- 18 years old or above on the date of the election (or 16 in Wales and Scotland)
- be resident at an address in the UK (or a UK citizen living abroad who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years)
- be a British citizen, an EU citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen or a citizen of the Republic of Ireland
- Scotland and Wales: a citizen of another country living in Scotland or Wales who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who does not need permission
By Country
You are eligible to vote in UK General Elections if you are British, Irish, or from a qualifying Commonwealth country. For local elections, EU citizens are also eligible to vote, such as in the 2021 elections. For more information, take a look at this guide to elections for EU citizens.
If you are from a Commonwealth country, you must be resident in the UK and either have leave to remain in the UK or not require such leave. Commonwealth citizens include those of British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories.
Therefore, if you are from one of the following countries, and either have leave to remain or do not require such leave, then you are eligible to vote in the General Election!
Commonwealth Countries
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
The Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Botswana
Brunei Darussalam
Cameroon
Canada
Cyprus
Dominica
Fiji Islands
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
Malta
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
Rwanda
St Kitts & Nevis
St Lucia
St Vincent & The Grenadines
Samoa
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Swaziland
The Gambia
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
United Kingdom
United Republic of Tanzania
Vanuatu
Zambia
Zimbabwe*
British Crown Dependencies
Isle of Man
The Channel Islands (including Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, Alderney, Herm and the other inhabited Channel Islands).
British Overseas Territories
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territory
British Indian Ocean Territory
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn Island
St Helena and dependencies (Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha)
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Sovereign base areas on Cyprus
Turks and Caicos Island
Exclusions
You cannot vote in the upcoming 2022 Election if:
- Local Elections in England: You are not a British, EU, Irish, or citizen of a qualifying Commonwealth country. (This is different from Scotland and Wales: a citizen of another country living in Scotland or Wales who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who does not need permission has the eligibility to vote)
- England and Wales: You are a convicted person detained in pursuance of your sentence, excluding contempt of court (though remand prisoners, unconvicted prisoners and civil prisoners can vote if they are on the electoral register)
- You have been found guilty within the previous five years of corrupt or illegal practices in connection with an election
- In Scotland you can vote in 2022 if you are a serving a sentence of 12 months or less in a UK prison and would usually be resident in Scotland
Register to vote!
In order to vote, you must first register with the electoral commission. This is very important – you cannot vote in the General Election if you have not registered to vote first!
Registering to vote takes 5 minutes online if you have your address and your National Insurance number. You can register to vote online here.
Read our “Register to vote” guide on how to do it.
Who Can Vote?
Promote the Migrant Vote is a campaign raising awareness of the rights of migrants to vote and have a say in the democratic process. The campaign is organised through Migrants Organise and a community of migrant and refugee organisations, groups and communities.
Spread the word #PromoteMigrantVote
Important Information
Before you can vote, you must first register to vote.
The process is simple and only takes 5 minutes.
You can register online at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
Contact Us:
Copyright © 2022 Promote the Migrant Vote