I have a named Ukrainian(s) I want to sponsor

This page is about the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

If you want to bring a close family member(s) from Ukraine to the UK, you can also choose the Ukraine Family Scheme visa. This may mean you and your family member(s) cannot access the financial support available through the Homes for Ukraine scheme. We are awaiting clarification from the government on the support available through the Ukraine Family Scheme. However, we are offering a welcome visit to guests here on a family visa to assess their needs, and to signpost to further support and local services. If you would like to take up this offer, please email homesforukraine@wandsworth.gov.uk.

If you need urgent assistance outside of our opening hours, see out of hours help.

On this page

Homes for Ukraine visa application

Phase 1 of the government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme is open for visa applications from those who wish to travel to the UK and who have named people in the UK willing to sponsor them.

You must be able to offer your home to your guest(s) for a minimum of six months.

Either the prospective sponsor or the person wishing to be sponsored will be able to complete the application. There is one single application for both parties but one form is required per individual travelling under the scheme. One application must be made per person, coming to the UK not one per family/household. Applications are free.

The process

If you want to offer a home to someone fleeing Ukraine, you should follow the process below:

  1. Sponsor and guest find each other and agree to a match.
  2. Either the sponsor or the guest fills out the single visa application form online using both parties' details.
  3. Passport numbers (alongside completion of eligibility questions and other personal details) for both guests and sponsors will be required to complete the application online. The guest will also need to upload a scan of their passport. If the guest does not possess a passport, they will be required to travel to a visa application centre to process their biometrics.
  4. After the application is submitted, the Home Office will carry out standard security checks on the sponsor, all other adults in the sponsor’s household, and the guest
  5. Once both sponsor and guest have passed the Home Office's security checks, the Home Office will issue the guest with a permit to travel
  6. The guest can then travel to the UK and coordinate their arrival with the sponsor. Guests arriving in the country will be eligible for a single onward journey via national rail, bus, light rail, and coach. This will be free of charge to anywhere in England, Scotland and Wales
  7. We will carry out DBS checks and a home assessment as set out below. Please note that while we will carry out these checks as quickly as possible and ideally in advance of the guest’s arrival, these do not have to be completed before the guest travels to the UK
  8. When your guests arrive, please complete this arrival form. We will then contact you to arrange the welcome visit. At this visit we will carry out an initial assessment of your guests’ needs and signpost to further support and local services.
  9. Once the DBS checks, the home assessment visit and the welcome visit have been completed, we will initiate the £350 monthly 'thank you' payments to sponsors.
  10. If in due course your guest wishes to leave, either to rent privately or with another sponsor, or you as sponsor have had a change in circumstances and can no longer sponsor them, you must let us know in the first instance by emailing homesforukraine@wandsworth.gov.uk. More information about this is available below.

Find out what support is available to Ukrainian nationals.

Disclosure and Baring Service (DBS) checks

We have a responsibility to ensure people arriving from Ukraine are safe. Once you are matched with a Ukrainian citizen or family, and the visa has been applied for, the Home Office will pass your information onto us.

As a first step, we are required to do a DBS check for all adults in your household aged 16 and over. This process may in some cases happen after your guest from Ukraine has arrived. Your guest does not have to wait for this check to be completed before travelling to the UK.

There are five stages to this process:

  1. We will email the lead sponsor asking them to fill in a short form providing names and email addresses of everyone aged 16 and over living in their household.
  2. Within four working days, everyone listed on this form will receive a system email from EmploymentCheck with login details to an online DBS application form and instructions on how to present their ID in person to verify their application.
  3. Once the online form is completed and submitted, individuals will then need to follow the instructions on the system email to make an appointment to present their ID in person at the Customer Centre in Wandsworth Town Hall. Appointments are offered between 9am and 4.30pm on Thursdays.
  4. Once your ID has been verified, the check will be carried out by the Disclosure and Barring Service. A basic check should take 2 to 3 working days, and an enhanced check (required when there is a child or vulnerable adult in the incoming group) may take up to 7 working days.
  5. We will receive an electronic notification as soon as your check is completed by the DBS and you will receive a certificate directly from the DBS by post within 5 days of your completed check.

For more information see our FAQs.

Home assessments

The government has asked councils to assess whether space offered by sponsors is suitable for use in the Homes for Ukraine scheme. A Council officer will visit the property and check that taking in a guest will not lead to overcrowding and that the rooms are in a reasonable condition.

Read the government’s FAQs about the Homes for Ukraine scheme which gives more details about the accommodation requirements.

We will carry out the home assessment as soon as possible, and ideally in advance of the guest’s arrival. However, your guest does not need to wait for this to take place before travelling to the UK.

Welcome visits

Welcome visits are an opportunity to provide useful local information for getting guests settled in. The visits are compulsory for guests arriving via the Homes for Ukraine Scheme. When your guest has arrived, please complete this arrival form to let us know and we will then get in contact with you to arrange the visit.

Please note that this visit is in addition to the home assessment visit.

If your Ukrainian guests are all adults aged 18 or over the welcome visit will be carried out by Enable in partnership with Wandsworth Council. Enable is a not-for-profit organisation, working in partnership with Wandsworth Council. Enable also works with us, charities and other organisations to deliver health, leisure and community services and events that enrich people's lives.

If your Ukrainian guests include a child aged 17 or under the welcome visit will be carried out by our Children’s Services team.  

