diff --git a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
index 4ba32a442..676eb6bb7 100644
--- a/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/users_controller.rb
@@ -145,14 +145,14 @@ private
   def user_params
     if @user == current_user
       if current_user.data_coordinator? || current_user.support?
-        params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name, :password, :password_confirmation, :role, :is_dpo, :is_key_contact)
+        params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name, :password, :password_confirmation, :role, :is_dpo, :is_key_contact, :initial_confirmation_sent)
       else
-        params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name, :password, :password_confirmation)
+        params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name, :password, :password_confirmation, :initial_confirmation_sent)
       end
     elsif current_user.data_coordinator?
-      params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name, :role, :is_dpo, :is_key_contact, :active)
+      params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name, :role, :is_dpo, :is_key_contact, :active, :initial_confirmation_sent)
     elsif current_user.support?
-      params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name, :role, :is_dpo, :is_key_contact, :organisation_id, :active)
+      params.require(:user).permit(:email, :name, :role, :is_dpo, :is_key_contact, :organisation_id, :active, :initial_confirmation_sent)
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 8eea9c356..cee5f9550 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -109,10 +109,11 @@ class User < ApplicationRecord
       USER_REACTIVATED_TEMPLATE_ID
     elsif was_migrated_from_softwire? && last_sign_in_at.blank?
       BETA_ONBOARDING_TEMPLATE_ID
-    elsif confirmation_sent_at.present?
+    elsif initial_confirmation_sent
       RECONFIRMABLE_TEMPLATE_ID
     else
       CONFIRMABLE_TEMPLATE_ID
+      update!(initial_confirmation_sent: true)
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/app/views/devise/confirmations/new.html.erb b/app/views/devise/confirmations/new.html.erb
index 0b013b3e7..5f36dc388 100644
--- a/app/views/devise/confirmations/new.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/devise/confirmations/new.html.erb
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 
       <p class="govuk-body">For security reasons, your join link expired - get another one using the button below (valid for 3 hours).</p>
 
-
       <%= f.hidden_field :email, value: (resource.pending_reconfirmation? ? resource.unconfirmed_email : resource.email) %>
       <%= f.govuk_submit "Get a new join link" %>
     <% end %>
diff --git a/config/initializers/devise.rb b/config/initializers/devise.rb
index 63389432d..8be678a7f 100644
--- a/config/initializers/devise.rb
+++ b/config/initializers/devise.rb
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ Devise.setup do |config|
   # their account can't be confirmed with the token any more.
   # Default is nil, meaning there is no restriction on how long a user can take
   # before confirming their account.
-  config.confirm_within = 3.hours
+  config.confirm_within = 3.seconds
 
   # If true, requires any email changes to be confirmed (exactly the same way as
   # initial account confirmation) to be applied. Requires additional unconfirmed_email
diff --git a/db/migrate/20230203174815_add_initial_confirmation_sent_to_users.rb b/db/migrate/20230203174815_add_initial_confirmation_sent_to_users.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8f7fcaf66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20230203174815_add_initial_confirmation_sent_to_users.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+class AddInitialConfirmationSentToUsers < ActiveRecord::Migration[7.0]
+  def change
+    add_column :users, :initial_confirmation_sent, :boolean
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index d107bad1e..7c222f80c 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema[7.0].define(version: 2023_01_27_102334) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema[7.0].define(version: 2023_02_03_174815) do
   # These are extensions that must be enabled in order to support this database
   enable_extension "plpgsql"
 
@@ -582,6 +582,7 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema[7.0].define(version: 2023_01_27_102334) do
     t.datetime "confirmed_at", precision: nil
     t.datetime "confirmation_sent_at", precision: nil
     t.string "unconfirmed_email"
+    t.boolean "initial_confirmation_sent"
     t.index ["confirmation_token"], name: "index_users_on_confirmation_token", unique: true
     t.index ["email"], name: "index_users_on_email", unique: true
     t.index ["encrypted_otp_secret_key"], name: "index_users_on_encrypted_otp_secret_key", unique: true