Personal Licence - Submitting the application

The application must be sent to your Licensing Authority (as identified above in the 'fees' bit) and is made up of the following documents:

1. The licensing qualification certificate;
2. A valid (ie not expired) criminal record check;
3. The completed and signed Personal Licence application form;
   
4. The completed and signed Disclosure of Convictions and Declaration form;
5. Two photographs, one of which must be endorsed on the reverse; and
6. The cheque for the fee.

All documents must be the originals, not photocopies. The Council will send you your certificates back. Use a plastic wallet or at least an elastic band to keep everything together. With so many documents it's easy for items to get lost (and don't use a paperclip - if you've worked in an office with a lot of paper you'll know how much trouble these can be).

It's a good idea to write a short covering letter or enclose some sort of note listing the documents you're sending. The letter should be dated too, which may help in case the application is misplaced (as sometimes happens) and you need to show that everything was sent before the criminal record check expired.

Bearing in mind the documents enclosed and the amount of personal information included I would recommend that you arrange for the application to be hand-delivered or you send it by registered post or special delivery.

If all is well then your application should be granted and returned to you as soon as the Licensing Authority are able to process it. Turnaround times differ from council to council - some take a matter of days, some a couple of weeks. If you haven't received your licence after 3 weeks then you should call to check its progress.