London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Homes for Ukraine: 2,700 visas issued, government reveals

Homes for Ukraine: 2,700 visas issued, government reveals

There have been 2,700 visas issued for refugees coming to the UK as part of Homes for Ukraine - less than 10% of the 28,300 applications made in the scheme's first 15 days.

Lord Harrington, refugees minister, admitted the forms took "too long" to fill in and said the government was trying to speed up the process.

There has been criticism of the scheme since it was launched.

Charities said the process "is just too difficult" for those fleeing Ukraine.

The quickest way to help people would be for the UK to stop requiring visas for those fleeing Ukraine - and would bring it in line with many other countries which have done so since the crisis began, said the British Red Cross.

The charity said it has had representatives at major airports and arrival hubs since 19 March - but so far only 65 people arriving from Ukraine had been helped.

Sonya Sceats, chief executive of the Freedom from Torture charity, said: "In a month where people across the country signed up to welcome more refugees than the government has in 10 years, these woeful numbers prove why visa-based schemes are an unsuitable gateway for refugees fleeing Ukraine to reach safety here in the UK."

'Homeless' refugees in UK


On top of the 2,700 Homes for Ukraine visas, a further 22,800 visas from 31,200 applications have been issued under the Ukraine Family Scheme, the Home Office said. These are for those with close relatives living in the UK.

But even those with visas are not always being housed. Some refugees have been reporting themselves to councils as being homeless, the Local Government Association said.

Its chair James Jamieson said it was a "big issue". So far, 57 councils have said people had presented as homeless - 44 who were part of the family scheme and 56 from Homes from Ukraine.

Another 64 had entered through other routes, possibly travelling to Ireland and then entering the UK from there, he added.

Homes for Ukraine launched on 14 March. Its aim is to allow individuals, charities, community groups and other organisations to sponsor named refugees, housing them in their homes or buildings.

Those who do not personally know someone fleeing Ukraine have been advised to contact groups who are starting to make connections between individuals, to match them to a refugee.

The UK requires the refugees to have a visa before they enter, unlike other European countries which have waived the checks to speed things up. Those who are granted a visa under the scheme will be eligible to work, and can access state benefits and public services for three years.

Refugees with a valid Ukrainian international passport can apply online, but those without one have to go to a visa application centre - Lord Harrington said approximately 10% of applications so far are having to go to the centres.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson defended the government's "overwhelmingly generous" record on refugees, saying 1,000 visas were being processed a day and telling MPs: "There is no upper limit to the number that we can take."

It came after Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said "paperwork is being put ahead of people", with one elderly couple on the Polish border with Ukraine being told it was "just too complicated" to come to the UK.

Lord Harrington said he had tried to fill the application form in himself and it had taken nearly an hour - he said while this was from the comfort of his own home on a tablet, people were completing it on mobile phones while they were displaced.

He told the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee progress was already being seen due to Home Office efforts to "streamline" the visa process and the government was looking at "every single step of the process to speed it up".

But he added: "We need to do more and will be making further improvements to bring people to the UK as quickly as possible."

Lord Harrington said in some parts of the form, there were four or five separate questions on as many pages, suggesting this could be condensed to one page.

He added: "The response of the British public has been incredible, opening their hearts and homes to the people of Ukraine, and we must do everything we can to make the most of this extraordinary generosity."

The minister said the "run rate" for applications for both schemes was anticipated to soon be 15,000 a week - by next week, or the week after - and that he anticipated the backlog would be cleared "quite quickly".

Refugees can also enter the UK if they have close relatives in the country, like this family of 10 who are now living near Cambridge


Labour is calling for the process to be expedited, with Yvette Cooper, shadow home secretary, and shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy writing to their government counterparts.

They said a "shameful scale of bureaucracy" was "preventing desperately vulnerable people from reaching sanctuary in the UK", calling for clarity on the length of time taken for visas to be issued and how long security checks are taking.

The UN refugee agency said more than four million refugees have now fled Ukraine since Russia launched its war, in the biggest refugee crisis since World War Two.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×