Who is eligible and how to apply to the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme?

Applications to the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme, for those who hold leave under Appendix Ukraine Scheme that will expire soon, are open from 9am today. It is important to note that extensions of leave are not automatic, people will need to apply before their current leave expires or else they will lose their rights to work, rent, access free healthcare – basically they will face the full force of the hostile environment.

What are the requirements to apply under this route?

The scheme is available to people with leave granted under Appendix Ukraine Scheme. This includes leave granted under the Ukraine Family Scheme (opened on 30 March 2022 and closed on 19 February 2024), the Ukraine Extension Scheme (opened on 3 May 2022 and closed entirely at 9am today) and Homes for Ukraine (opened on 18 March 2022 and still open but narrower in scope).

There is also a long list at UKR 29.3 of grants of leave outside the rules which can also be extended under the Permission Extension Scheme. For example this includes those who were granted leave outside the rules before the relevant Ukraine schemes opened, between 20 February 2022 and 2 May 2022.

There are suitability requirements that apply to this route, which are most but not all of the grounds for refusal in Part 9 of the immigration rules.

Applicants must have been living in the UK since the relevant grant of leave, although an exception is set out at UKR 33.2 which says that temporary periods (under 12 months) spent in Ukraine will be allowed. UKR 33.3 says that other absences may also be permitted where the applicant can demonstrate ongoing ties to the UK.

Family members

Children born in the UK to parents with leave under Appendix Ukraine Scheme were previously able to apply for leave under the Ukraine Extension Scheme, however as of today those applications must be made under the Permission Extension Scheme instead. Paragraph UKR 32.1 requires that a full birth certificate showing the names of both parents is provided.

Non-Ukrainian national family members can apply if they were previously granted under one of the other schemes, as follows:

• partner of a Ukrainian national 
• child of a Ukrainian national 
• parent of a Ukrainian national who was granted Ukraine Scheme permission before turning 18 years old 
• fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner of a Ukrainian national 
• a family member granted permission in accordance with the now closed Ukraine Family Scheme 

Those who were granted leave as a partner/civil partner/spouse must submit evidence with their application that shows they are still in an eligible relationship. Where a relationship has broken down, the non-Ukrainian national partner may be eligible to stay in the UK as the parent of a child with of eligible for leave under the Ukrainian schemes.

Step-parent was not previously defined in Appendix Ukraine Scheme, but now UKR 31.3 states that under the Permission Extension Scheme, ““parent” does not include a step-parent unless they are the legal or adoptive parent of the child”.

How to apply

People should only apply within the last 28 days of their leave, this is a validity requirement set out at paragraph UKR 29.2 and so applications made earlier than that risk being rejected. The applicant must be in the UK when the application is submitted and must also provide their biometrics (photo and fingerprints) and identity documents.

Applicants are expected to hold an eVisa, so they should either log in there or check their original grant letter to confirm exactly when their leave expires.

There is no application fee or immigration health surcharge.

Applicants with an outstanding application cannot leave the UK until a decision has been made and further leave granted. If a person travels outside the UK while their application is still pending, it will be deemed withdrawn and they are likely to encounter problems when trying to re-enter the UK.

What happens after a decision is made?

Successful applicants will be granted a further 18 months’ leave to remain in the UK. After that, the position is unclear.

If an application is refused, the guidance states that there is no right of appeal or administrative review. The guidance also says that:

The Ukraine Schemes are not Article 8 or Human Rights (HR) routes. If an applicant for permission to stay raises HR issues within their application form, you should note that it has been raised in any refusal wording and set out that they will not be subject to any removal action until any HR claim has been considered. If an applicant wishes to be considered solely on HR grounds, applicants should make a Human Rights application using the further leave application form.

Essentially, this is the Home Office saying that human rights claims made in these applications will be ignored.

Conclusion

The Home Office states that applications will usually be decided within eight weeks and processing times will certainly be worth keeping an eye on. Even if only for such a short period, a lot of people with leave under Appendix Ukraine are about to discover, en masse, the difficulty of holding section 3c leave. They will be well advised to follow RAMFEL’s advice and make a request in their application for the Home Office to provide digital proof of section 3c leave.

The other point to bear in mind is that there is no path to settlement in Appendix Ukraine Scheme and leave accrued under this Appendix is explicitly excluded from counting towards a grant of settlement under Appendix Long Residence. Those who want to stay in the UK in the longer term should consider whether other routes may be a better option for them.