The Home Office introduced immigration concessions and special visa schemes in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. These were the Ukraine family scheme, Ukraine extension scheme, and Homes for Ukraine scheme. The department’s “core plan” was to issue visas rather than formal refugee status to Ukrainian citizens, keeping them out of the crumbling asylum system.

The Ukraine family scheme was closed without notice on 19 February 2024. The Ukraine extension scheme has now also closed; the deadline to apply was 16 May 2024, although the extension scheme remains open for children who are born in the UK to parents who have permission under Appendix Ukraine Scheme. The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open, but there have been recent changes limiting its scope, as outlined below.

For those in the UK with permission under one of the Ukraine schemes, there will be a new Ukraine permission extension scheme opening in early 2025.  

Visa options for people fleeing Ukraine

The starting point is that Ukrainians are visa nationals. This means that they need a visa to enter the UK and cannot just turn up at the border and ask to be admitted. The Home Office position is that people must get a visa before travel.

As noted, children who are born in the UK to parents to have permission under Appendix Ukraine Scheme can apply to the Ukraine extension scheme to be granted leave in line with their parent(s). For all other applicants, the options are as follows.

Homes for Ukraine

The only special visa scheme for Ukrainians that remains open for applications is the Homes for Ukraine scheme, also known as the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme. This allows Ukrainians to come to the UK if they have a sponsor willing to put them up for at least six months.

Previously, people arriving under this scheme could stay for three years but this has now been reduced to 18 months. At the end of the 18 months they will need to make another application under the new Ukraine permission extension scheme – see below.

People granted under the Homes for Ukraine scheme have the right to work, study and claim public funds. Benefits, housing and NHS regulations have been amended to allow people fleeing the war to access the welfare system and public services.

Applications are online and Ukrainian passport holders can skip the visa application centre appointment. Instead they will be issued with a letter to present at the border. Either the sponsor or the person being sponsored can fill out the application form, so long as they have the other’s details.

Who can sponsor?

Appendix Ukraine Scheme says:

UKR 15.1. An applicant under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme must have an Approved sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.

UKR 15.2. Where a family group is applying under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, the Ukrainian national and their immediate family members (as described in UKR 18.1.) must have the same Approved sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.

Previously, UK residents of any nationality could become an “approved sponsor” provided that they had at least six months’ immigration permission and could provide at least six months’ accommodation. Now only those who are British, Irish or settled in the UK are eligible to sponsor people under the scheme, making it more difficult for Ukrainians to come to the UK.

Sponsors are subject to “suitability” checks: “initial Police National Computer (PNC), criminal records and Warnings Index checks”; Disclosure and Barring Service checks; and a visit from the council to ensure that the accommodation is suitable. People sponsoring a family that includes a child or vulnerable adult will get enhanced DBS checks.

Guidance for councils says that local officials “must make at least one in-person visit prior to the arrival of guests wherever possible” and also “are expected to make at least one in person visit once the guest(s) has arrived.”

Who can be sponsored?

Applicants must have been living in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022. It’s fine if they have since left Ukraine and are living in some other country, so long as that country is not the UK: applications from within the UK are not allowed.

The applicant also must be a Ukrainian citizen but they can bring immediate family members, who do not have be Ukrainian:

(a) partner of the Ukrainian national; or

(b) child aged under 18 on the date of application of the Ukrainian national or of their partner; or

(c) parent of a Ukrainian national child aged under 18 (where the child is applying under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme); or

(d) fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner of the Ukrainian national.

Regular visas

With the Ukraine family scheme closed, any Ukrainians wishing to come to the UK who aren’t able to find sponsorship under the Homes for Ukraine scheme must now apply under the regular visa routes, such as work, study and family visas.

Applicants will need to book and attend a biometric appointment if applying under the regular routes. If the biometric appointment is in Kyiv, successful applicants will need to travel to the visa application centre in Warsaw with a valid international passport to collect the visa vignette.

Document flexibility

There is a concession in place for applications by Ukrainians and their dependants for a range of work and study visas. The concession acknowledges that applicants in Ukraine may be unable to provide certain documents and allows them to instead provide a letter explaining why particular documents may not be available. The concession states:

Due to the current situation in Ukraine, an applicant may be unable to provide the full range of documents required under the route under which they are applying. If so, an applicant must explain why they cannot provide a normally required document when they make their application. They can do this by drafting a letter setting out their reasons and using the document upload function when completing their application.

