Sponsor support: Homes for Ukraine scheme

What happens next?

Once you have submitted the visa application to the government on behalf of you (as sponsor) and your guest, we will be informed. We will then work together with your relevant district or city council and will be in touch with you directly to arrange the following:

• Accommodation check. You will receive at least one in-person visit before or shortly after your guest arrives to ensure the accommodation is suitable.
• Safeguarding checks. You will also receive at least one in-person visit before or shortly after your guest arrives to ensure that there are no safeguarding or welfare concerns. The visit will be from our adult social care team if your guest is an adult or from our children’s social care team if you are hosting a family. Your Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be started at this visit. You will receive information before the visit about any documentation that you will need to provide for this check and who in your household will need the check.
• Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Depending on who you have coming to stay with you, this will be formally started at either a standard or enhanced level. If you are hosting a child or vulnerable adult, you will require an enhanced DBS. You will be kept informed of the process. The process will not stop you from welcoming your guest because we will already have done the initial checks above. More information about DBS checking can be found on GOV.UK
• Thank you payment. After all accommodation and safeguarding checks have been completed, an optional £550 monthly thank you payment can be issued. You will receive an email with a link to an online form where you can provide the bank details you wish to receive the funds into or notify us if you do not want to claim the payment. As the DBS checks can take a few weeks to process, payments may need to be backdated to the guest’s arrival date. Only the lead sponsor is paid and there is only one payment per residential address. Payments are then paid monthly in arrears into a bank account. We expect that host families will be prepared for these placements to last at least six months, and possibly up to 12 months or more. If the guest(s) move out of your accommodation for any reason, you must inform us because you will no longer be eligible for the monthly payments.