At present British citizens living abroad may preserve their right to vote in UK Parliamentary Elections for a 15 year period from their last registered entry in the UK.
If you have never been registered as an elector in the UK, you will not be eligible to register as an overseas elector. However if you left the UK before you were 18 years of age you can register at your parent’s or guardian’s UK address, providing that you left the country not more than 15 years ago.
Register to vote as an overseas elector on GOV.UK.
Overseas Electors may either appoint a person to vote on their behalf at the polling station (a proxy), or choose to vote themselves by post. If a postal vote is chosen, the applicant should take into account the length of time taken for post to travel in either direction to and from an overseas address, as postal ballot papers may only be sent around 2-3 weeks before Polling Day and must be received by Polling Day in order to be counted.
Registration as an Overseas Elector will only last for twelve months so registrations must be renewed annually. Applications can be renewed by completing the form which will be sent by Electoral Services or by making a new online application to register to vote as an overseas elector on GOV.UK.
If you need any further information please contact our Electoral Services team who will be happy to help.