Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what checks the UK Border Agency makes to determine whether a person who is not a UK citizen has any overseas criminal convictions at the time of their entry into the UK from another EU country.

The UK conducts 100% checks on arriving passengers in order to identify people of concern seeking to enter the country. All passengers are checked against police, security and immigration watchlists and where we are aware of individuals who pose a risk, Border Force officers can – and do - refuse them entry.

We use the Second Generation Schengen Information System (SISII) to check whether the individual is wanted for an offence under a European Arrest Warrant. If he or she is, arrangements will be made for the individual to be detained at port, and arrested by the police for surrender to the Member State that has issued the Warrant.

In September 2015, we introduced a new requirement for Tier 1 investor and entrepreneur applicants to supply an overseas criminal record certificate for any country they have resided in continuously for 12 months or more, in the last 10 years prior to their application. Failure to provide such a document when required to do so may result in their application being refused.