thread for those interested in refugee hosting/sponsorship

[EezyOozy]

I thought I would start a new thread about this as I have just heard on BBC news that they are opening up a web form tomorrow to express interest. Apparently families/households can claim £350 a month (I assume for increased expenses) and refugees will be eligible to claim or benefits and work. We have large a spare room but live rurally so whilst I will express interest I'm not sure we will be taken up on it.

I thought I would start a new thread for those who are interested and to follow the progress of the registration procedure/how this pans out in practice.

Posted here because it's the only place I know gets plenty traffic, I will probably be asking for this to be moved but don't know where to.

@DesdamonasHandkerchief

Moblife, I joined this Facebook group and was private messaged by a girl in her early 20's she and two friends were looking to get out of Kyiv. I was happy to accept them because it was just the type of request you wouldn't want to fall into the wrong hands!

Thanks so much!

I wouldn’t advise anyone to sign up with the scheme until there is evidence all visas are getting processed and not falling into a black hole. It’s not fair on the Ukrainians that you may be signing them up for a scam rather than a legitimate scheme. The Home Office should be utterly ashamed of what it has done to vulnerable people.
Bear in mind you may have to deal with the guilt of having stopped going elsewhere in Europe where they can actually go without visas, if yours do not come through in a timely manner.
I don’t think even saying ‘be aware you might have to wait several weeks’ is enough because the fact is we don’t know they will ever get visas at all.

You're right @TheCountessofFitzdotterel, it's an absolute scandal.

Whilst I've still not heard anything at all about the visas we have applied for, I did read on some Facebook groups local to me that a handful of people received some of their group's visas over the weekend, and one person has just posted today, saying theirs has just come through. Most of them say when they applied and there's no rhyme or reason to it - someone who applied on 6th got their visa on Saturday (!) whereas the woman today applied on 22nd.

It is shambolic and disheartening but let's hope they will speed things up. I get the impression from the numbers that the majority of applications under the family scheme have been dealt with and so hopefully this will free up workers to deal with the sponsorship scheme we've all applied under.

This being said, I don't understand why, if they are truly working on things in date order, they can't tell us, we're currently dealing with applications received on x date. That way if our application was submitted before that date and we've still not heard, we've an indication that it has fallen through the cracks/is not being dealt with due to alleged incomplete documentation [aka their application site is not fit for purpose and doesn't retain documents uploaded to it for longer than the blink of an eye].

I suspect the reason they won't tell us the dates they are processing is because they would be deluged with questions about earlier dated applications.
I don't know why they can't at least show some kind of "you are xx in the queue" type message.
Those of you who did the application on your guests' behalf - is there a way of logging back in to check on status? My guest forwarded me a message she received two weeks ago saying her application had been forwarded to a decision maker and she has a reference, but she did the application and so I don't know what it is. I could ask her (and will!) but she is stressed and doesn't have reliable wifi so I'd prefer to be able to really precise about how she does it and what she should be looking for.

‘This being said, I don't understand why, if they are truly working on things in date order, they can't tell us, we're currently dealing with applications received on x date. That way if our application was submitted before that date and we've still not heard, we've an indication that it has fallen through the cracks/is not being dealt with due to alleged incomplete documentation‘

Yes, absolutely. One of the things that makes it so stressful is not knowing if you just need to be patient or if your application has indeed been put on hold and you need to be figuring out what’s wrong and fixing it.
Mind you, it is beyond appalling that they put applications on hold without telling you. Surely they could automatically send you an email when that happens.

We applied on 19th March for visas for a mother and her DD10. Still waiting for mothers visa. I feel embarrassed and ashamed at this point to have offered what seems like false hope to them. Have emailed my MP who promised to contact the Minister for refugees but this has made no difference.

After three separate calls to the helpline all giving me different information, I've been given an email address that you can send documents to if they need adding to your application. This applies mainly if you have other adults in your household and didn't upload a pdf of all their passports. It's [email protected]

I can't tell you that this actually works, but the email didn't bounce (unlike the one I sent to the first address I was given)

@Firefliess

After three separate calls to the helpline all giving me different information, I've been given an email address that you can send documents to if they need adding to your application. This applies mainly if you have other adults in your household and didn't upload a pdf of all their passports. It's [email protected]

I can't tell you that this actually works, but the email didn't bounce (unlike the one I sent to the first address I was given)

Thanks @Firefliess - my sponsee has forwarded an email received from gov today which is another holding letter saying not much different to the last one we all received. However, it does correct the previous error, saying you don't have to upload the passports of all adults in the sponsor household, just that of the main sponsor!

Agreed @TheCountessofFitzdotterel- not telling you that the application is on hold is inexcusable but I suspect it's just more evidence of that 'hostile environment' that Priti Patel and so many UK voters were keen to have in place.

@LaurelGrove - I did the application on behalf of my sponsees and so I can log in but it doesn't tell me anything useful. Certainly nothing to suggest it's with a decision maker - that sounds like you're further ahead than we are although again, you'd expect it not to be with a decision maker for so long. It might be worth you joining a local Facebook group re Ukraine sponsorship scheme as someone on there might be able to help - it's probably a bigger pool of people than those reading this MN thread. If you get an answer, please update us as it might help one of us further down the line.

I will do.
Has anyone successfully managed to upload their passport since getting the new letter? If so, how (exactly) did you do it? And I will pass it on to my sponsee so she can try doing it tonight.

