Key takeaways
- Homes for Ukraine is the only Ukraine scheme still open to people outside the UK, and new visas are granted for up to 18 months.
- The Ukraine Family Scheme closed at 3pm on 19 February 2024, and the Ukraine Extension Scheme closed fully on 4 February 2025.
- People in the UK under a Ukraine scheme extend free through the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme: up to 18 months, then up to 24 more.
- A UPE application can be made in the 90 days before current permission expires, and you must not travel abroad while it is pending.
- Only British, Irish or settled people can sponsor under Homes for Ukraine, except Ukraine scheme parents sponsoring their own children under 18.
- From 1 January 2027 the monthly thank you payment for hosts falls from £350 to £100 per household.
- The Ukraine schemes do not lead to settlement, and time spent on them does not count towards the 10-year long residence route.
There is no single UK visa for Ukrainians. Since March 2022 the UK has run three special visa schemes for Ukrainians fleeing the war: the Ukraine Family Scheme, Homes for Ukraine and the Ukraine Extension Scheme. Two of them have now closed. Homes for Ukraine remains open to new applicants, and people who are already here extend their stay through the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme. In February 2026 the Home Office said these schemes had offered or extended sanctuary to more than 310,000 Ukrainians and their families. Most Ukrainian refugees in the UK are here under these schemes rather than with refugee status from an asylum claim.
The rules have changed several times since 2022, and many families now hold a Ukrainian scheme visa that was granted under a scheme which no longer exists. The right British visa for Ukrainian nationals now depends on which Ukraine visa scheme you came under, when your permission expires and whether you want to stay in the UK for the long term.
This page explains the status of each Ukraine visa scheme in the UK with its key dates, what to do if you hold a Ukraine Family Scheme or Ukraine Extension Scheme visa, how to become a Homes for Ukraine sponsor and what happens after the first three years. Sterling Law’s immigration lawyers in London advise Ukrainian families, sponsors and hosts.
Is Homes for Ukraine still open?
Yes. On 15 October 2026 the Homes for Ukraine scheme, officially the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and also known as the Ukrainian sponsorship scheme, was open for new visa applications, with no cap on numbers. A Ukrainian outside the UK can still come here if a British or Irish citizen, or a person settled in the UK, offers them a home for at least six months.
The scheme has been tightened since it opened. For applications made after 3pm on 19 February 2024, visas are granted for up to 18 months instead of three years, and only British or Irish citizens and settled residents can act as sponsors. In a written statement of 15 September 2026 the government cut funding for hosts and councils from 1 January 2027. It did not close the scheme, and the same statement sets the council payment for arrivals after that date. According to the government, more than 181,000 Ukrainians have come to the UK through the scheme.
Who can apply
To apply for a Homes for Ukraine visa, you must:
- be a Ukrainian national, or the immediate family member of a Ukrainian national who qualifies under the scheme or has been granted permission under it;
- have been ordinarily resident in Ukraine immediately before 1 January 2022, unless you are a child born on or after that date;
- be outside the UK when you apply;
- have an approved sponsor in the UK.
Immediate family members are a spouse or civil partner, an unmarried partner you have lived with for at least two years, a fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner, a child under 18 and, if the applicant is under 18, a parent. A relationship with a partner, fiancé(e) or proposed civil partner must have started before 1 January 2022. Every person makes a separate application, including each child.
Children under 18 usually apply with a parent or legal guardian or to join one who is already in the UK. A child travelling without a parent can apply as an eligible minor with notarised parental consent. The council must approve the sponsor before the child applies, the sponsor agrees to host the child for 18 months or until they turn 18, and the sponsor and everyone aged 16 or over in the household need an enhanced DBS check.
How a Homes for Ukraine visa application works
The application is made online and is free: there is no visa fee, no Immigration Health Surcharge and no biometric enrolment fee. The applicant gives fingerprints and a photograph at a visa application centre, and UK Visas and Immigration aims to decide the application within three weeks of processing starting. Applicants must wait for a decision before they travel. Successful applicants now receive an eVisa only, so their status is held online, and some are also issued a form for accompanying an eVisa (FAV) for travel.
A refusal under the scheme carries no right of appeal or administrative review. There is, however, no limit on the number of times a person can apply. If the refusal is because the sponsor does not meet the requirements, the applicant has to find a new sponsor and submit a new application.
