The applicant is applying for entry clearance and is being sponsored for a job in any of the occupation codes listed below, they must provide a criminal record certificate from the relevant authority in any country in which they have been present for 12 months or more (whether continuously or in total) in the 10 years before the date of application, and while aged 18 or over:
- Validity of certificates A certificate will normally be considered valid in the following circumstances:
- for the applicant’s latest country of residence, where it is issued no earlier than 6 months before the date of application
- for other countries where the applicant was present, where it is issued within the last 6 months before their last period of stay ended (this can be any date)
The requirement for Skilled Worker entry clearance applicants to produce a criminal record certificate is determined by the standard occupational classification (SOC) code attributed to their employment role in the UK. Those with roles in the following SOC codes are subject to the requirement:
- 1181 Health services and public health managers and directors
- 1184 Social services managers and directors
- 1241 Health care practice managers
- 1242 Residential, day and domiciliary care managers and proprietors
- 2211 Medical practitioners
- 2212 Psychologists
- 2213 Pharmacists
- 2214 Ophthalmic opticians
- 2215 Dental practitioners
- 2217 Medical radiographers
- 2218 Podiatrists
- 2219 Health professionals not elsewhere classified
- 2221 Physiotherapists
- 2222 Occupational therapists
- 2223 Speech and language therapists
- 2229 Therapy professionals not elsewhere classified
- 2231 Nurses
- 2232 Midwives
- 2312 Further education teaching professionals
- 2314 Secondary education teaching professionals
- 2315 Primary and nursery education teaching professionals
- 2316 Special needs education teaching professionals
- 2317 Senior professionals of educational establishments
- 2318 Education advisers and school inspectors
- 2319 Teaching and other educational professionals not elsewhere classified
- 2442 Social workers
- 2443 Probation officers
- 2449 Welfare professionals not elsewhere classified
- 3213 Paramedics
- 3216 Dispensing opticians
- 3217 Pharmaceutical technicians
- 3218 Medical and dental technicians
- 3219 Health associate professionals not elsewhere classified
- 3231 Youth and community workers
- 3234 Housing officers
- 3235 Counsellors
- 3239 Welfare and housing associate professionals not elsewhere classified
- 3443 Fitness instructors
- 3562 Human resources and industrial relations officers
- 6121 Nursery nurses and assistants
- 6122 Childminders and related occupations
- 6123 Playworkers
- 6125 Teaching assistants
- 6126 Educational support assistants
- 6141 Nursing auxiliaries and assistants
- 6143 Dental nurses
- 6144 Houseparents and residential wardens
- 6145 Care workers and home carers
- 6146 Senior care workers
Availability of criminal record certificates
The majority of countries have procedures for the issuing of criminal record certificates to their own citizens and to third country nationals living there.
Separate guidance on the availability of a criminal record certificate for individual countries can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/criminal–records–checks–for–overseasapplicants
