The UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) reopened to new referrals on 28 September, and the UK Home Office has announced three new sponsorship routes for refugees: a community sponsorship route, a refugee study route with UK universities, and a refugee work route for skilled refugees. This guide explains, in plain words, who these routes are for, how people are selected and when they are expected to start.

Quick summary

• Country: United Kingdom
• Run by: UK Home Office, with UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) and partner organisations
• Who it is for: recognised refugees living in a host country who are in urgent need of protection
• Can I apply directly? No. The UKRS works only through referrals
• Priority groups: about a quarter of new referrals are expected to be Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon
• Numbers: small at first, expected to be "in the hundreds", possibly rising to the low thousands
• Cost to refugees: none. Anyone asking you for money to be "added to the list" is a scammer

1. The UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS)

The UKRS brings a limited number of refugees to the UK from countries where they cannot stay safely and cannot return home. It is not an application form you can fill in. Instead:

• UNHCR staff identify people from the refugees they have already registered, using UNHCR's resettlement categories (for example, people with serious protection risks, survivors of violence or torture, women and girls at risk, and people with urgent medical needs).
• For Palestinian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon, humanitarian organisations refer urgent cases to the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), which checks them against UKRS criteria.
• The Home Office makes the final decision after security and suitability checks.

Having relatives in the UK is not enough on its own. UNHCR has said that family links carry a very low priority because decisions are based mainly on protection needs.

2. The three new sponsorship routes

• Named community sponsorship: a local community group in the UK supports a refugee household to settle, find a home and integrate. It is expected to build on the existing UK Community Sponsorship scheme.
• Refugee study route: refugees come to the UK to study at a UK university. Universities are expected to act as sponsors.
• Refugee work route: skilled refugees come to the UK to take up a job. Employers are expected to act as sponsors.

"Lead sponsors" are expected to work with community groups and refer eligible people to the Home Office, with UNHCR helping to confirm refugee status. Detailed eligibility rules for refugees had not been published when we checked.

Expected timeline

• Before the end of: first new arrivals through the UKRS
• October: sponsor applications open for the community and study routes
• Autumn: first arrivals through the community and study routes
• Spring: sponsor applications open for the work route
• Later in: first arrivals through the work route

What status do people receive?

Under the new approach, people arriving through the UKRS and the new routes are expected to receive five years' permission to stay at first, with the possibility of permanent residence after that. Previously, UKRS arrivals were given indefinite leave on arrival. More details on settlement rules are expected later in.

What you can do now

• If you are a refugee, make sure you are registered with UNHCR in your host country and that your UNHCR file and documents are up to date.
• Do not travel to the UK irregularly in the hope of joining these schemes; they are for people selected from abroad.
• If you are a student with refugee status, also look at university sanctuary scholarships, which you can apply for directly, such as the University of Wolverhampton Sanctuary Scholarships and the other refugee scholarships on GrabScholarships.
• If you are part of a UK community group, university or employer, follow the Home Office announcements to find out how to become a sponsor.

Stay safe: genuine programmes never ask you to pay an agent to be selected. Read our guide on how to avoid scholarship scams.

Official website

• House of Commons Library: UK Resettlement Scheme reopening and new refugee sponsorship routes (9 October )
• UK Home Office
• UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

Details checked on 13 October against the official sources linked below. Dates and amounts can change, so always confirm on the official website before you apply.