How to sponsor a Ukrainian under the Homes for Ukraine scheme
To become a Homes for Ukraine sponsor, you must be a British or Irish citizen or settled in the UK, offer suitable accommodation for at least six months and pass Home Office and council checks. Your Ukrainian guest then applies for a visa online and gives your details as their sponsor.
Who can be a sponsor
- British or Irish citizens and people settled in the UK, which means having the right to live here permanently, for example with indefinite leave to remain. This status must be held on the date of the guest’s visa application.
- Adults over 18 living anywhere in the UK: England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
- Parents or legal guardians who hold Ukraine scheme permission, but only to sponsor their own child under 18. They do not need settled status and must provide accommodation for the whole of the child’s permission.
Before 19 February 2024, anyone with at least six months’ permission to stay in the UK could sponsor. Since then, Ukrainians in the UK who are not settled can no longer sponsor their parents, siblings or adult children under the scheme. A British, Irish or settled relative or friend can act as sponsor instead.
Sponsoring step by step
- Find a guest. If you already know the person, they can apply and name you. If not, you can register your interest on GOV.UK, and your details are passed to your council, or use a recognised provider. GOV.UK lists Citizens UK (through USPUK) and Refugees at Home as accepting new sponsors.
- Check your home. The accommodation must be suitable to live in for at least six months, for example with kitchen space. Agree the terms of the arrangement with your guest before they travel.
- The guest applies. Your guest applies online for a Homes for Ukraine visa and gives your details as sponsor.
- Home Office checks. The Home Office carries out security and criminal record checks on you and on every adult aged 18 or over in your household, including checks of the Police National Computer.
- Council checks. Your council checks the accommodation and arranges DBS checks. Household members aged 16 or over need at least a basic DBS check; an enhanced check, including the barred list, is required if you host a child travelling without a parent or a family with children, and may be required if an adult guest needs extra support.
- Arrival. The council makes at least one in-person visit after your guests arrive, and thank you payments start only when its checks are complete.
If the checks raise concerns, the visa can be refused or the application paused, and the guest is offered other options.
Thank you payments for hosts
The Homes for Ukraine payment to hosts is a monthly thank you payment, claimed from the council. The rate is changing on 1 January 2027, including for existing hosts.
| Period | Thank you payment |
|---|---|
| Until 31 December 2026 | £350 a month per household |
| From 1 January 2027 | £100 a month per household, whenever the guest arrived |
| While the guest holds UPE permission | Payable for up to 18 months from the date the guest first moves onto UPE |
Only one payment is made per address. Since 1 October 2024, sponsors who are close family members of their guests cannot start claiming thank you payments. From 1 January 2027 councils will also receive less: the payment per new arrival falls from £5,900 to £3,300, while funding for unaccompanied children stays at its current level.
If you want to end the arrangement, GOV.UK asks hosts to give their guests as much notice as possible, ideally two months, and to tell the council as soon as possible, ideally two months before the arrangement ends. The council can help the guest find a new host, which is called rematching, but once a guest is on UPE a rematch is offered only where the council assesses a material risk of homelessness. In its September 2026 statement the government suggested that hosts who want to end sponsorship could move to a formal rental arrangement, for example letting a room under the Rent a Room scheme.
Ukraine Family Scheme: closed since 19 February 2024
The Ukraine Family Scheme visa, often called the Ukrainian Family Scheme, closed to new applications at 3pm on 19 February 2024 and is no longer available. The scheme allowed Ukrainians to join a family member who was British, settled in the UK or held certain other status, and it covered a wide circle of relatives: partners and children, parents, grandparents and grandchildren, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. Permission was granted for 36 months, free of charge, and applications submitted before the deadline continued to be decided under the scheme.
If you want to bring a relative from Ukraine now, the main options are:
- Homes for Ukraine, with a British, Irish or settled relative or friend as sponsor;
- a standard family migration visa under the Immigration Rules, such as a spouse or partner visa for a husband, wife or partner from Ukraine, or an adult dependent relative visa, each with its own financial and other requirements;
- for a child under 18, sponsorship by a parent who holds Ukraine scheme permission.
Family visas can lead to settlement, unlike the Ukraine schemes, but they are not free: application fees apply, and most family visas also require the Immigration Health Surcharge.
I hold a Ukraine Family Scheme visa or Ukraine Extension Scheme visa: what now?
Your permission stays valid until its expiry date. To stay longer under the Ukraine schemes, apply to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme in the 90 days before your current permission expires. UPE is free, you apply from inside the UK, and the first grant is for up to 18 months. There is no separate Homes for Ukraine visa extension either: UPE is now the only Ukraine visa extension within the schemes, whichever scheme you came under.
