Apply for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa
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 if you have an approved sponsor.
Ukraine Extension Scheme
The Ukraine Extension Scheme closed for most new applications on 16 May 2024.
The Ukraine Extension Scheme remained open after 16 May 2024 for children who are born in the UK to apply for permission to stay.
Read more information about applying to the Ukraine Extension Scheme.
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. The scheme is due to open to applications in early 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.
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.
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.
You’ll be able to prove your immigration status and conditions to others, for example employers and landlords, using the view and prove service.
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 issued without accompanying digital status are valid for travel to the UK until 12:01am UK time on 13 February 2025. If you arrive after this date with a permission to travel letter, you may be refused entry to the UK and removed.
If you travel before 12:01am UK time on 13 February 2025, you must present your permission to travel letter with your passport to a UK immigration officer on arrival at the UK border. They will then decide whether to allow you into the UK to stay for 6 months.
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.
You need to apply to provide your biometric information within 6 months of arriving in the UK if you did not use the ‘UK immigration: ID check’ app or if you did not attend a visa application centre
You will then be able to stay in the UK for up to 3 years.
You do not need to do this as soon as you reach the UK, but you do need to make sure that you have applied to provide your biometric information before the 6 months ends. You will be told how to do this in your decision letter.
Apply to provide your biometric information in the UK
You can start the application to provide your biometric information by completing the online form.
You will then book and attend an appointment at UK Visa and Citizenship Application Services (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 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) 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
Telephone: + 44 808 164 8810 – select option 1
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:45pm and Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Calls are free of charge
If you cannot contact UK 0808 numbers, you can use this number: +44 (0)175 390 7510. You may have to pay – check with your phone provider if you’re not sure.
Monday to Thursday, 9am to 4:45pm and Friday, 9am to 4:30pm
Updates to this page
Last updated 14 November 2024 + show all updates
-
Updated with information about travelling to the UK with a permission to travel letter.
-
Updated information about using an eVisa to prove your immigration status and conditions.
-
Updated information on the Ukraine Extension Scheme. The scheme closed for most new applicants on 16 May 2024.
-
Guidance updated following the closure of the Ukraine Family Scheme at 3pm on 19 February 2024.
-
The helplines are closed on 25 December, 26 December and 1 January.
-
Updated the way you prove your identity, and updated the opening hours for the UK Visas and Immigration phone number.
-
Updated information for the reopening of the visa application centre.
-
Updated helpline opening hours.
-
Updated helpline opening hours.
-
Amended opening hours over the holiday period.
-
Added a concession to introduce a new eligibility period for the Ukraine Extension Scheme and information about the 3 different Ukraine Schemes available. Eligibility for the Ukraine Extension Scheme has now been extended to allow those who have and continue to arrive after 18 March 2022, until 16 May 2023, to apply.
-
The temporary VAC in Rzeszow has now closed.
-
Added a section about applying for a biometrics appointment as a family group.
-
Monday to Friday opening hours for the contact centre have changed to 8am to 8pm.
-
Updated phone line opening hours.
-
Added translation
-
Ukraine and Russian translations added.
-
You can now apply online and use the ‘UK Immigration: ID check’ app to prove your identity if you have a valid Ukrainian international passport.
-
Added a link to the Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme application screens translated into Russian and Ukrainian.
-
Changed helpline opening hours.
-
Ukrainian and Russian translations updated to include information about the Ukraine Extension Scheme (information published in English on 29 March).
-
Added information about the Ukraine Extension Scheme.
-
Added Ukrainian and Russian translations.
-
Updated the 'Uploading your documents' section to clarify the information about the document upload app commercial partner. This will be either TLS or VFS depending on which country you are applying in.
-
Updated guidance to reflect changes to the out of country application process from 15 March 2022.
-
Updated information for people applying from inside the UK.
-
Added information about changes to the application process from 15 March.
-
Added alternative phone number for people who cannot use UK 0808 numbers.
-
Updated guidance on extended family members.
-
The temporary VAC in Lviv is no longer operating.
-
First published.