Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainians who sought refuge in the United Kingdom will be granted permission to extend their visas for an additional 18 months, according to an announcement made by the Home Office.
Since March 2022, more than 200,000 Ukrainians who are in possession of visas have arrived in the United Kingdom. The first visas are scheduled to expire in March of the following year. According to the Home Office, the new program would offer “certainty and assurance” to Ukrainians who are currently residing in the United Kingdom.
Over the course of the weekend, the government made a request for additional families in the United Kingdom to become sponsors of Ukrainians. On the other hand, the Local Government Association (LGA) issued a warning and urged the government to reconsider the financial assistance that is provided to Ukrainians who are at risk of becoming homeless.
The minister for legal migration, Tom Pursglove, made the following statement: “Families all over the country have opened their homes and their hearts to the people of Ukraine, demonstrating extraordinary generosity.” This compassion includes providing sanctuary to individuals who are escaping the horrors of war.
“This new visa extension scheme provides certainty and reassurance for Ukrainians living in the United Kingdom regarding their future as this war continues, and we will continue to provide a safe haven for those who are fleeing the conflict,”
According to Eduard Fesko, who serves as the charge d’affaires at the Ukrainian embassy, the declaration serves as a “clear signal” of the support that the United Kingdom government has for Ukraine.
His statement was as follows: “We are grateful for all of the help and assistance that our friends in the United Kingdom so generously provide for the Ukrainians who are temporarily displaced.” In March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, people all over the United Kingdom were encouraged to offer their homes to refugees from Ukraine. Housing Secretary Michael Gove stated that the United Kingdom had a “long and proud history of helping others in their hour of need.” He described the immigration programs as a “lifeline” for those individuals who were compelled to escape their homes.
As part of the Homes for Ukraine, the Ukraine Family Scheme, and the Ukraine Extension Scheme, visa holders were granted three years of leave in the United Kingdom. This would have meant that the first visas would have expired in March of 2025 but were extended. Through the Homes for Ukraine program, there have been 143,400 arrivals, and through the Ukraine Family Program, there have been 56,800 arrivals. This information is as of the 12th of February.
According to the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Ukraine Extension Scheme, an additional 31,400 Ukrainians have had their requests for extensions granted. Households that are sponsored by Homes for Ukraine are given a monthly payment of £350 for the first year, and then an additional monthly payment of £500 for the second and third years. As part of the autumn budget, the “thank you” payments, which are now set at £500 per month, were extended for a third year.
This past weekend, the Local Government Authority issued a warning that a sizeable number of Ukrainians living in the United Kingdom were in danger of becoming homeless. In a statement, Roger Gough, the spokeswoman for the Local Government Authority (LGA) on asylum, refugees, and migration, stated that “Councils work extremely hard to support asylum and resettlement and have assisted communities in welcoming approximately 200,000 Ukrainian refugees since the beginning of the war” On the other hand, the pressures that are being exerted by a number of different resettlement and refugee programs are still being compounded by persistent housing shortages. Because of this, a significant number of Ukrainians and refugees have been forced to leave their asylum accommodations and present themselves as homeless. “The Ukraine visa schemes were designed to provide temporary sanctuary,” the author writes. “The funding arrangements for councils to support arrivals need urgent review as councils continue to provide crucial longer-term support, including integration and housing support as sponsorship arrangements come to an end.”
The Ukrainian people were having a difficult time obtaining the necessary assistance to locate long-term housing, according to a study that was published by the British Red Cross in November. A total of 6,220 Ukrainian families are anticipated to have submitted applications for assistance with homelessness in the United Kingdom by the time current fiscal year comes to a close.
It was announced by the Home Office that beginning in the beginning of 2025, online applications for visa renewals would be available. It has not yet been announced by the Home Office what the application fees will be for these additional extensions, and there are no application fees for these existing schemes.
