What protected and authorized routes can be found for refugees to come back to the UK?

The mantra of “protected and authorized routes” is frequently repeated by the federal government when justifying more and more draconian laws in an try to forestall refugees from travelling to the UK underneath their very own steam. The argument is that refugees ought to use these protected and authorized routes as a substitute of arriving in small boats or the again of lorries to say asylum.

On this article we take a look at what protected and authorized routes can be found, how they’re accessed, and the grant of go away and entitlements of those that are profitable. We have now additionally taken a take a look at asylum functions revamped the identical time frame, in order that the influence of those bespoke routes on arrivals may be thought-about.

Except indicated in any other case, figures come from the Dwelling Workplace statistics for the 12 months ending March 2025. We have now focussed on the interval 2020 to the tip of March 2025, as it’s throughout this era that many of the bespoke schemes which can be presently open have been arrange.

UNHCR resettlement schemes

There are three completely different basic resettlement schemes operated in partnership between the UN refugee company (UNHCR) and the UK authorities: the UK resettlement scheme (or UKRS), the neighborhood sponsorship scheme and the mandate resettlement scheme. All three rely on UNHCR to establish these eligible. Full particulars are set out within the UK Refugee Resettlement coverage steerage.

No software may be made for resettlement underneath the primary two of those three schemes. UNHCR is express about this reality. An individual simply has to attend and hope they are going to in some way be picked. Even when they’re picked, they don’t have any say in regards to the nation through which they are going to be supplied resettlement. And, to place issues in context, lower than 1% of the world’s refugees are submitted by UNHCR to accomplice nations for resettlement yearly.

Underneath the UK resettlement scheme, UNHCR identifies and interviews folks with potential resettlement wants, decides whether or not they’re a refugee and can refer them to the UK the place they meet the standards for resettlement as set out in UNHCR’s resettlement handbook. The scheme can embody unaccompanied kids.

The present standing of this scheme is unclear, because it appeared from a parliamentary debate in 2023 that it was closed to new referrals. In one other debate on 27 March 2025 the federal government mentioned that it was but to agree a quota for the route in 2025.

The neighborhood sponsorship scheme operates in tandem with the UK resettlement scheme. It gives for households arriving within the UK to obtain assist from neighborhood teams, together with the availability of housing for at least two years, and assist with accessing companies reminiscent of English language classes, NHS, social companies, cultural orientation, and assist in the direction of employment and self-sufficiency. Consent should be obtained from the native authority earlier than the software is submitted to the Dwelling Workplace.

As soon as the neighborhood sponsor is prepared and is matched to a household, they should collectively agree on the household’s arrival with the native authority. The household will often arrive six to 12 weeks after that. The household is recognized by UNHCR, following the identical processes as for the UK resettlement scheme.

The Dwelling Workplace gives funding to Reset, an organisation that helps neighborhood teams to take part within the scheme. Sure necessities must be met to be a neighborhood sponsor, which is often a registered charity or neighborhood curiosity firm, or a church group.

The third scheme, the ‘mandate’ one, is barely out there to individuals who UNHCR has recognised as refugees and recognized as being in want of resettlement. This scheme is for individuals who have an in depth relative within the UK, who should be settled within the UK or have restricted go away to stay in a route that results in settlement, and who’re keen to accommodate and assist the refugee. The refugee should be the minor baby, partner, or father or mother or grandparent aged over 65 of the UK primarily based relative. Distinctive circumstances are required for different relations to learn from the scheme.

Grants underneath the mandate scheme are negligible, with solely 5 in 2020, two in 2021, 4 in 2022, 15 in 2023 and 23 in 2024. As may be seen from the beneath, the vast majority of grants are underneath the UK resettlement scheme. As of the March 2025 knowledge, the Dwelling Workplace has stopped reporting the neighborhood sponsorship figures individually and has as a substitute rolled these into the UK resettlement figures. Compared to the opposite resettlement schemes we’ll take a look at right here, we are able to see that the numbers are comparatively low.

As soon as accepted by the UK, individuals are granted six months’ go away outdoors the foundations to allow their entry and are then granted indefinite go away to stay and refugee standing on arrival right here. Refugee household reunion is offered to this group to carry eligible relations over to hitch them underneath Appendix Household Reunion (Safety).

Refugee household reunion

The place an individual has refugee standing and has not naturalised as a British citizen, they’re entitled to carry their accomplice and kids to the UK the place they meet the necessities. Household reunion functions may be made underneath Appendix Household Reunion (Safety) of the immigration guidelines.

There isn’t a provision within the guidelines for kids to use to carry their relations to the UK. The place the foundations can’t be met, functions may also be made on the grounds of outstanding circumstances underneath paragraph FRP 7.1. These functions are significantly harder and may be harmful for the individual involved.