End of sponsorship arrangement and rematching

As the scheme progresses we are becoming aware of cases where Ukrainian guests are no longer staying with their original hosts. This is for a range of reasons including the guest returning to Ukraine, moving on to private accommodation or being re-matched to an alternative host.

Please use our online form to notify us if/when your guests have moved on.

This will allow us to update our records and remove you from our contact lists.

If your circumstances change and you can no longer continue to act as sponsor for your guests, or if the guests wish to leave your accommodation, please let us know as soon as possible by contacting homesforukraine@wandsworth.gov.uk. Include your full name and address and the names and dates of birth of your guests.

If you wish to become the new sponsor for guests already matched with another sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, please contact us directly at homesforukraine@wandsworth.gov.uk to discuss this in the first instance. Please include your full name and address, the names of your guests and the details of the previous sponsor. The government's guidance states that councils are required to undertake relevant DBS checks and accommodation checks in advance of move in so it is important that you contact us as soon as possible.

If you would like to become a sponsor, please also ensure you have registered your interest in the Homes for Ukraine scheme. This means your data will be shared with us by the government.

Supporting your guests

Hosting relationships can be rewarding for both sponsors and guest, but they can require hard work. Please take time to read this hosting guide.

Wandsworth Mediation Service

Wandsworth Mediation Service is a charity supporting neighbours, families and communities in conflict. They help people in many different ways including mediation, conflict coaching and community workshops. If you are having communication or organisational problems with your sponsor/guest relationship, they can help you mediate and find a positive way forward. The service is free to all households hosting Ukrainians who have arrived due to the war. Read more about how Wandsworth Mediation Service can help.

You can contact the service via email community@wandsworthmediation.co.uk, telephone +44 (0)20 7223 7744 or the contact form on their website.

Address: St Mark's Durie Hall, Battersea Rise, London SW11 1EJ

Safeguarding

Refugees are likely to be vulnerable and may be traumatised by their experiences, and potential hosts should be aware of this when signing up to the scheme.

If a host has a concern about wellbeing of either the refugee family or themselves they should contact our safeguarding teams:

Out of hours help

If you or your guest requires urgent help outside of our normal working hours or over the weekend please contact the Out of Hours number: 020 8871 8999.

This number will be able to help with emergencies such as immediate safeguarding issues or urgent housing needs.

It cannot help if you are a victim of crime, witness or need help for a crime currently in progress, or if there is an emergency that could cause harm to people or property - in these instances call 999.

General support

We have funded Citizen’s Advice Wandsworth to help newly-arrived Ukrainians navigate social welfare systems, and access financial and other support to settle comfortably in Wandsworth. This service will provide support on a range of topics including applying for Universal Credit, finding housing, and securing immigration status.

Citizens Advice can be contacted via a webform or their Adviceline on 0808 278 7833 (10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday).

Find out more about Citizens Advice Wandsworth support.

Frequently asked questions

We have published FAQs covering the above process, including DBS checks and what to do when your guest arrives.

The government has created sponsor guidance and a comprehensive list of FAQs about the scheme. These include information about the eligibility for the scheme, what type of accommodation can be offered and how to make sure your home is ready to welcome Ukrainian guests and your responsibilities as a sponsor.

Please ensure you are fully aware of what is involved before you apply for the scheme.

Thank you payment for hosts

We can confirm that:

  • The £350 per month ‘thank-you’ payment will be paid monthly, in arrears, for the duration of the time your guest(s) are living with you, up to 12 months.
  • You will not need to declare the ‘thank-you’ payment as income.
  • Taking in guests to your home and receiving the thank-you payment will not impact your single person council tax discount
  • Hosting anyone from Ukraine in your home and receiving the thank-you payment will not impact your eligibility for Universal credit or other benefits

Council Tax discounts for hosts

Sponsors of Ukrainian guests are not eligible for additional Council Tax discounts or exemptions.

Sponsors will not lose their current Council Tax discount or exemption if they invite Ukrainian guests to stay with them under the scheme.

Ukrainian nationals with a Homes for Ukraine can apply for a Council Tax reduction.

£200 payments for guests

Ukrainian guests on a Homes for Ukraine visa are entitled to a one-off £200 payment per person to help with immediate costs. To claim this payment guests or the Ukrainian host can use the online form to book an appointment.

The appointment form will advise when to come to the Customer Centre reception at Wandsworth Town Hall, Monday to Friday from 9.30am to 12 noon, excluding bank holidays. The address is: Wandsworth High Street, SW18 2PU. Guests should bring their Ukrainian passport or visa documents as proof of ID.  

Please note: If you have arrived in the UK with a Ukrainian Family Visa, you are not entitled to the £200 payment. 

Full support information for guests is available on our guest page, including details on financial support, accessing schools, health care and jobs.

Find out more about the scheme and apply. The application is free.

Please note all enquiries about the visa application process should be directed to UK Visas and Immigration.

Event for sponsors

On Monday 25 April 2022 we held an event for sponsors which included a presentation about the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the checks we are carrying out and support for your guests.

View the Homes for Ukraine sponsor event presentation slides

Contact

If you are unable to find the information you need on these pages or on the government’s FAQs you can contact us via email at homesforukraine@wandsworth.gov.uk or on 020 8891 7687.

Up to I'm a resident and want to help

Updated: 22/12/2023