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Applicants Who Move During the DBS Vetting Process

Learn what an applicant must do if they move house during DBS vetting, how DBS updates their address (and restarts processing), and where the final certificate will be sent.

Written by Ben Nicholas

Overview

Sometimes an applicant submits a DBS application and then moves to a new address while the application is still being vetted.

In this situation:

  • The applicant must contact the DBS directly to update their address.

  • The application will be put on hold temporarily and then re‑processed from Stage 2.

  • The overall processing time will increase.

This article explains exactly what the applicant and employer should expect.

1. How the applicant updates their address with DBS

If the applicant moves after submitting their DBS application, they must:

  1. Call the DBS on 03000 200 190.

  2. Choose:

    • Option 2, then

    • Option 2 again.

  3. Have their E0 reference number ready.

    • They can find this on the application tracking page.

Only the applicant can make this change; uCheck and the employer cannot update the address with DBS on their behalf.

2. DBS security checks

When the applicant contacts DBS:

  • They must pass DBS security checks.

As part of this process, DBS will ask them to confirm their current address.

Important:

  • For verification, the “current address” they confirm should be the address that was originally entered as the current address on the DBS application form.

  • Once DBS is satisfied with the security checks, they will then update the address on their internal systems.

3. What happens to the application during the update

While DBS updates the applicant’s address:

  • The application will be temporarily placed on hold.

After the address update:

  • The application will re‑enter processing, starting again from Stage 2 of the vetting process.

  • DBS will then cross‑reference the new address with the applicant’s other details.

Because of this:

  • The overall processing time will be extended, as the application effectively re‑starts part of the vetting journey.

4. Notifications to the employer

When DBS has updated the applicant’s address:

  • The employer will receive an email notification confirming that the address has been updated in DBS systems.

However:

  • The updated address will not appear on the application within the uCheck platform.

  • uCheck will continue to show the original address that was submitted.

5. Where the DBS certificate will be sent

After the vetting process is complete:

  • The DBS certificate will be posted to the applicant’s new current address (the one updated directly with DBS).

Even though:

  • The uCheck platform still shows the original address,

  • DBS will use the updated address for sending the physical certificate.

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