Apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa
Source: gov.uk (2025-08-28)

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

Overview

There are 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 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-visa-under-the-ukraine-sponsorship-scheme) if you have an approved sponsor.

Ukraine Extension Scheme

The scheme closed to all applications on 4 February 2025.

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 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/applying-to-the-ukraine-permission-extension-scheme). The scheme opened to applications on 4 February 2025.

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 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-visa-under-the-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 (https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa).

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 will be contacted by the supplier to collect your visa vignette.

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.

If your application is successful

You’ll need to create an account to get an eVisa (an online record of your immigration status) once you arrive to the UK. Your decision email or letter will tell you how to get access to your eVisa (https://www.gov.uk/get-access-evisa).

You’ll be able to prove your immigration status and conditions to others, for example employers and landlords, using the view and prove service (https://www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status).

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.

Travelling with a permission to travel letter

If you did not use the ‘UK Immigration: ID check’ app or attend a visa application centre, you may have been issued with a permission to travel letter to allow you to travel to the UK.

Permission to travel letters are no longer valid and cannot be used for travel or entry to the UK.

You must not travel to the UK before you have submitted an application and received permission to travel from the Home Office.

If you attempt to travel or enter the UK with a permission to travel letter, you may be refused entry to the UK and removed.

If you have been issued a permission to travel letter and still wish to come to the UK under the Ukraine schemes, you will need to make a new application to the Homes for Ukraine scheme (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-visa-under-the-ukraine-sponsorship-scheme).

If you are in the UK and have not applied to stay

If you did not use the ‘UK immigration: ID check’ app or if you did not attend a visa application centre but were granted a permission to travel letter, you had to apply to provide your biometric information within 6 months of arriving in the UK. You would then have been able to stay in the UK for up to 3 years.

If you travelled to the UK using a permission to travel letter and did not apply to stay in the UK before 9:00am UK time on 13 August 2025, you cannot apply to stay in the UK under the Ukraine schemes. You can find out how to get immigration advice (https://www.gov.uk/find-an-immigration-adviser) on GOV.UK.

If you are in the UK and have applied to stay

If you applied to stay in the UK before 9:00am UK time on 13 August 2025 under the Ukraine schemes, your application will be processed. You will be invited to provide your fingerprints and a photograph (known as biometric information) at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Service (UKVCAS) point.

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.

If you applied to stay in the UK before 9:00am UK time on 13 August 2025, you will need to provide your biometric information as part of your application.

You will need to book and attend an appointment at a UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (UKVCAS) (https://www.gov.uk/ukvcas) service point.

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.

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

For group appointments of up to 5 members, please follow the normal appointment booking procedure. You will have the option to book an appointment as a group and will need to enter required details from each group member.

For group appointments of 6 members or more, please contact the TLS customer service team, by selecting ‘Large group appointments’ on the TLS Contact Us (https://vcas.tlscontact.com/country/gb/vac/gbLON2vcas/contact) page.

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) (https://www.gov.uk/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 (https://www.gov.uk/contact-ukvi-inside-outside-uk).