Home Office says charities will be at the heart of new, capped refugee sponsorship scheme
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The Home Office announced yesterday that applications have opened for charities seeking to become lead sponsors under the UK's new 'safe and legal' routes for refugees.
Guidance documents and a policy paper about the new routes are available here. A written ministerial statement with further details is reproduced below.
According to a Home Office press release, the new routes draw on Canada's longstanding private sponsorship model and aim to place charities, community groups, churches and universities at the heart of welcoming refugees and supporting their integration.
In order to become a lead sponsor, organisations must be a registered UK charity or non-profit, have a good reputation, and have the right safeguards and resources in place. Approved lead sponsors will help establish and oversee local sponsorship groups, providing assistance with accommodation, education, employment and access to local services.
Yesterday's ministerial statement explains that the new routes will initially only operate from seven countries - Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Uganda. Refugees will only be considered eligible if they are outside their country of nationality and have been present and registered with relevant authorities or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in one of the countries before 1 October 2026.
According to the Home Office, the first arrivals through the new routes are not expected until Autumn 2027.
The number of refugees arriving through the new routes will initially be capped in the "hundreds", rising to the "low thousands" over time, the Home Office said. The Government linked this expansion to falling levels of 'illegal' migration, although it did not clarify whether the increase would be conditional on such a decline.
Last month, the Refugee Council said that while it welcomed the Government's creation of new safe and legal routes, the policy much be placed in the context of the drastic reduction in safe routes over the previous year. It noted that the Government shut down the Afghan resettlement scheme and stopped refugee family reunion, preventing an estimated 20,000 refugees from applying to join their family in the UK.
A full copy of yesterday's ministerial statement follows below.
New safe and legal sponsorship routes
Statement made on 29 October 2026
Statement UIN HCWS434
Statement made by
Anna Turley
The Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum
Statement
In November 2025, the government published the Restoring Order and Control statement, which committed to tackle the vile smuggling gangs who seek to exploit our borders with no regard for human life and reform the asylum and immigration system. Alongside bringing order and control to the immigration system, we must do this fairly by providing sanctuary to those in genuine need and reducing the pull factors for illegal and dangerous journeys.
The UK has a longstanding history of providing sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution from around the world. The UK is a compassionate country, that lives up to its international obligations and saves the lives of those fleeing war and persecution.
The government is continuing this tradition by creating new safe and legal sponsorship routes. New named community sponsorship, refugee work and refugee study routes will create safe and legal pathways for refugees to come to the UK, enabling communities, universities and employers to identify refugees they wish to sponsor. By connecting refugees with communities, universities and employers that are ready to support them, the routes are being designed to promote successful integration from arrival.
These routes will be capped and controlled, with the number of arrivals based on community capacity to sponsor refugees. The Government expects arrivals of UNHCR approved refugees across the new routes and the existing UK Resettlement Scheme to number in the hundreds at first, but this will grow into the low thousands as levels of illegal migration fall.
Applications will open today for organisations to be accredited as lead sponsors for the named community sponsorship and refugee study routes. Applications for the refugee work route will open in Spring 2027. Lead sponsors will play a key role in the new routes, acting as intermediaries between the Home Office and sponsor groups and providing assurance that sponsor groups are delivering positive outcomes for refugees, communities and our country. Lead sponsors will be responsible for engaging and onboarding sponsors, assessing the suitability of proposed sponsorship arrangements, submitting applications to the Home Office and providing ongoing support to sponsor groups. The Home Office will continue to conduct appropriate security checks on individual refugees and make all immigration decisions.
To be accredited as a lead sponsor, organisations will be required to demonstrate that they are a registered UK Charity or Community Interest Company based and operating in the UK and have appropriate policies and procedures in place to undertake the lead sponsor role. They will also be required to demonstrate they have the capability, resources and networks to deliver the lead sponsor role.
The routes will initially operate from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Uganda. To be eligible, refugees will need to be outside their country of nationality, and to have been present and registered with relevant authorities or UNHCR in one of these seven countries before 1 October 2026. The government is introducing the new routes in phases, starting in a limited number of countries to establish effective delivery arrangements.
The first arrivals through these routes are expected in Autumn 2027. The new routes will enable refugees to come to the UK and provide them with an opportunity for a better life. However, it is imperative that these routes are only used to support refugees with a genuine need for protection to resettle in the UK. This is why we will work in partnership with the UNHCR who will assess refugees through established processes. All refugees who are identified will be required to meet identity, security and eligibility requirements and have suitable sponsorship arrangements in place to be granted status.
Further details of the new routes, including refugee and sponsor eligibility requirements, will be published on gov.uk.