UK invites charities to apply as lead sponsors for its new refugee sponsorship routes

The U.K. government is asking charities to take on a central role in new ways for refugees to come to the U.K. On October 29, 2026, the Home Office opened applications for registered charities and community interest companies to be accredited as lead sponsors: organizations that work between the Home Office and the community groups, universities and employers that sponsor refugees.

Two routes come first: named community sponsorship and refugee study, with the first arrivals expected next autumn. A third route, for refugees with job offers, opens to applications in spring 2027. The routes are separate from the existing Community Sponsorship Scheme and run alongside the government-led UK Resettlement Scheme. The Home Office's policy guidance says the model draws on Canada's private sponsorship program, which has operated since 1979 and resettled almost 400,000 refugees.

What lead sponsors will do

Lead sponsors will help sponsors meet their responsibilities, submit visa applications on behalf of sponsors and refugees, serve as the main link with the Home Office, and monitor arrangements to make sure they are safe and meet refugees' needs. They can choose which sponsors to work with. They have no authority to assess refugee claims or to grant anyone permission to enter the U.K. Refugee status is determined by the United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, or, for people outside its mandate, through a process the Home Office designates; the Home Office decides who is eligible for the routes and who is admitted.

Sponsors are expected to have enough money and resources to provide refugees' accommodation and integration support, and the policy guidance presents the model as reducing reliance on publicly funded support. Under named community sponsorship, a formal arrangement lasts one year, but sponsors should generally make sure accommodation is available for two years. Refugees receive a six-month visa before they leave and an initial five years of leave on arrival.

What applicants need

According to the application guidance and the full lead sponsor guidance, an organization must show that it has:

• registration as a U.K. charity or community interest company, and at least one year of operation
• a board on which British or Irish citizens make up more than 50% of the members
• the capability, resources and networks to support several sponsors, and the required policies and procedures
• named people for three roles (a key contact, an authorizing officer and a safeguarding lead); one person may hold two of the roles but not all three
• a statement of capability of around 1,000 words a section, covering its experience, resources, policies and plans for monitoring

Successful applicants sign a contract with the Home Office and are accredited for three years, with a review three months before the end. Refusals cannot be appealed. A refused organization can apply again after three months, or after two years if the refusal was over fraud, dishonesty, misconduct or other integrity concerns. An organization that wants to work on both routes must apply separately for each.

Who will be sponsored

The routes will first operate for refugees in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Egypt, Uganda and Kenya. To be in scope, a person must have been in one of those countries, and registered with the authorities or UNHCR, before October 1, 2026. Refugees on the study route need an offer from a participating university, and those on the work route need a job offer from a participating employer.

How many people

The routes will be capped, with numbers based on communities' capacity to sponsor. Arrivals through them and the existing resettlement scheme "will initially number in the hundreds but will then grow into the low thousands as levels of illegal migration fall," the Home Office said. Resettlement has been falling, according to Home Office statistics published on August 27, 2026.

"Charities, community groups and universities will be at the heart of these efforts," said Anna Turley, the minister for border security and asylum. She and the migration minister will meet charities and other not-for-profit groups over the coming weeks, the Home Office said.