Guidance

Apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa

The Ukraine Family Scheme closed at 3pm on 19 February 2024. You can no longer apply under this scheme.

Overview

The UK has 2 different schemes in place to support Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members who wish to either come to or remain in the UK.

Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship scheme

If you want to be sponsored by a UK household for 6 months, you may be able to apply under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship scheme if you have an approved sponsor.

Ukraine Extension Scheme

You can apply under the Ukraine Extension Scheme until it closes on 16 May 2024 if one of the following is true:

  • you had permission to be in the UK on or between 18 March 2022 and 16 November 2023 – the permission does not need to cover the whole period
  • you previously had permission to be in the UK and that permission expired on or after 1 January 2022

You can apply under the Ukraine Extension Scheme for your child born if they were born in the UK after 18 May 2022 if one of the following is true:

  • you have permission to be in the UK under one of the Ukraine schemes (including the Ukraine Family Scheme)
  • you qualify under the Ukraine Family Scheme or the Ukraine Extension Scheme

This route does not require a UK-based sponsor.

The Ukraine Extension Scheme will remain open after 16 May 2024 only for children who are born in the UK.

Ukraine Permission Extension scheme

If you have been given permission to be in the UK under one of the Ukraine schemes, you may be able to apply for a further 18 months permission to stay in the UK under the new Ukraine Permission Extension scheme. You’ll be able to apply 3 months before your existing visa is due to expire.

Ukraine Family Scheme

The Ukraine Family Scheme closed at 3pm on 19 February 2024. It allowed eligible Ukrainian nationals to join family members or extend their stay, in the UK.

Those who were granted permission under the Ukrainian Family Scheme can live, work and study in the UK and access public funds for up to 3 years.

If you intend to join a settled family member in the UK who is able to accommodate you, you may be eligible to apply under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.

Other visas you may apply for

You may be eligible to make an application under other immigration routes.

Check which visas you may be able to apply for.

Awaiting a decision from outside the UK

If you applied from outside the UK before the Ukraine Family Scheme closed, you’ll need to wait for a decision from UK Visas and Immigration on your application before travelling to the UK.

You must attend an appointment at a visa application centre to prove your identity by having your fingerprints and photograph taken (biometric information).

If your application is approved, you’ll need to return to a visa application centre to collect your visa before you travel to the UK. This visa will allow you to board a plane or other form of transport to the UK.

If you attended your biometrics appointment in Kyiv and your visa application is successful, you’ll need to travel to the visa application centre in Warsaw with a valid international passport to collect your visa vignette. If you had an appointment in another country, you’ll need to collect your visa vignette at the same visa application centre you has your fingerprints and photograph taken.

Do not go to the visa application centre to collect your visa until you have been contacted.

If you delayed providing your biometric information and you are travelling to the UK with family members who had to attend a visa application centre to provide their biometric information, they will need to collect their visa from the same visa application centre before starting their journey. Otherwise they will not be able to travel to the UK.

Your biometric residence permit can be used to confirm your status and rights in the UK.

How long it takes to get a decision

We will start processing your application once you’ve applied online, proved your identity, and provided your documents. We aim to make a decision as quickly as possible.

Providing biometric information in the UK

If you were given permission under the Ukraine Family Scheme you do not need to apply to extend your visa if you were able to use the ‘UK immigration: ID check’ app or if you attended a visa application centre as part of your application to come to the UK.

You need to apply to provide your biometric information within 6 months of arriving in the UK if you did not use the ‘UK immigration: ID check’ app or if you did not attend a visa application centre

You will then be able to stay in the UK for up to 3 years.

You do not need to do this as soon as you reach the UK, but you do need to make sure that you have applied to provide your biometric information before the 6 months ends. You will be told how to do this in your decision letter.

Apply to provide your biometric information in the UK

You can start the application to provide your biometric information by completing the online form.

Start now

You will then book and attend an appointment at UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point.

Your biometric residence permit will be sent to the address you gave in your application. You do not need to collect it.

UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) service points

You will need to provide your fingerprints and a photograph (biometric information) at a UKVCAS service point - this is to get a biometric residence permit.

Children under the age of 5 will not have their fingerprints taken but will still need to attend the UKVCAS service point and have a digital photograph taken.

Some services at UKVCAS service points have a fee. You do not need to use these services, such as document scanning, to complete your application.

If you want to use of any of these services at a UKVCAS service point during your appointment, you will not need to pay a fee for them and you should not pay for them in advance.

Booking appointments for you and your family members

If you would like to book appointments for you and your family members on the same date you will first need to set up individual accounts for all your family members, including children. You can use your own email address when setting up accounts for children.

You should then log in to your UKVCAS accounts and book your appointments together.

If there is more than one application linked to the same email address, you will need to provide the unique application number (UAN) for each application you want to book an appointment for.

A UAN is a unique 16-digit code (format xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx) that each person gets once they have made their online application to extend their stay in the UK.

We cannot guarantee that appointments will be available for all family members on the same date.

Awaiting a decision if you applied from inside the UK

If you applied online from inside the UK before the Ukraine Family Scheme closed, you’ll need to book and attend an appointment at UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) service point.

After you apply

You will be contacted when a decision has been made. We aim to make a decision as quickly as possible.

Contact UK Visas and Immigration

If you need help, contact UK Visas and Immigration

Telephone: + 44 808 164 8810 – select option 1
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:45pm and Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Calls are free of charge

If you cannot contact UK 0808 numbers, you can use this number: +44 (0)175 390 7510. You may have to pay – check with your phone provider if you’re not sure.

Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:45pm and Friday, 9am to 4:30pm

Published 4 March 2022
Last updated 19 February 2024 + show all updates
  1. Guidance updated following the closure of the Ukraine Family Scheme at 3pm on 19 February 2024.

  2. The helplines are closed on 25 December, 26 December and 1 January.

  3. Updated the way you prove your identity, and updated the opening hours for the UK Visas and Immigration phone number.

  4. Updated information for the reopening of the visa application centre.

  5. Updated helpline opening hours.

  6. Updated helpline opening hours.

  7. Amended opening hours over the holiday period.

  8. Added a concession to introduce a new eligibility period for the Ukraine Extension Scheme and information about the 3 different Ukraine Schemes available. Eligibility for the Ukraine Extension Scheme has now been extended to allow those who have and continue to arrive after 18 March 2022, until 16 May 2023, to apply.

  9. The temporary VAC in Rzeszow has now closed.

  10. Added a section about applying for a biometrics appointment as a family group.

  11. Monday to Friday opening hours for the contact centre have changed to 8am to 8pm.

  12. Updated phone line opening hours.

  13. Added translation

  14. Ukraine and Russian translations added.

  15. You can now apply online and use the ‘UK Immigration: ID check’ app to prove your identity if you have a valid Ukrainian international passport.

  16. Added a link to the Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme application screens translated into Russian and Ukrainian.

  17. Changed helpline opening hours.

  18. Ukrainian and Russian translations updated to include information about the Ukraine Extension Scheme (information published in English on 29 March).

  19. Added information about the Ukraine Extension Scheme.

  20. Added Ukrainian and Russian translations.

  21. Updated the 'Uploading your documents' section to clarify the information about the document upload app commercial partner. This will be either TLS or VFS depending on which country you are applying in.

  22. Updated guidance to reflect changes to the out of country application process from 15 March 2022.

  23. Updated information for people applying from inside the UK.

  24. Added information about changes to the application process from 15 March.

  25. Added alternative phone number for people who cannot use UK 0808 numbers.

  26. Updated guidance on extended family members.

  27. The temporary VAC in Lviv is no longer operating.

  28. First published.