When a sponsor withdraws from the scheme: Homes for Ukraine
What councils need to do when a sponsor wishes to withdraw their sponsorship. Includes when a visa has or hasn't been granted, and further accommodation.
Applies to England
When a sponsor wishes to withdraw from the scheme, they must contact their council as soon as possible. Sponsors must also inform their guests that they are no longer able to sponsor them under Homes for Ukraine.
Where the visa has been issued, the sponsor’s council should also take reasonable steps to contact the guest to inform them that their sponsor has withdrawn, and provide support to find alternative accommodation.
Withdrawal from multiple applications
In cases where a sponsor is sponsoring multiple applications, councils should confirm whether the sponsor wishes to withdraw from all or only certain applications. When a sponsor notifies the council that they wish to withdraw their sponsorship, the council should report this in the Share Homes for Ukraine system (“Share”) by marking the sponsor as ‘withdrawn’ against the appropriate application, to inform the government of this decision as soon as possible.
The guest doesn’t have a visa yet
Where the applicant has not been issued a visa and their sponsor withdraws from the scheme, the visa application will be refused. If the applicant still wants to come to the UK, they will need to find a new sponsor and submit a new application. The government will also notify the sponsor to confirm to them that their application has been withdrawn.
The guest has a visa but is not in the UK
Councils should take reasonable steps to contact guests to inform them that the sponsor has withdrawn, and set out the alternative options available to the guest. Read more about Statutory homelessness duties.
Where the guest is a child who has been granted a visa to be sponsored by a parent or legal guardian in the UK, councils should act in line with their statutory child safeguarding duties, including the Working together to safeguard children guidance.
Updates to this page
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Information brought up to date.
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Changes to the Homes for Ukraine sponsor eligibility criteria - to allow a parent or legal guardian to sponsor their child.
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First published.