The United Kingdom has opened applications for charities to become lead sponsors under new refugee sponsorship routes, with the first arrivals expected in autumn 2027. The Home Office announced on 29 October that organisations can apply under the Named Community Sponsorship and Refugee Study routes, while applications for a Refugee Work route are due to open in spring 2027.

The scheme draws on Canada's long-running private sponsorship model. It lets approved community groups, churches, universities and employers identify refugees they wish to support, while the Home Office retains responsibility for immigration decisions and security checks.

Where the routes will operate first

The routes will initially operate in seven countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Pakistan and Uganda. The Home Office stresses that these are countries of operation, not a list of eligible nationalities. To be in scope, a person must be outside their country of nationality and must have been present in one of the operating countries before 1 October 2026, and registered with the relevant authorities or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees before that date.

To become a lead sponsor, an organisation must be a registered UK charity or non-profit body with a good reputation and the safeguards and resources to support arrivals. Lead sponsors will help with accommodation, access to local services and settling into communities, while universities sponsor refugees who have received offers to study in the UK.

What is still to come

Officials expect only a few hundred initial arrivals through the new routes and the existing UK Resettlement Scheme, with numbers rising as sponsor capacity grows. Refugees admitted through the new routes will initially receive five years' permission to stay, with possible extensions. This is general information only, not personal immigration advice; readers should check the official GOV.UK guidance for their own circumstances.