Transfer to UK Prisons
This section gives a brief outline of how British citizens who have been sentenced to a term of imprisonment abroad may be able to transfer home to serve the rest of their sentence in a prison in the United Kingdom.
The information on this page is not a statement of your legal rights. It simply provides a short explanation of the provisions which exist for the transfer of sentenced prisoners to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
1. Am I eligible for transfer?
You must be a British citizen or have close family ties with the UK (normally through permanent residence). Criminal proceedings against you in the foreign country must be complete. You cannot be transferred if you are awaiting trial or the outcome of an appeal against your conviction and/or the length of sentence.
At the time you make your application for transfer you must normally have at least six months of your sentence left to serve before release. The offence for which you have been convicted must also constitute a criminal offence in the part of the UK to which you are seeking to be transferred (ie England and Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland).
You must have no outstanding fines or other non-custodial penalties.
2. Why should I transfer?
You would be able to serve the rest of your sentence closer to friends and family in the UK, making contact and visits with them far easier. You would also be in an English speaking environment and able, in most instances, to take advantage of educational and other courses aimed at tackling offending behaviour and preparing you for release back into the community.
3. How are transfers arranged?
The UK government has signed two international conventions and two bilateral agreements which allow British prisoners to be transferred to the UK from certain countries and foreign nationals to be transferred from prisons in the UK back to their own countries.
4. How do I make an application for transfer?
If you are imprisoned in a country from which transfer to the UK is possible, and have been sentenced following conviction, you should already have received information about transfers from the prison authorities. If you have not or have any questions about it, you should speak to the prison authorities or raise the matter with the British Consul, either in writing or during the course of a consular visit.
You should normally make your application to the prison authorities in your place of detention; but if you prefer you may write to the nearest British Consulate who will pass on your letter to the relevant authorities in the UK. The authorities in the UK will then formally make an application to the foreign authorities on your behalf.
Making an application for transfer does not commit you to going ahead with it. Your formal consent is required before transfer can proceed and, if having considered your application both the UK and foreign authorities are content for you to be transferred, only then will you be asked to commit yourself.
5. Who has to agree to the transfer?
The authorities in the country in which you are serving your sentence; and The Home Secretary, if you are seeking to be transferred to England and Wales (or the Secretary of State for Scotland or the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for transfer to those jurisdictions); and You – or someone authorised to do so on your behalf. You cannot be transferred unless all three parties agree to it.
6. What happens once my application is received?
Initial consideration of your application falls to the authorities of the country in which you are imprisoned. If they are prepared, in principle, to agree to your transfer they will forward information about you to the authorities in the UK, including details of the offence(s) committed and the length and nature of your sentence.
If, having considered this documentation, the UK authorities are prepared to consent to your transfer, they will formally notify the foreign authority of this and provide it with information about how your original sentence will continue to be enforced.
Provided that the foreign authorities are content with these arrangements, you will then be provided with relevant information about how your sentence will be administered in the UK and invited to give your written consent to the transfer. If you agree, the relevant travel and transfer arrangements will be made.
7. Will I be responsible for the costs of my transfer?
Most of the costs related to your transfer will be the responsibility of the UK and foreign authority concerned. However, before your transfer can take place you will be required either to pay the cost of your own airfare or to give an undertaking to repay the money as soon as possible after arrival in the UK. If you choose the second option your passport will be retained until repayment has been made.
8. How long will it take?
The length of time varies from case to case. The process of considering applications is a lengthy one for both authorities concerned and can sometimes take as long as eighteen months to two years to complete. It is important that you understand this and are not over-optimistic about a speedy transfer. Every effort will be made to process your request as soon as possible.
9. How long will I serve on my return?
Your ‘UK sentence’ will be calculated by deducting the time you have already served abroad from the original sentence imposed by the foreign court (including time spent in custody on remand in cases where the foreign authority takes this into account) and any remission to which you are eligible for this period.
Once you have been transferred, you will be treated as if you had been sentenced by a court in the UK and the relevant provisions of UK law with regard to discretionary early and automatic release will apply. For prisoners transferred back to England and Wales this means that if you were sentenced abroad to a fixed period of imprisonment of four years or more, your non-parole or automatic release date will fall after you have completed two-thirds of your ‘UK sentence’. Short-term prisoners (those sentenced to up to four years abroad) will be automatically released when they have served half of their ‘UK sentence’.
Other arrangements apply to prisoners who have been sentenced to life imprisonment abroad and to those who were sentenced prior to 1 October 1992.
Full details about how your sentence will be administered on your return to the UK, including your eligibility to be considered for release on parole, will be sent to you. You can then consider whether to agree to a transfer.
Information about provisions for the early release of prisoners in Scotland and Northern Ireland is available from the Scottish and Northern Ireland Prison Services – see paragraph 11 for contact addresses.
10. Will I be liable to prosecution for other offences if I return?
You cannot be prosecuted in the UK for the offence for which the sentence you are currently serving was imposed. You will, however, be liable to detention or prosecution in connection with any other alleged offence committed here.
11. How can I get more information about being transferred? You can ask either the prison authorities in your place of detention or your nearest British Consul or write to the relevant authorities in the UK.
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