Check the exact expiry date in your UKVI account or eVisa and count back 90 days. The window was widened from 28 to 90 days on 8 April 2026, and applying early within it does not cost you time: any permission you still have when UPE is granted is added to the new grant, up to 90 days.
| Your situation | Next step |
|---|---|
| Family Scheme or Extension Scheme visa with more than 90 days left | Wait for the 90-day window and keep your passport and UKVI account up to date |
| 90 days or less left on your visa | Apply for UPE online now, before your permission expires |
| First UPE grant of 18 months coming to an end | Apply for the second, 24-month UPE grant in its last 90 days |
| You switched to another visa after your Ukraine scheme grant | You may still qualify for UPE, or you can extend your current visa |
| Child born in the UK after 18 March 2022 to a Ukrainian parent with Ukraine scheme permission | Apply for UPE for the child; earlier permission is not needed |
| Your permission has already expired | Take advice and apply as soon as possible: until a decision you lose the right to work, rent and claim benefits |
While a UPE application is pending, do not travel outside the UK or the Common Travel Area. If you do, the application is withdrawn and will not be considered. If you apply before your permission expires, you keep your right to work, rent and claim benefits while you wait. GOV.UK says a decision is usually made within 8 weeks.
What happens after 3 years on a Ukraine visa?
Nothing happens automatically at the end of three years: your permission simply expires. Families on the Ukraine Family Scheme after 3 years and those on the other Ukraine schemes have the same options. To stay, you either extend under UPE or switch to another visa. The Ukraine schemes do not lead to indefinite leave to remain, however long you hold them.
For someone first granted 36 months under any of the three schemes, the sequence is now 36 months, then 18 months of UPE, then a further 24 months: up to six and a half years in total. People who applied for Homes for Ukraine after 3pm on 19 February 2024 and received 18 months follow the same steps from an 18-month start, up to five years in total.
What happens after UPE has not been decided. In a written parliamentary answer on 1 September 2026, the Home Office said that the first 24-month UPE grants will not begin to expire until August 2028, that no decision had been taken on continuing the scheme beyond that, and that a clear position will be in place before those grants begin to expire.
Does time on a Ukraine scheme count towards ILR?
No. Appendix Ukraine Scheme of the Immigration Rules states that the Ukraine schemes are not a route to settlement, and the 10-year long residence route expressly excludes permission under the Ukraine schemes from its qualifying period. Because British citizenship by naturalisation normally requires settlement first, time on a Ukraine visa does not lead to citizenship either.
Time in the UK can still matter under the private life rules, which look at how long you have lived here rather than the type of visa you held: for example seven years for a child where it would not be reasonable to expect them to leave, half their life for young people aged 18 to 24 who came as children, or 20 years for adults. These thresholds are high and every case is assessed individually.
Switching to a route that leads to settlement
GOV.UK confirms that Ukrainians in the UK can extend their visa or switch to another one even if their current visa would not normally allow it, provided they meet the requirements of the new route. Common options include:
- the Skilled Worker visa, for a job with a licensed sponsor at the required skill and salary level;
- the Global Talent visa, for leaders or potential leaders in research, arts and culture or digital technology;
- a spouse or partner visa, for partners of British citizens and settled persons;
- a family or private life application on form FLR (FP), for parents of British children, partners who do not meet all the family rules and people who qualify under the private life rules;
- asylum or humanitarian protection, for people who face a real risk of serious harm on return to Ukraine.
Switching means paying the new route’s fees and the Immigration Health Surcharge and meeting its conditions, but the time on that route can count towards indefinite leave to remain. A person who has switched may still qualify for UPE later, so the decision can be planned rather than rushed. Timing also matters for appeal rights: if a family or private life application is refused while you still hold other valid permission, such as UPE, Home Office guidance gives no right of appeal.
Your rights on a Ukraine scheme visa
Homes for Ukraine and UPE permission carry the same conditions. You can work, including self-employment and voluntary work, study (subject to the Academic Technology Approval Scheme for certain subjects), use the NHS and claim benefits and other public funds. There is no application fee, no Immigration Health Surcharge, no English language test and no minimum income.
