International applicants

As part of your application for General Chiropractic Council registration you must send us the following original documents by email (registrations@gcc-uk.org), along with the registration fee:

• You will need to complete the application form online and provide documentation as below

• Evidence of your chiropractic qualification – read our guidance here

• A medical report confirming that you are physically and mentally fit from your General Practitioner (GP)/ Medical Director. This must either have been written based on four or more years of medical records or an examination. When you apply for registration you will be prompted for your GP email account so your GP can complete the questionnaire online. If your GP isn't unable to complete the online form, they can use the questionnaire we have produced for your doctor to complete here. PLEASE ASK YOUR GP SURGERY TO EMAIL US DIRECT AT registrations@gcc-uk.org. We do not accept medical reports emailed to us from generic email accounts such as gmail, yahoo etc.

• A character reference, which must have been written, dated and signed by someone of professional standing who has known you for four or more years and is not a patient, relative or employee. This must be no more than three months old at the point of registration. You will be prompted for your referee email account (please note we do not accept generic email accounts such as gmail, yahoo, live etc), when you apply online.

• Police record checks from the national repository of criminal records to cover every jurisdiction in which you have practiced or have lived for more than 12 months in total. These must be original documents not scans. Your criminal records check must be no more than one year old from the date of issue. Examples of organisations you may need to contact include: FBI covering the US, Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Please note some police checks can take up to four months to arrive. THE REPORT MUST EITHER BE EMAILED TO US FROM THE PROVIDER OR IF THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE, IT MUST BE EMAILED TO US BY DIRECT FROM THE BUSINESS EMAIL ACCOUNT OF SOMEONE OF PROFESSIONAL STANDING WHO CAN VERIFY THEY HAVE SEEN THE ORIGNAL AND CERTIFY IT TO BE A TRUE AND ACCURATE COPY OF THE ORIGINAL. EMAIL MUST BE SENT TO registrations@gcc-uk.org.

           FBI CHECKS: Please be aware that the FBI will not email reports to the GCC. However, the FBI will send an email with a link to download the report. Please email the link to us and we will download the report, but please don't download the report yourself as it is deleted 24 hours after viewing and we cannot guarantee to review within 24 hours. If you obtain a paper report, please follow the process listed above.

• A certificate of good standing or current professional status in respect of every regulatory body with whom you are, or have been, registered. PLEASE ASK THE REGULATOR TO EMAIL THE CERTIFICATE TO US DIRECT AT registrations@gcc-uk.org.

• Evidence of your indemnity (insurance) arrangements if you are applying for practising registration. Please note that you will not be registered until your insurance cover has started

• If any of your documents are not in English, you must enclose a certified translation of the document with the original. For the purposes of registration, certified translations can only be provided by translators who are members of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting, consular officials or similar.

• The registration fee

Supporting documents

Please be aware that we DO NOT accept supporting documents sent to us by applicants under any circumstances, this is to avoid concerns about the integrity of documents. Where they originate from a third party. All documents, such as character references, medical reports etc, must either be emailed to registrations@gcc-uk.org from ether:

• the originator of the document, from their verifiable business email address (i.e., not hotmail, yahoo, live etc); or
• the original paper version of the document must be passed to someone of professional standing to review. A scan should be emailed to us direct from the professionals verifiable business email address (i.e., not hotmail, yahoo, live etc), confirming the document to be a true and accurate copy of the originally sighted paper document.

IMPORTANT: we are not able to guarantee if and when registration will be granted. For this reason we recommend that you do not book any patients until you have received confirmation from us that you have been registered.

When your registration application arrives, we will look at your documents to make sure they meet our requirements. If we need any more information we will email you with details.

Things that may help to speed up your application

We do not offer a 'fast track' application service that allows us to deal with your application ahead of others. However, the following pointers should minimise the time it takes to process your application. 

Please also note that we do not accept visitors to our offices without a prior appointment. Delivering your form personally will not reduce the time it takes us to process your application.

• Ensure your application is filled in correctly before you post it to us

• Check that the documents fit with the requirements we have listed on the application form

• Make sure you provide current contact details and an email address so that we can get in touch with you easily

• If you are in the process of moving make sure you keep us up to date with any changes to your contact details

• Once registered you will be able to do add your new practice details online if necessary

• Please note: we are required to list an address for you on the register. If you do not provide us with a practice address and telephone number, we will list your home address and telephone number instead

• Make your payment by card or electronic transfer (CHAPS), which will clear our account immediately.

Check your emails (including your ‘junk’ email folder) regularly after you apply for registration as this is our preferred method of contact.

How long will it be before I am registered?

We will check your application as soon as we can, but please note it can take up to 10 working days to get back to you. If you have a simple application we may be able to register you within that time, but we cannot guarantee it. 

If any of the following circumstances apply to you, please be aware that it may take significantly longer than usual for you to gain registration:

• you have a criminal conviction or caution
• you have a health issue where we need further information
• you have had disciplinary matters with another regulatory body.

Where there is a possibility that registration may not be granted, the Registrar will make a decision based on the application file, including all documents provided by the applicant and any subsequently obtained by the General Chiropractic Council following an investigation.

Process before the Registrar

Before making a decision, the Registrar must be satisfied that: 

• sufficient evidence has been obtained to enable a fair decision to be made
• the applicant has had an opportunity to comment on all documents that form part of the application file.

While most decisions can be made by the Registrar without the need for an interview, exceptional cases may arise where a decision will be taken to interview the applicant.

Explaining and recording decisions

All decisions of the Registrar are recorded with reasons. If the Registrar decides to refuse an application, the applicant will be informed of the process for appealing the decision through the Registration Appeals Committee.

Successful applicants

• Once you have been registered we will email you with your registration number and start date
• A letter confirming your registration and certificate will follow by post, together with a receipt for your fee
• We will return any original identity documents, naturalisation papers or certified translations to you by the most secure postal option offered by Royal Mail
• We will provide you with a website user number to sign up to use the General Chiropractic Council website
• Your name and practice(s) will be added to the General Chiropractic Council register [link to homepage] either on the day of registration, or very shortly after. 

We also ask you to familiarise yourself with the following information on our website:   

• Our Continuing professional development (CPD) information
• PSA guidance on sexual boundaries

Unsuccessful applicants

Should the Registrar refuse someone registration, applicants would normally be aware of this possibility before a decision had been made. This is because we gather as much information as possible before making a decision.

Each application is viewed on its own individual merits and the Registrar carefully considers the information supplied. In most circumstances we ask for more information if we have any queries or concerns about your application. This might include:

• a health report
• criminal record documentation, such as a court extract, or a police record check
• the applicant’s observations, if he or she has been convicted of an offence.

This is not an exhaustive list, but is to give you an idea of what we might ask you for.

If you are refused registration then you will have the right to appeal the decision of the Registrar.