Voting in UK elections from the USA

Voting from abroad
A British citizen living in the U.S. who previously lived in the UK can register as an overseas voter for UK Parliament elections, and must renew every 3 years. No consulate is involved.

Registration is online, through the same service UK residents use, and the vote itself happens by post, by proxy or at your old polling station.

Who can register

You must have lived in the UK before and be a British citizen, or an eligible Irish citizen registering in Northern Ireland, according to voting if you move or live abroad. You register in the area where you last lived, or where you would have registered.

How you vote

Registered in By post By proxy In person
England, Scotland or Wales Yes Yes, if eligible Yes
Northern Ireland No Yes, paper form Yes

In person means at the polling station for the address where you used to live. A postal vote has to cross the Atlantic twice; a proxy, someone you trust who votes for you, avoids the post.

Voting from the U.S.
 Put the 3-year renewal in your calendar: miss it and you are removed from the register. 

Renewing and updating

Your electoral registration office sends a reminder when the 3 years are up. If you change name, address or nationality, contact the office where you registered.

Overseas voters can vote in UK Parliament elections and may be able to vote in referendums, each of which sets its own rules.

Before you register
  • Check you lived in the UK before and are a British citizen
  • Know your last UK address
  • Decide between post, proxy or voting in person
  • Keep photo ID if you might vote in person
  • Put the 3-year renewal in your calendar
    • Abroad only temporarily

    If you are away only on election day, gov.uk has separate rules for voting from abroad.

    Crown servants and British Council staff

    They register in a different way.

    U.S. elections

    The FCDO notes that you cannot vote in federal, state and most local U.S. elections without U.S. citizenship.

    The 2026 renewal round

    gov.uk's renewal service is for overseas voters who received a reminder from their electoral registration office to renew by 1 November 2026.

    You renew online with the 9-digit access code in the reminder email or letter, or on the paper form that comes with it, sent back by email or post (voting if you move or live abroad).

    Contact the electoral registration office if you lost the code, changed your name since you last registered, want to check whether you are registered, or are moving back to the UK for good.

    Voting in person

    If you are in the UK on polling day you can vote at the polling station for your old address, and you need to show photo ID. If you were not registered when you lived in the UK, you vote at the polling station that covers where you used to live.

    Registering for the first time

    To vote in England, Scotland or Wales, you register through the usual online register to vote service and say you live abroad. Northern Ireland uses a paper form from the Electoral Office for Northern Ireland.

    People abroad in the armed forces, crown servants and British Council staff have their own services; service voters renew every 5 years rather than 3.

    If you also want to keep your UK records in order while you live in the U.S., the guide to the UK State Pension covers the International Pension Centre.

    Proxy voting is open «if you're eligible», in gov.uk's words, and the apply for a proxy vote service checks that. Postal votes are only for overseas voters registered in England, Scotland or Wales; in Northern Ireland the choice is a proxy or a visit to the polling station.

    Living abroad also affects the State Pension, which has its own office.

    All the procedures
    Fees and requirements
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