Our article High suggestions for making refugee household reunion functions outdoors the traditional guidelines is important studying for anybody making these functions.

Household reunion is a vital route for refugees to have the ability to reunite with their households. Nonetheless, the functions may be overly complicated and tough to navigate with out a authorized support lawyer with the capability and experience required.

Getting knowledge from the Dwelling Workplace on household reunion functions may be tough, with FOI requests on case dealing with routinely being refused. A newer request on grant charges was profitable and reveals that in 2019 the grant fee was 73.5%, in 2020 72.5%, in 2021 71.3%, 2022 was 74.4% and there was a rise to 86.3% in 2023.

Refugee and Migrant Discussion board of Essex and London (RAMFEL) has beforehand obtained FOI knowledge exhibiting that 1,386 (66%) of household reunion functions that have been rejected by the Dwelling Workplace have been allowed on attraction between 2019 and 2022.

These coming into underneath the refugee household reunion guidelines should not formally recognised as refugees. Profitable candidates are granted go away that expires concurrently their refugee relative, however don’t obtain refugee standing.

Hong Kong

This can be a good instance of the place the bespoke routes may be problematic, because the latest immigration white paper has brought about a large amount of concern that this route might have its path to settlement doubled from 5 to 10 years. The federal government has executed nothing to allay these fears. If the change is made, then anybody who got here to the UK underneath this route would have been higher off claiming asylum on arrival and acquiring refugee standing (if eligible), which undermines using these routes as a substitute for claiming asylum within the UK.

The background to the introduction of the route is that China’s parliament handed a draconian new Nationwide Safety Regulation for Hong Kong, bypassing Hong Kong’s personal Legislative Council, on 30 June 2020. In response, the UK authorities introduced the Hong Kong British Nationwide (Abroad) Visa on 22 July 2020, and Appendix Hong Kong British Nationwide (Abroad) was later launched efficient from 31 January 2021.

There are two separate routes, BN(O) Standing Holder and BN(O) Family Member. The second of those is for grownup kids and their dependants, who shaped a part of the identical family as a BN(O) Standing Holder. BN(O) Standing Holders can carry a dependent accomplice and kids, and different relations with a “excessive degree of dependency”.

That is the one certainly one of these bespoke routes which has an software payment, which is £193 if making use of for 2 and a half years, and £268 if making use of for 5 years. The immigration well being surcharge should even be paid. For adults that is presently £2,587.50 for 2 and a half years and £5,175 for 5 years.

As may be seen beneath, the variety of grants has dropped considerably over time. The scheme has been working for over 4 years and the vast majority of people who find themselves eligible and want to come to the UK are prone to have already executed so. 

These granted go away underneath this route can presently apply for indefinite go away after 5 years’ steady residence within the UK (together with that acquired previous to the grant of go away on this route). Initially this grant of go away was topic to the no recourse to public funds situation with no skill to ask for that to be lifted, nevertheless this was later amended so that folks with the sort of go away are actually permitted to use to have the situation lifted.

The BNO route is offered to and has been utilized by folks with a big number of nationalities, together with Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, Taiwan, Vanuatu, Angola, Burma, Canada and Yemen (supply: desk Data_Vis_D02). It’s subsequently tough to evaluate the influence of this route as a substitute for irregular arrivals.

Solely 66 Hong Kong nationals have been granted refugee or humanitarian safety standing from the second quarter of 2020 to the tip of March 2025. Delays might account for a few of this low quantity, nevertheless it appears doubtless that some folks can have withdrawn their claims after the BNO route was opened.

Afghanistan

The Taliban regained management of Afghanistan in August 2021 and the UK evacuated round 15,000 folks to security underneath Operation Pitting. Two routes have been introduced to assist Afghan refugees: the Afghan Residents Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) and the Afghan Relocation and Help Coverage (ARAP).

It isn’t attainable to use underneath the Afghan Residents Resettlement Scheme. The scheme is cut up into three Pathways, the primary of which was stuffed earlier than it opened, with those that had been evacuated underneath Operation Pitting. Pathway 2 is just for instances which can be referred to the UK by UNHCR, as for the final resettlement schemes detailed above.

Pathway 3 initially had 1,500 locations out there, which was to incorporate relations, and the Overseas, Commonwealth & Growth Workplace accepted expressions of curiosity from British Council contractors, GardaWorld contractors and Chevening alumni. This cap was later eliminated and the scheme closed to new expressions of curiosity in October 2023. Determination making on eligibility for the route was accomplished on 28 June 2024.

