Priority issue
Frozen Pensions
More than 450,000 British pensioners abroad are paid the state pension rate they first received, with no annual uprating — for life.
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Are you Registered to Vote?
Your pension is frozen. Your spouse can’t come home. Your children pay international fees.
You are a British citizen. You can vote in UK elections — for life, whatever the old 15-year rule said. Almost nobody has been told, and that is precisely why nothing changes.
Non-partisan. Volunteer-run. Founded 2023. We do not endorse any political party.
Overseas voter registration in numbers
- British citizens abroad eligible to vote in UK parliamentary elections
~3.4 million
British citizens abroad eligible to vote in UK parliamentary elections
- were actually registered at the 2024 general election
~191,000
were actually registered at the 2024 general election
- of overseas postal ballots were returned in time to be counted
52%
of overseas postal ballots were returned in time to be counted
Are you one of them? Check in two minutes
Sources: eligibility and registration figures following abolition of the 15-year rule on 16 January 2024; postal return rate per the Electoral Commission, 2024. For comparison, about 68% of French citizens abroad are registered.
Where we are concentrating
Three problems we are working on first
These affect the most people, the most severely, and are the most likely to move in this Parliament. All eight of our key issues are below.
Priority issue
Spouse and Family Visas
British citizens who marry abroad often cannot bring their spouse and children home, because the minimum income requirement is measured against UK earnings they do not yet have.
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Priority issue
Higher Education and University Fees
British children raised abroad are routinely classified as international students at UK universities, paying several times the home rate despite holding UK citizenship.
Read more
Registration Concierge
Registering takes about five minutes. Most people never start because they don’t know where to.
Give us the last UK postcode you lived at. We’ll tell you which council handles your registration, walk you through choosing a voting method — with honest guidance about why 48% of overseas postal ballots missed the count in 2024 — and remind you before your registration lapses.
Start the walkthroughRegistration itself happens on gov.uk. BOVF provides guidance only.
Find your council
Your last UK postcode determines which electoral registration office handles you — not an embassy.
Choose how you vote
Postal or proxy, with the real trade-offs: return rates, deadlines and ballot secrecy.
Diarise your renewal
Overseas registration lapses after 3 years. We will remind you.
All key issues
The other five
Each has a policy group behind it, developing remedies that a UK politician could realistically defend in public.
Key issue
UK Bank Accounts
UK banks increasingly close or refuse accounts held by citizens with an overseas address, cutting people off from pensions, mortgages and their own financial history.
Read more
Key issue
Housing Loan Interest
British citizens living overseas are charged higher mortgage rates on UK property and shut out of most mainstream products, regardless of their income or record.
Read more
Key issue
Fully Functional Voting
Only 52% of overseas postal ballots were returned in time to be counted in 2024. Having the right to vote is not the same as being able to use it.
Read more
Key issue
Overseas Constituencies
France has 11 deputies for citizens abroad and Italy has 12 deputies and 6 senators. Britons abroad are represented by whoever holds the seat covering an address they left decades ago.
Read more
Key issue
Better Government Communication
The UK government has no systematic way to identify or contact its citizens overseas — which is why 3.4 million people became eligible to vote and almost none of them found out.
Read more
What we do
Four things, done by volunteers
We Engage
We talk with overseas voters in fourteen countries to understand what is actually going wrong.
We Discuss
We take those findings to MPs and to all the major parties. We attend every party conference.
We Research
A policy committee per issue, proposing solutions that are workable and sellable to the wider public.
We Campaign
We connect unregistered voters with their vote, and raise awareness of the issues that affect them.
Latest
News and policy updates
BOVF proposals debated at Committee Stage of the Representation of the People Bill
Amendments reflecting BOVF's recommendations — downloadable ballots, embassy return and linking registration to passport renewal — were tabled by Martin Wrigley MP and debated. A proposed study was voted down; the Bill continues.
BOVF publishes 20-country benchmark on overseas voting
Our report compares how 20 countries enable their citizens abroad to vote, and sets out two central recommendations for the UK — embassy ballot return and downloadable ballot papers.
First European meeting in Milan, and three new branches
BOVF held its first European meeting in Milan in September 2025 and launched branches for Italy, Australia and New Zealand, extending a network that began in Asia.
Politicians act when the people affected are voters who campaign intelligently.
Supporter registration is free and takes under a minute. Membership is £30 a year and pays for the research, the reports and the travel to Westminster.