ChiaraRimini, I don’t think your MP needs to contact the minister for refugees so much as to simply get his team to use the special MP hotline to the Home Office to check on whether there is a problem with the application. That’s how I found out mine had been put on hold.

I believe it may also help if you sacrifice a black cockerel while bowing three times to the east though…it feels like it will probably make about as much difference.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

ChiaraRimini, I don’t think your MP needs to contact the minister for refugees so much as to simply get his team to use the special MP hotline to the Home Office to check on whether there is a problem with the application. That’s how I found out mine had been put on hold.

I believe it may also help if you sacrifice a black cockerel while bowing three times to the east though…it feels like it will probably make about as much difference.

😆😆 don't forget the chalk pentagram too

My friend told me today that the special MP Hotline has been closed down as they were being inundated with queries from MPs. Her MP told her this after he was able to use it successfully the first time, but then when he tried to get a later update, found this out. If anyone finds out this is incorrect though please let me know as I don't think my MP used the special hotline for my enquiry, she just sent an email.

Closed because of too many calls. You'd laugh if you didn't cry.
I can see on Twitter that people who applied on 8 April are getting visas. We have been waiting since 26 March but I can see lots of people have been waiting for longer than that. Tempting to tell her to cancel her application and start again but I fear that has disaster written all over it.

Are HomesForUkraine new applications getting turned round fast too or is it just the Family Scheme ones? I saw about a family scheme one that applied on Friday and got the visa today.

Hi
I registered with the Gov. Homes for Ukraine scheme but have heard nothing. Should I be doing something else?

@runningpram

Hi I registered with the Gov. Homes for Ukraine scheme but have heard nothing. Should I be doing something else?

Yes. Registering there does nothing at all. You need to find a Ukrainian to host then one of you has to fill in the long visa application, then wait an unknown length of time for them to get a visa. Meanwhile your council will do a home visit and DBS checks (though they can do those later if necessary). You can find someone to host via Reset Refugees who are running a matching service or via various local FB pages where hosts or Ukrainians post to find each other. I'd suggest finding someone who's in an ok-ish situation and can wait a few weeks if necessary

On a positive note, my local FB Ukrainian group page has started filling up with posts about how to collect people from airports and help them open bank accounts, etc. So does seem that some are getting visas through ok.

A new hub has apparently opened and are quite good at responding to enquiries regarding specific cases, a few people on the forums I am on have noted that there visas have come through quite quickly after emailing this address:

[email protected]

@hassletassle

A new hub has apparently opened and are quite good at responding to enquiries regarding specific cases, a few people on the forums I am on have noted that there visas have come through quite quickly after emailing this address:

[email protected]

First thing I did this morning before even having a cup of tea!

@hassletassle

A new hub has apparently opened and are quite good at responding to enquiries regarding specific cases, a few people on the forums I am on have noted that there visas have come through quite quickly after emailing this address:

[email protected]

Ooh great, thanks @hassletassle - i'm going to try emailing them now. I just want to know they've got everything they need and that the applications haven't been overlooked. Simple enough questions you'd think!

Please let me know if you guys have any luck, or indeed any visas! I am so desperate to give my guests some good news. I cannot wait to start booking travel.

Someone on one of the Facebook groups I'm on said they emailed this address last night and within 12 hours, had a response from them saying the visas had now been issued!

Great result although on the same forum, she'd also posted the email address and I imagine it's being shared far and wide so they may already be inundated with enquiries and unable to offer any meaningful assistance.

Suspect they will be deluged, although I got a response promising an update in 48 hours, which if it comes through will be great. At this point, my guest just wants some certainty - even if it's knowing it's going to be another couple of weeks. She has accommodation and a babysitting job sorted in Moldova until next Thursday, and thereafter I've booked another hotel for her for a further seven days hoping that we won't need it. She's in a very fortunate position in that regard - she has a small amount of money coming in and we will keep paying for accommodation until she's able to travel. But she is definitely in the minority in that regard, and not everyone is that lucky.

This is so messed up. Refugees DON'T NEED VISAS. It's not immigration as usual, it's different. I'd have more sympathy if they were doing the DBS checks pre-arrival and that was the bottleneck but it isn't - they can be done after arrival, so the safeguarding argument is nonsense.

Does anyone know what time the Radio 4 Today slot on this was this morning, and what it said? I had to leave for work at 7.30am. I want to know what my mother would have heard - she's teetering on the edge of full on fury at her Conservative MP which is unheard of. I think a well aimed Today slot may tip her into writing to complain - I want this absolute shower to realise this isn't just the "citizens of nowhere" posse that are pissed off about this. This is a whole lot of people who are aghast at what is happening, and it's been interesting in my conversations with her to see her realise that this isn't a Ukrainian problem as much as it is a broad system-wide problem that arises when you devote your time and attention to creating a hostile environment.

Well, I have had another day of it. I did a bit of chasing via my MP and it seems the Go Home Office has decided to put the applications on hold again because ‘the children don’t have passports.’

Yes we know they don’t have passports, duh, that’s why the entire family made a 10 hour round trip to the VAC.

Seems biometric info has been lost. So I have been frantically forwarding proof that the biometrics have been done in the first place.

It’s feeling a bit like crunch time - either it will get sorted or despite it being clearly not my Ukrainians’ fault they will tell them to do the biometrics again and I think that might be more than they can take.

Actually that’s the optimistic view. I am sure they can think of a new way to torture us all that I can’t even imagine.

I’ve just had an email from my pet insurer Petplan who have offered to provide free insurance for any pets that are brought over from Ukraine by their owners

Hopefully this will be of help to someone