local authority of the address you are registered to.
To find the contact details for your local electoral registration office, enter your postcode in the Your local area section of our homepage.
Voting by post
If you live abroad you can apply to vote by post.You need to make sure you have time to receive and return your ballot papers by polling day. If you don't think you can return them in time, you may want to consider voting by proxy.
To check when postal votes are being sent out contact the local authority of the address you are registered to. To find the contact details for your local electoral registration office, enter your postcode in the Your local area section of our homepage.
Voting by proxy
If you're abroad you can apply to vote by proxy. This means you can appoint someone to vote on your behalf. Both you and the person you appoint as your proxy must be registered under the new system.
Voting in person
If you happen to be in the UK on election day, you can always vote in person at a polling station.
However, if you have appointed a proxy you can only do this if your proxy has not already voted on your behalf. If you have a postal vote, you cannot be issued with a ballot paper in the polling station but you can hand in your completed postal ballot at the polling station.
