Changing your Membership Category

There are four basic categories of Membership:

1. Home-practising - A veterinary surgeon who is undertaking acts of veterinary surgery or is otherwise engaging in any activity in the UK which is in the opinion of Council veterinary related.

2. Overseas-practising - a veterinary surgeon who has informed the Registrar with a signed declaration of their intention to practise outside of the United Kingdom.  Overseas-Practising members are not permitted to practise in the UK and their indemnity insurance may be invalid in the UK unless they change their membership category to Home-Practising

3. Non-practising - a veterinary surgeon who has informed the Registrar with a signed declaration of their intention not to practise or to engage in any activity which in the opinion of Council is veterinary related even outside the UK.  

4. Postgraduate - a member registered for a full-time veterinary related post-graduate course with a higher education establishment in the United Kingdom may be eligible for payment of a reduced fee.  The reduced fee is available for a maximum of three years and is one half of the home member's fee.  Payment of the reduced fee starts in the April following commencement of the course.  No retrospective applications can be considered.

Each category of membership has a retention fee which is due for payment every year by the 31st March. 

Changing your Register Category

If your circumstances have changed, it is a simple matter to change your membership category.  You may be entitled to a refund of your retention fee or be required to pay an additional fee payment to make up the balance.

• Changing to Overseas-practising
  
  If you are currently listed as a "Home-Practicing Member" and you are leaving the UK and you would like your membership category to be changed to that of "Overseas-Practising Member" then please complete and return the Overseas Practising Declaration Form (PDF 81Kb).  You may be entitled to a refund for a proportion of the balance of your retention fee.

• Changing to Home-practising

If you are currently listed as an "Overseas-practising Member" or as a "Non-practising Member" and you are returning to practise in the United Kingdom, you will not be eligible to practise veterinary surgery unless you change your membership category to "Home-practising  Member" by completing a Home Practising Declaration Form (PDF 139Kb) and paying any additional fee that may be due. 

Please contact the Registration Department for further details.

• Home or Overseas-practising to Non-practising

If you are not carrying out any veterinary-related activity in the UK or overseas and you would like to change your membership category to "Non-practising Member" then please complete and return a Non-practising Declaration Form (PDF 67Kb).  You may be entitled to a refund for a proportion of the balance of your retention fee.

• Postgraduate

The Registrar is the final arbiter in deciding eligibility for the reduced fee in accordance with the approved policy.  Members who consider they may be eligible for payment of the reduced fee should, in the first instance, contact Christine Fraser, Head of Registration, for further information regarding an application (020 7202 0758 or c.fraser@rcvs.org.uk).