If we refuse your application for an SIA licence
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-01)

How to appeal against our decision to refuse your application.

Once we get your application and you have completed any next steps (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-sia-licence#apply-for-a-licence-yourself), we run our standard checks on your application. Read more about what we check (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-an-sia-licence#get-ready-for-our-application-checks).

If you do not pass all of our checks, we may refuse your application.

For example, we will refuse your application if:
- you do not have the right to work in the UK
- your criminal record shows you could be a risk to the public
- we consider you to be unsuitable to work in the private security industry for another reason, such as dishonest behaviour
- you are not who you say you are
We may refuse your application if an organisation we work with, such as the police, gives us information that shows you are unsuitable to hold a licence.

If we intend to refuse your application, you can appeal our decision before it becomes final.

Appeal to us if we intend to refuse your application

If we intend to refuse your application, we will write to you to explain why. The letter will tell you how you can send us an appeal before our decision comes into legal effect.

If you want to send us an appeal, you will need to do so within 21 days. We will explain what information you need to send with your appeal.

If you cannot send us all the information within 21 days, you should let us know within this time limit. In certain situations, we can give you more time.

If we get your appeal within 21 days, we will look at the information you have given us. We will then let you know whether we stand by our decision to refuse your licence.

If we do stand by our decision, it will come into effect immediately. However, you can still make a court appeal against our decision (#appeal-to-court).

If we intend to refuse your application because you do not have the appropriate right to work in the UK

If our checks show that you do not have the appropriate right to work in the UK, we will send you a letter explaining that we are going to refuse your application.

If you think our information is wrong, you should send us evidence to show why it is wrong.

You will also need to send us evidence of your right to work in the UK, such as:
- a UK visa
- the ‘valid until’ date is less than 15 months ago
- the card shows the words “Indefinite leave to remain”, “Indefinite leave to enter” or “No time limit”
- a current immigration status document
- a passport showing stamps or endorsements that confirm your immigration status
- letters from the Home Office confirming that you are applying to stay in the UK or appealing against a decision not to allow you to stay in the UK
If you are a UK or Irish citizen, you can send us scans or photos of your passport.

If we intend to refuse your application because of your criminal record

We will send you a letter explaining that we are going to refuse your application. Our letter will list the offences in your criminal record that are relevant to our decision to refuse your application. Read more about what we look at when we check your criminal record (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-can-get-an-sia-licence-with-a-criminal-record#what-we-check).

If you decide to send us an appeal (#appeal-to-sia), we can only look at certain information. This depends on the type of refusal we have sent you.

There are 4 types of refusal:
- ‘absolute refusal’
- ‘automatic refusal’
- ‘intention to refuse’
- ‘consider additional factors’
We will send you an absolute refusal or automatic refusal if there are offences in your criminal record that are recent enough and/or serious enough that they show you are a definite risk to the public.

If we send you an absolute refusal or automatic refusal, we will only look at any factual mistakes we have made in our decision. In other words, if you think our information is wrong, you can give us the correct information. For example, you can tell us if there is a mistake in the list of offences that we have included in the refusal letter.

If we tell you that your application falls under ‘intention to refuse’, or that we will ‘consider additional factors’, you have 2 options:
- if you think we have based our decision on wrong information, you can give us the correct information
- if our information is correct, you can give us mitigating evidence about your offences
Giving us mitigating evidence about your criminal offences

If we have sent you a refusal letter that says your application falls under ‘intention to refuse’, or that we will consider additional factors, you have up to 21 days to send us ‘mitigating evidence’.

Mitigating evidence is information that you believe will show us one or both of the following:
- your criminal record is not as bad as it might seem
- you have rehabilitated yourself so that, despite your criminal record, you are suitable to hold the licence you have applied for
If you want to provide mitigating evidence, you must send us the following:
- a personal statement
- at least one character reference
- if you fall into our ‘intention to refuse’ category, compelling evidence that you would not be a public protection risk if granted a licence – for example, credible independent evidence about the factual circumstances of the offence (such as documents from the police, the court, or your lawyer from the time of your conviction/disposal)
You can also:
- give us evidence of your rehabilitation since you committed the offence (or offences)
- tell us if your conviction relates to the period of conflict in Northern Ireland (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-can-get-an-sia-licence-with-a-criminal-record#if-you-have-a-conviction-that-relates-to-the-conflict-in-northern-ireland)
Personal statement

Your personal statement should give us details about your offences that you think may affect our decision. For example, you might tell us that your offences were many years ago, and that you have spent time since then working on your rehabilitation.

We cannot change what is in your criminal record. We can only look at our decision whether to grant you a licence.

You may feel that the offences or sentences in your criminal record are unfair. We cannot take this into account.

Character references

You can provide as many character references as you want. One reference might be enough. Sending more references does not always make it more likely that we will change our decision.

We call a person who gives us a character reference a “referee”.

A character reference has less value if it is from:
- a member of your family
- a friend
- a current employer
This is because they may have a personal reason (‘vested interest’) for wanting you to get a licence.

A character reference has more value if it is from an independent person. This is someone who does not have a personal reason for wanting you to get a licence. This might be:
- a previous employer
- a religious leader
- a councillor
- a doctor
- an MP
Each referee must sign and date the character reference they give you. They must also tell us:
- their name, address, and phone number
- their occupation
- how they know you and how long they have known you for
Consider additional factors

If you fall into our ‘consider additional factors’ category, the referee must include:
- a list of the offences that are relevant to your application (a list of these will be in your refusal letter)
- a statement saying that they are aware of these offences
They should also include:
- comments about your character – this could be from around the time of the offending, or about you now
- any evidence of how you have shown rehabilitation since they have known you
- any community work or volunteer work you have done that they know about
Intention to refuse

If you fall into our ‘intention to refuse’ category, the referee should include:
- comments about your character – this could be from around the time of the offending, or about you now
- any evidence of how you have shown rehabilitation since the person has known you
- any community work or volunteer work undertaken by you that they know about
The referee does not need to be aware of your past criminality. However, we will consider a character reference to be more credible where it is clear that the referee is aware of the specific nature of your past criminality.

Evidence of your rehabilitation

Examples of evidence we will consider are:
- proof of any rehabilitation courses you have done or are doing, such as a Probation Service report or a certificate of course completion
- a report from a probation officer or social worker that supports your suitability to safeguard members of the public
- proof that you have held positions of trust and responsibility since your offending, such as being a carer (employed or voluntary)
- if you fall into our ‘consider additional factors’ category, proof that you have taken part in community activities, such as voluntary or charity work
Appeal to the courts once our decision comes into legal effect

Once our decision to refuse your application has come into effect, we do not have the power to change this decision unless a court tells us to.

At this point, you have a legal right to appeal against our decision in a magistrates’ or sheriff court. You must do this within 21 days of our decision.

You may have to pay the costs involved with making a court appeal.

It is a criminal offence to perform a licensable activity (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-out-if-you-need-an-sia-licence#licensable-activities) without a licence. If a court convicts you, you could get a fine or up to 6 months in prison – or both.