You can travel abroad once permission is granted, but your eVisa must be linked to your current passport, and expired biometric residence permits (BRPs) can no longer be used to travel to the UK. Long absences can affect a later UPE application. Temporary periods of living in Ukraine of under 12 months do not count as living outside the UK, while time in other countries needs evidence of continuing ties to the UK. UPE cannot be applied for from outside the UK, so if your permission ends while you are abroad, you would need a new entry clearance application, such as Homes for Ukraine with a sponsor.
Refused under a Ukraine scheme?
Refusals under Homes for Ukraine, the Ukraine Family Scheme and UPE carry no right of appeal and no administrative review. The usual remedy is a fresh Homes for Ukraine or UPE application: it is free, there is no limit on the number of applications, and a new UPE application must be considered afresh rather than refused simply because nothing has changed. Problems we often see include missing identity documents, long absences, name changes, doubts about residence in Ukraine and issues with the sponsor.
The Ukraine schemes are not human rights routes, so a refusal under them does not decide a human rights claim. If you cannot safely return to Ukraine or have family life in the UK, a human rights claim or a protection claim is a separate application.
How Sterling Law can help
Our immigration lawyers work with Ukrainian families, sponsors and hosts at every stage of the Ukraine schemes. We can:
- confirm which scheme you hold and when to apply for UPE;
- advise sponsors and hosts on eligibility, checks, thank you payments and ending or changing a hosting arrangement;
- prepare Homes for Ukraine visa applications for partners, children and elderly relatives, including after a refusal;
- handle UPE applications with missing documents, long absences or past refusals, and applications for children born in the UK;
- plan a switch to a work, family or private life route that leads to settlement;
- prepare asylum and humanitarian protection claims for Ukrainians who cannot return.
Recent Ukraine scheme cases
- Homes for Ukraine for an elderly couple: visas granted within a month of the first refusals
- A husband joins his wife in the UK: Home Office requests about residence in Ukraine answered
- A newborn wrongly refused under the Ukraine scheme: status secured for a baby born abroad
- UPE without original documents: extension granted on copies after passport and BRP were lost
- Late extension after a return from Ukraine: permission extended and passport returned
- Humanitarian protection for a family from Kharkiv: medical evidence and internal relocation arguments
To discuss your situation, send us your enquiry.
Frequently asked questions
Is Homes for Ukraine still open?
Yes. On 15 October 2026 the scheme was open to new applications. Ukrainians outside the UK can apply free of charge if a British or Irish citizen or a settled person sponsors them. New visas last up to 18 months, and the thank you payment for hosts falls to £100 a month from 1 January 2027.
What happens after 3 years on the Ukraine Family Scheme or Homes for Ukraine?
Your permission ends unless you extend it. You can apply to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme in the last 90 days: up to 18 months first, then up to 24 months more. The schemes do not lead to settlement, so a permanent future in the UK needs a switch to another route.
Can I still apply for the Ukraine Family Scheme?
No. It closed to new applications at 3pm on 19 February 2024. Relatives abroad can apply under Homes for Ukraine if a British, Irish or settled relative or friend sponsors them, or under a standard family visa.
Can Ukrainians get indefinite leave to remain in the UK?
Not through the Ukraine schemes: they are not a route to settlement, and the time does not count for the 10-year long residence route. Ukrainians who switch to a route such as Skilled Worker, a family visa or refugee status can settle under that route’s rules. The government has said its long-term position will be in place before the first 24-month UPE grants begin to expire in August 2028.
Who can sponsor a Ukrainian under Homes for Ukraine?
A British or Irish citizen, or a person settled in the UK, aged over 18, who can offer suitable accommodation for at least six months and passes Home Office and council checks. A parent with Ukraine scheme permission can sponsor only their own child under 18.
Can I sponsor my family members from Ukraine?
Yes, if you are British, Irish or settled in the UK: you can sponsor relatives under Homes for Ukraine, although close family members cannot start claiming thank you payments. If you are in the UK on a Ukraine scheme visa, you can sponsor only your own child under 18. Other relatives need a British, Irish or settled sponsor or a family visa.
How much do Homes for Ukraine hosts get paid?
Hosts can claim a thank you payment of £350 a month per household until 31 December 2026 and £100 a month from 1 January 2027. Once the guest moves onto UPE, it is paid for up to 18 months. Close family members of the guest cannot start new claims.
Do Ukrainians need a visa to come to the UK?
Yes. Ukraine is on the UK’s visa national list, so Ukrainians need a visa even for a short visit. Without a Homes for Ukraine sponsor, a UK visa for Ukrainian citizens means one of the standard routes, such as a visitor visa or a work, study or family visa.
