The Homes For Ukraine Scheme, also known as the Ukraine Sponsorship
Scheme, started up in March 2022 and issues are arising as it now passes it’s 6
months of existence.
It is one of three main schemes that allow Ukrainians to
obtain a visa for up to three years.
Home Office figures suggest that more than 100,000
Ukrainians have come to the UK since the war.
None of the main visa schemes give Ukrainians a permanent
right to reside in the UK and all three require connection with the country.
So, it is difficult for a Ukrainian to come to the UK if they were not already here
or did not already have family here or a sponsor.
The Ukraine Extension Scheme allows Ukrainians who were in
the UK on temporary Visa to extend their stay for 3 years.
The Ukraine Family Scheme allows people fleeing Ukraine who
are family members of British Citizens or people with rights of settlement in
the UK to obtain a visa.
Finally, there is the most well-known Homes for Ukraine Scheme
where Ukrainian citizens can get a 3-year visa if they can find a sponsor in
the UK who will accommodate them for a minimum of 6 months. There have been
some concerns about sponsors being found on social media who may not be
appropriate but there is a Government recognised provider list.
All these visa schemes allow Ukrainians to work, obtain
benefits and access to public services.
Some of the cracks are beginning to appear in the Homes for
Ukraine Scheme. Many very generous people came forward and offered their own
homes to Ukrainians. While the scheme required a minimum of 6 months
accommodation to be offered people were free to extend that period. Thankyou
payments of £350 a month are made to sponsors to contribute to the costs of
supporting their guests and those payments continue for 12 months.
However, the rising cost of living is putting some sponsors
home finances under pressure, and some are now beginning to be concerned about
when their commitment ends. The scheme was always intended to be a temporary
arrangement. More than 6 months into it some sponsors are finding that they
want their homes back to themselves or their lives are changing in a way that
prompts uncomfortable conversations with their guests about how long they can
stay. Lauren Scott, director of the charity Refugees at Home, recommends that
sponsors start raising those issues with their guests early, in a diplomatic
but constructive way, so that it does not become a surprise issue later.
The concern seems to be becoming centred around the support
Government and Councils will offer to Ukrainian refugees to take the long-term
strain off sponsors.
In Wales and Scotland, those devolved Governments became
sponsors themselves but have withdrawn their schemes as the pressure on
resources has mounted.
Elsewhere it is possible that as ordinary people find they
can no longer accommodate refugees in their own homes those refugees will
become homeless, putting pressure on existing Local Authority homeless lists.
Ukrainian refugees are finding themselves in difficult
positions because in their sponsors home areas they may have secured places for
their children at local schools or got jobs, so it will be disruptive to move
out of the area where they may have started to find some security.
On the face of it the Ukrainian Visa schemes may appear to
be a relaxation of the UK’s normal immigration rules, and access to a 3-year
visa with a right to work and claim benefits, is certainly better than the situation
an asylum seeker may find themselves in, for example. But the passage of time
is beginning to show that the emergency measures put in during the initial
stages of the war, often relying on public generosity such as that of the
sponsors, will not provide the long-term solutions. The Government will have to
provide some long-term clarity as to the legal status of Ukrainian refugees and
the support available to them as the Homes for Ukraine Scheme begins to wind
down and visas expire in the coming years.
If refugees do find themselves being rendered homeless
because their sponsors can no longer accommodate them, then there is legal
advice as to their rights available from charities like Shelter and Firms of
Solicitors who have a Legal Aid contract in Housing.