It’s attainable to use underneath ARAP. With the intention to entry the ARAP scheme, an individual should first apply for an “eligibility evaluation” that’s carried out by the Ministry of Defence. The shape expressly states that it isn’t an software for go away, together with for go away outdoors the foundations.

As soon as deemed eligible, the Ministry of Defence makes the applying to the Dwelling Workplace on behalf of the applicant. The related immigration guidelines are Appendix Afghan Relocation and Help Coverage (ARAP). The standards for ARAP have been narrowed significantly in December 2021.

Relations should be included within the preliminary eligibility software, and candidates can carry a accomplice, their kids, and a further member of the family.

Each schemes have triggered a really appreciable quantity of litigation because of their inaccessibility and strict standards:

Those that are profitable have been granted six months’ go away outdoors the foundations, after which indefinite go away to stay after arrival within the UK (ultimately). They weren’t granted refugee standing, which limits their skill to entry household reunion. In distinction to the Properties for Ukraine scheme, Afghans have been put into inns, a lot of them left there for prolonged durations.

Given the truth that each schemes successfully stuffed their first 12 months’s quota with folks evacuated from Afghanistan underneath Operation Pitting, there have been solely low numbers of grants since then. It was additionally disclosed in a report by the Unbiased Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration that the federal government secretly paused processing entry clearance functions made underneath ARAP which presumably explains the very low figures for the primary three quarters of 2023. Since then grants have began once more.

Given the issue and delays in accessing the present schemes, it’s unsurprising to see a lot of folks arriving by way of the Channel and claiming asylum.

It’s unclear what number of of these folks making that journey would have been eligible underneath different different routes, however some achieve this as a result of they’ve household within the UK however are unable to reunite with them underneath current schemes.

Ukraine

The primary of the UK’s three schemes to assist these displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the Ukraine Household Scheme, launched on 4 March 2022, simply over per week after the invasion. The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (higher often called ‘Properties for Ukraine’) was launched on 18 March 2022. A 3rd scheme was later launched for individuals who have been already within the UK, and so that won’t be lined right here.

The related immigration guidelines are set out in Appendix Ukraine Scheme. Till it was closed with out discover on 19 February 2024, the Ukraine Household Scheme allowed a vastly wider group of relations to be introduced than underneath every other provision of the immigration guidelines or resettlement scheme. This included grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Profitable candidates underneath the Ukraine schemes have been initially granted three years’ go away to stay, this was lowered to 18 months underneath the remaining Dwelling for Ukraine scheme on 19 February 2024. There isn’t a path to settlement and go away underneath Appendix Ukraine is expressly excluded from the lengthy residence route, which means that that is one other “bespoke” route the place folks might nicely have been higher off with an asylum declare. In February 2025 the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme opened, permitting folks to make a free software for an additional 18 months’ go away.

For the time being the scheme seems to be profitable because of the numbers arrived, nevertheless it has not been with out its issues, each throughout arrange and since.

The query of what occurs to Ukrainians in the long run stays unclear. Maybe motivated by this, some Ukrainians have claimed asylum within the UK, which would offer a 5 12 months grant of go away and a path to settlement if profitable.

From the start of 2022 till the tip of March 2025 there have been 1,698 asylum claims made by Ukrainian nationals (as the primary applicant, the determine together with dependants is increased). 902 of these claims have been made within the 12 month interval ending March 2025.

For the reason that starting of 2022 there have been 457 grants of asylum or humanitarian safety to principal candidates, 304 of these have been made within the second half of 2023. From the start of 2022 to the tip of 2024 there have been 19 refusals of Ukrainian asylum claims. Within the first three months of this 12 months there have been 60 refusals. This appears to have been prompted by a change within the nation steerage in January this 12 months, which I intend to look extra at and write up in additional element shortly.

Seven Ukrainians are recorded as having entered the UK by travelling throughout the Channel in a small boat, 4 of these within the third quarter of 2024 (supply: desk Irr_D01).

Scheme comparability desk

Conclusion

Appreciable numbers of refugees and other people in want of safety have benefited from the UK’s resettlement schemes over the previous few years. However there are points with this “bespoke” strategy, not least the issue in setting them up as shortly as is required and the shortage of transparency round how folks can entry a few of the schemes.

Overwhelmingly, those that have been in a position to entry safety have been from Ukraine and Hong Kong and, for a short second in 2021, from Afghanistan. Notable latest examples of the place protected routes are wanted however haven’t been offered embody Uganda (in respect of LGBTQI+ folks), Sudan and Gaza.

For these folks, there are not any “protected and authorized” routes for them to come back to the UK. We’ll proceed to see folks making their very own method right here in an effort to search security, whatever the authorities’s makes an attempt to legislate a cease to those journeys.