17.      (1) The Minister shall give or cause to be given to an applicant a temporary residence certificate (in this section referred to as a “certificate”).

F6[(1A) A certificate shall be given to the applicant within 3 working days of the date on which he or she makes an application for international protection in accordance with section 15, or such an application is made or deemed to have been made, on his or her behalf.]

(2) A certificate shall contain—

(a) the name of the applicant,

(b) a photograph of the applicant sufficient to identify him or her, and

(c) such other information as may be prescribed.

(3) A certificate remains the property of the Minister and the person to whom it is given shall surrender it when requested to do so by, or on behalf of, the Minister.

(4) A certificate shall be deemed to be a registration certificate for the purposes of section 12 of the Act of 2004 and an applicant to whom a certificate has been given shall, for so long as the certificate remains valid, be deemed to have complied with section 9 of that Act.

(5) A certificate ceases to be valid, and the applicant concerned shall return it to the Minister without delay, where the permission given to the applicant under section 16 ceases, under section 16(2), to be valid.

(6) A person who forges, fraudulently alters, assists in forging or fraudulently altering or procures the forging or fraudulent alteration of, a certificate shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a class C fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months, or both.