Rights of Abode & Voting

[themonkeysuncle]

Hello,

I have just received the Registering to Vote form from my local council and it states that if you have been requested to return the application it is mandatory do so by the 30th August. I am filling it out, I have got to the part about nationality. It says:

"You can only register to vote in the UK if you have leave to remain. We may check your immigration status with the Home Office before we include you on the electoral register."

My nationality is Australian and my Rights of Abode which I think is the thing provides me leave to remain has just expired and I am in the process of trying to renew it but it is going to take longer than the deadline of 30th August to get it back, does this mean I am not eligible to vote? Or should just apply and see what happens? There is nowhere to opt out of voting, because I have been requested to complete the application. Will it cause me any problem to apply because my Rights of Abode has technically ran out and I am in process of try to renew it. (My leave to remain has been the length of my passport which is every 10 years).

Here is some additional information about me. I was born in Australia and moved to the UK when I was two years old with my mother who is British born. I have been living in the UK for over 30 years, and I have a National Insurance number.

Thankyou

[vinny]

See also Naturalisation, Right of Abode and passport soon to expire.

When were you born?