The decision maker does not require detailed evidence as to why a document is not available. They can instead be satisfied with a reasonable written explanation provided with the application as to why the document cannot be obtained.

A sufficient and reasonable explanation may for example be that it is not possible to obtain a document from an institution as it is not functioning or is not offering its full range of services due to current circumstances.  

Entering as a visitor for “compassionate reasons”

There is also a Home Office guidance document for OISC advisers which confirms that people in Ukraine who need to enter the UK urgently can enter as visitors for “compelling or compassionate reasons.” Visitors must intend to leave the UK at the end of the visit – a maximum of six months.

Bringing pets

There are arrangements for bringing up to 5 pet animals from Ukraine to the UK. You must apply to the Animal and Plant Health Agency to bring your pets. The Home Office guidance page sets out the rules and application process. The rules differ depending on the species of animal being brought over.

Ukrainians in the UK

Ukraine permission extension scheme

As the Ukraine extension scheme is now closed, there is currently no special visa scheme open for Ukrainians to extend their visas in the UK. The Home Office have announced that a new Ukraine permission extension scheme will be opening in early 2025.

The new scheme will grant successful applicants a further 18 months of permission to remain in the UK and they will have the same entitlements as other Ukraine schemes in terms of access to work, benefits, healthcare and education. The scheme will also be free.

The Ukraine permission extension scheme will be open to those who have permission under the home for Ukraine scheme, or the now-closed Ukraine family scheme and Ukraine extension scheme. The guidance states that you may also be eligible if you previously had permission under a Ukraine scheme and now hold another valid visa.

Applications are set to open in early 2025, and applicants will generally be able to apply within the last 3 months of their existing visa. The earliest Ukraine scheme visas were issued in March 2022 for three years, so the earliest Ukraine visas are due to expire in March 2025.

Regular visa extensions

Ukrainians are still able to apply for regular visa extensions in the UK. The concession guidance that allows flexibility for entry clearance applications from Ukraine also allows for people already in the UK on work or study routes to switch into other routes where this would not normally be allowed.  

Asylum

Where there are no better options under the special and regular visa routes, Ukrainians are also able to claim asylum in the UK. From the beginning of 2022 to the end of March 2024, there were 767 asylum claims made with Ukrainian nationals as the main applicant. The overall figure is higher once dependants are included. In this period there were 442 grants of asylum or humanitarian protection, 15 refusals and 332 withdrawn claims.

You cannot apply for asylum outside the UK or get a visa for the specific purpose of claiming asylum. 

People can apply for asylum if they have a well-founded fear of persecution or are at general risk of serious harm. If successful, they would be granted refugee status or humanitarian protection.

The Home Office country policy and information notes on Ukraine were last updated in June 2022. The guidance says:

The security situation in Ukraine is such that there are substantial grounds for believing there is a real risk of serious harm due to a serious and individual threat to a civilian’s life or person by reason of indiscriminate violence in a situation of international or internal armed conflict, as defined in paragraphs 339C and 339CA(iv) of the Immigration Rules.

The guidance further confirms:

That the general humanitarian situation in Ukraine is so severe that there are substantial grounds for believing that there is a real risk of serious harm because conditions amount to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment as defined in paragraphs 339C and 339CA(iii) of the Immigration Rules/Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Other asylum seekers may fear persecution or serious harm by the Ukrainian state because of issues arising from military conscription, such as:

• The general treatment/conditions of military service;
• The individual is a conscientious objector;
• They refused penalties for desertion;
• Prison conditions for draft evaders are such that an individual risks serious harm. 

However, the person’s treatment must reach a high threshold of persecution or serious harm. The country guidance case of PK and OS (basic rules of human conduct) Ukraine CG [2020] UKUT 314 (IAC) found that it is not reasonably likely that a draft evader avoiding conscription or mobilisation in Ukraine would face criminal or administrative proceedings. That said, the Home Office agreed to withdraw its decision to refuse asylum to the appellant OS and so others in his position could also argue that things have changed since that case was decided.

It may also be possible for Ukrainians to claim asylum based on sexual identity given evidence about the treatment of the LGBT+ community.

Closed visa schemes

The Ukraine family scheme

The Ukraine family scheme allowed British citizens and many immigrants living in the UK to sponsor Ukrainian relatives who would not normally qualify for a family visa, including parents, children, siblings, aunts, uncles and in-laws.

