Business Hub — Employment, Social Security and Housing
Registration cards
A Jersey registration card records your name, your residential status and your right to work and to occupy housing. You need one when you move to Jersey, and a new one when you move house or start a new job. You apply online first; almost every other administrative step on the island asks to see it.
The card everything else waits for
Nobody has ever enjoyed the registration card form. It is also the piece of paper that unlocks the rest of the island.
Your employer will ask for it before you start. A landlord or agent will ask for it before granting a tenancy. A bank will usually want it before opening an account. Because those three things all sit at the front of a move, getting the card late means a fortnight of circling — often while paying for temporary accommodation you did not budget for.
Who needs one
Anyone aged 16 or over who moves to Jersey, and again whenever they move house or start a new job — the three triggers gov.je lists. That includes people arriving from the United Kingdom; Jersey is not part of the UK for these purposes and has its own system.
The card records your residential status — one of the six, from Permanent Entitled to Standard — which is why it matters so much. It is the document that tells an employer what they may do and a landlord what you may occupy.
How to apply, and what it costs
You apply for a registration card online first, and choose a digital or a physical card. The Customer Hub in St Helier deals with applications only from people who cannot apply online.
The card costs £88.15 for Licensed, Licensed for Lease Only and Standard status holders, and is free for Permanent Entitled, Entitled and Entitled for Work. Figures checked 2 October 2026; confirm the current fee on gov.je before you apply.
Have photographic identity ready, evidence of where you are living in Jersey, and evidence of the basis on which you are here.
That last one is where people come unstuck. If your status rests on a partner’s position, have the marriage or civil partnership certificate and their documentation. If it rests on previous residence, have the tenancy agreements and payslips that prove the dates. Describing a residence history is not the same as evidencing it, and the application cannot be decided on a description.
Arriving to live here also means registering as a Jersey resident, which gov.je covers alongside the card.
The sequence that works
- Confirm your status and, if you need one, your employer’s permission to employ you.
- Registration card.
- Accommodation you are actually permitted to occupy.
- Bank account.
- Everything that needs an address: GP registration, utilities, schools, driving licence, vehicle.
Each step in that list is waiting on the one above it. Attempting them in parallel feels faster and reliably is not.
When it changes
The card is not a one-off. Starting a new job or moving into a home you buy or lease brings it back into play, because both facts sit on the record the card represents. Keeping it current is also how the continuous residence history that leads to Entitled for Work and eventually Entitled status gets built — evidence you will be very glad of in five years.