Homes for Ukraine with Reset
Welcome to Reset Communities and Refugees, a UK charity specialising in community-led welcome for refugees. We are here to help you find a sponsor in the UK Government’s Homes for Ukraine Scheme and make sure that you and your sponsor have access to important information, as well as advice on how this scheme works, what to expect, and how to prepare yourself.
What is the Homes for Ukraine scheme?
The Homes for Ukraine Scheme is a programme created by the UK Government which allows UK citizens to sponsor an individual’s visa from Ukraine and host them for a minimum of six months.
When you apply through the Homes of Ukraine scheme, somebody in the UK will choose to sponsor your visa application and welcome you into their home. As of 3pm 19th February, all successful visa applicants will be given 18 months Leave to Remain. Leave to Remain means that the UK Government will support you in healthcare, employment opportunities, access to education, and benefits. The UK Government has introduced the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme, which will allow you to apply for a visa extension when you are in the last three months of your leave. The Government will provide further information about the scheme soon.
The Local Authority in your area will be responsible for helping you to register for various services as well. Your sponsor can help you with starting your life in the UK, and they will have undergone training with Reset to make sure that they are prepared to welcome you to their home. It is important to remember that your sponsor may not be able to help with everything, so be sure to read about what to expect from your sponsor here.
Sponsors are offered a £350 ‘thank you’ payment a month from the Government for the first 12 months. This increases to £500 once the guest has been in the UK for 12 months, in order to help sponsors who are able to continue hosting for longer. This includes when a sponsor or guest has been rematched, even if it is the sponsor’s first time hosting. For sponsors hosting an individual(s) on a 36 month visa, they will be eligible to receive thank you payments for up to 36 months. For sponsors hosting an individual(s) on an 18 month visa, they will be eligible to receive thank you payments for up to 18 months.
They will not be able to charge you rent for your stay, but will however, be able to ask you for a contribution for bills. You will receive money from the UK government through the Local Authority in the area you stay. This will be a £200 cash payment when you arrive and benefits every month. You can have a look at our resource on financial matters to understand more.
Before you arrive, the government will carry out safety checks and home checks on every sponsor to ensure that they are providing you with a suitable and safe home. However, if you go through this system and do not feel safe or comfortable in your new home, there are systems in place to offer you support and guidance should things not go well once you arrive and potentially have to leave your sponsor.
How our matching process works
1. Checking your eligibility
To join the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, you will need to meet certain requirements as set by the UK Government. You can find their detailed eligibility criteria here.
You will only be eligible for the scheme if:
- You are a Ukrainian Citizen or an immediate family member of a Ukrainian Citizen.
- Have been living in Ukraine on or immediately before 1st January 2022 (including those who have now left Ukraine).
- Be outside of the UK.
- Have an eligible UK-based sponsor
Children under 18 years old must either:
- Apply at the same time as their parent or legal guardian.
- Apply to join their parent or legal guardian if they are already in the UK.
- Apply with the consent of their parent or legal guardian to travel to the UK as an ‘eligible minor’ to join an approved sponsor.
*Reset is not able to match unaccompanied children through our matching service.
2. Filling in our form
After you have decided to use our services to find your sponsor, you will need to fill in this form in English or Ukrainian. This will give us information about you and those you are planning to travel to the UK with. We will ask questions such as ‘how many people are you?’, ‘do you have any pets?’ and ‘are you smokers?’. This gives us an idea of what you are looking for so that we can suggest the best sponsor for you.
3. Finding your sponsor
The people in the UK who are offering to host you through our matching service, (referred to as sponsors or hosts), will have answered similar questions to you in a different form, and they must have attended a short training with our team to make sure this programme is appropriate for them. We look at their form and match it to yours to make sure we provide you with the best fit possible.
Once we have proposed a sponsor match to you, you will have five days to consider the match. This is the time to research the area they are living in and see if it is a right fit for you. Be sure to look at our video ‘Getting to know the UK’ if you have not already. You will also be able to see things such as their age, gender, type of household, and any other information the sponsor has included about themselves.
4. Initial meeting with your sponsor
Once you have chosen your sponsor from the options provided, we will let the sponsor know that you have chosen them. If the sponsor would like to proceed, you will both receive an email to set up an initial meeting with each other. Here, you can ask each other questions and get to know a bit more about who you will potentially be sharing a home with for the next six months.
Next Steps
-
Reset’s direct contact ends after your initial meeting with your sponsor. We will give you a range of information and resources on what to do after your initial meeting, but it is up to you and your sponsor to arrange visas, travel to the UK, and settle into your new home.
You can find information on the visa process here.
You can ask us or your sponsor for more information of what to do while you wait, but for now here are some useful resources for you to read and watch.