Applications were free and there was no immigration health surcharge. The visa was granted for 36 months and came with the right to work, study and claim benefits.

Applications were made through an online application form. Ukrainian international passport holders were not required to attend a visa appointment in person; instead they could apply entirely online using the UK government smartphone app. The scheme was later opened up to applicants from within the UK as well as those overseas.

Who could be a sponsor?

Sponsors could bring Ukrainian family into the UK if they were a British citizen or a migrant with one of the following statuses:

• Indefinite leave to remain
• EU settled status
• EU pre-settled status
• Refugee status
• Humanitarian protection

Who could not be a sponsor?

The scheme did not cover migrants with temporary immigration permission to be in the UK (other than EU pre-settled status). For example, Seasonal Workers and those with spouse visas could not sponsor family under the scheme.

People with pending claims for refugee status or humanitarian protection (asylum seekers) could not be sponsors either.

Who could be sponsored?

The following rules outlined who could be sponsored under the scheme. These rules have since been deleted from Appendix Ukraine Scheme. Firstly, the sponsor’s “immediate family” which was defined as a:

(i) partner of the UK-based sponsor; or

(ii) child aged under 18 on the date of application of the UK-based sponsor or of the UK-based sponsor’s partner; or

(iii) parent of a child (who is under 18 on the date of application), where the child is the UK-based sponsor; or

(iv) fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner of the UK-based sponsor; or

Also the sponsor’s “extended family”:

(i) parent of a UK-based sponsor, or of the UK-based sponsor’s partner (where the sponsor or partner is aged 18 or over on the date of application); or

(ii) parent of the UK-based sponsor’s child or of the UK-based sponsor’s partner’s child (where the child is under 18 on the date of application); or

(iii) grandparent of the UK-based sponsor or of the UK-based sponsor’s partner; or

(iv) grandchild of the UK-based sponsor or of the UK-based sponsor’s partner; or

(v) sibling of the UK-based sponsor or of the UK-based sponsor’s partner; or

(vi) adult child (aged 18 or over on the date of application) of the UK- based sponsor or of the UK-based sponsor’s partner; or

(vii) aunt or uncle of the UK-based sponsor; or

(viii)cousin of the UK-based sponsor; or

(ix) niece or nephew of the UK-based sponsor

In addition, extended family members could bring some of their own immediate family members:

(i) partner of an extended family member; or

(ii) child aged under 18 on the date of application of an extended family member; or

(iii) parent of a child aged under 18 on the date of application, where the child is the extended family member; or

(iv) fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner of an extended family member.

Beyond that, the rules stated that “other family members will be considered where there are exceptional circumstances”.

Nationality-wise, the guidance said “Applicants to the scheme must be Ukrainian nationals unless they are applying as part of a family group with their immediate family member who is a Ukrainian national”. In other words, there has to be a Ukrainian anchor applicant to bring non-Ukrainians in along with them.

Who could not be sponsored?

Most of the usual grounds for refusal under Part 9 of the immigration rules applied. This meant that people with criminal records could not be accepted under the scheme.

Finally, the scheme was limited to people who were ordinarily resident in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022.

Ukraine extension scheme

The Ukraine extension scheme allowed Ukrainians who were in the UK with other visas, such as work, student or even visitor visas, to stay in the UK. The scheme opened on 3 May 2022 and the deadline for applications was 16 May 2024.

However, the scheme remains open for children who are born in the UK to parents who have permission under the Ukraine Scheme.

The rules for the Ukraine extension scheme are set out in paragraphs UKR 21.1 to 28.2 of Appendix Ukraine Scheme, though now these rules are only applicable to children born in the UK to parents with permission under the Ukraine Scheme. Like the others, the Ukraine extension scheme was free and came with access to work, study and benefits for 36 months.

Despite the name, it was not merely a continuation of existing permission which may have tied the person to an employer; with this scheme there was no sponsor involved at all.

Extension scheme applicants had to be in the UK and had to have had permission to enter or stay in the UK immediately before 1 January 2022, even if that permission had since expired.

The application form included a warning that “if you did not have permission to be in the UK before 1 January 2022 your application is likely to be refused”. In other words, if you had been an overstayer since before the start of 2022, you were out of luck. People in this position may have needed to claim asylum in order to have any kind of legal status in the UK.

This article was originally published on 23 February 2022 by Alex Piletska and Katherine Soroya. It has been updated by Rachel Whickman so that it is correct as of the new date of publication shown.