Asylum support spend on all accommodation, including ex-military large sites, is included within the Home Office’s published Annual Report and Accounts. As part of a Government Major Programme, the costs of asylum accommodation are also included in regular updates alongside all other Government Major Programmes.

This Government recognises the importance of family unity but we also have a responsibility to ensure that family migration is fair, controlled and sustainable.

Appendix Family Reunion remained open to applications until 15:00 on 4 September 2025, at which point the suspension took effect. Thereafter, applicants had 240 days to attend a Visa Application Centre to enrol their biometrics and complete their applications for consideration. Accordingly, applications under the route continued to be received for consideration until 2 May 2026.

GOV.UK notes that applications should be decided within 12 months, although this timescale will have commenced from whenever biometrics were enrolled.

Consideration of outstanding applications, including those subject to appeal, will continue in accordance with the rules in force prior to the suspension taking effect. Priority for consideration is accorded to all Appendix Family Reunion applications submitted by unaccompanied children under the age of 18.

The Homes for Ukraine scheme remains open and uncapped. The Government considered the available evidence on sponsorship sustainability, local authority impacts and affordability when deciding the future funding arrangements.

The scheme has evolved from an emergency response into an established programme. The announced changes help ensure the scheme remains sustainable. Thank you payments will continue as a gesture of appreciation for sponsors opening their homes. They are not rent or a long-term funding arrangement.

From 1 January 2027, thank you payments will reduce from £350 to £100 per household each month. The impact on the numbers of visas granted will depend on future applications, the availability of eligible sponsors and individual decisions. It is therefore not possible to provide a reliable estimate of the number of visas that may be granted following the change.

The new named community sponsorship route and the new refugee study route will open to applications from prospective lead sponsors later in October, with the first arrivals of refugees for both routes expected from autumn 2027 onwards. The refugee work route is expected to open next year.

Further details of the new routes, including eligibility requirements, will be announced in due course.

We are working closely with UNHCR on the development and operationalisation of the UKs safe and legal routes including the resources they require in order to support delivery.

As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27.

The UKRS is not restricted by nationality. Sudanese refugees who are outside their country of origin may therefore be considered for resettlement where they are identified and referred by an approved referral partner on the basis of their vulnerability and protection needs.

Further information is available in the published UK Resettlement Scheme policy guidance.

As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27. The Government expects a quarter of UKRS referrals to be Afghan women and girls, and Palestinians.

The Government expects the total arrivals across the UKRS and the 3 new community sponsorship routes to number in the low hundreds at first.

The Home Office works closely with the local authorities that volunteer to participate in the UKRS, and arrival is contingent on local authorities providing accommodation and agreeing to support a refugee family. The number of individuals resettled through the UKRS in any given year will depend on a range of factors, including the capacity of local authorities to welcome, accommodate and integrate refugees.

The Government remains committed to supporting those displaced by Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine.

The Homes for Ukraine Scheme remains open, enabling eligible Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members to come to the UK where they have an approved sponsor for up to 18 months. The Government also continues to provide support for those already in the UK through the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme, which permits eligible individuals to apply for further permission to remain in the UK.

The Government keeps the Ukraine Schemes under active review in light of developments in Ukraine. We will continue to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place for those who require sanctuary in the UK.

This Government recognises the importance of family unity and acknowledges that people who seek protection in the UK may have been separated from their families by conflict, persecution or circumstances beyond their control.

Our reforms to the asylum system, announced last autumn, mean that those granted protection will not have an automatic right to family reunion. Those who successfully move off Core Protection and enter a Work and Study visa route could become eligible to sponsor family members to come to the UK.

Our new approach will strike a fair balance between the circumstances of individual families and the wider public interest. It will be flexible enough to protect the most vulnerable while ensuring the system remains controlled and sustainable. Detailed future arrangements for family members of people with protection status remain under development.

Applications made under Appendix Family Reunion before the suspension continue to be considered under the rules in place at the time they applied.

During the suspension, other family routes, including Appendix FM, are available for family members of sponsors with protection, if they consider they meet the relevant immigration rules. More information on family visas can be found on GOV.UK at: Family visas: apply, extend or switch: Overview - GOV.UK.

As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27.

The Government expects the total arrivals across the UKRS and the three new community sponsorship routes to number in the low hundreds at first.

The Home Office works closely with the local authorities that volunteer to participate in the UKRS, and arrival is contingent on local authorities providing accommodation and agreeing to support a refugee family. The number of individuals resettled through the UKRS in any given year will depend on a range of factors, including the capacity of local authorities to welcome, accommodate and integrate refugees.

As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) in 26/27.

The Government expects the total arrivals across the UKRS and the three new community sponsorship routes to number in the low hundreds at first.

Individuals identified for resettlement under the UKRS are usually resettled as part of immediate family units.

Through the Immigration and Asylum Bill, the Home Office will limit the application of Article 8 claims in three ways: strengthening and rebalancing the public interest test to ensure issues that are central to the public interest are considered; defining family life for the purposes of Article 8, by setting out a clear framing for decision makers and the courts that it should not normally go beyond immediate family members; and requiring Article 8 family life claims from those outside of the UK to be made by a UK-based sponsor.

As announced by the Home Secretary on 28 September, the Home Office has started receiving new referrals for the United Kingdom Resettlement Scheme in 2026/27.

The UKRS does not operate through direct applications, and individuals are unable to apply online. Instead, refugees are identified and referred through established referral processes by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Internation Refugee Assistance Project for displaced Palestinians, based on their vulnerability and protection needs.

The UKRS is an established scheme, which has operated since 2021. Further UKRS Policy guidance can be found online: Resettlement.

The Home Office publishes the number of asylum claims raised by nationality, and the number of people claiming asylum by prior route, by nationality in the Asy_D01 and Asy_D01a tables available here: Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK

Asylum seekers arrive in the UK through a range of routes before claiming asylum. In the year ending June 2026, 41% had previously entered on a visa or other leave, 40% arrived by small boat, 12% arrived via other illegal entry routes, and 8% entered via other routes or could not be matched to a route of entry.

Information on countries asylum seekers travelled from before reaching the UK this information is not published. It is held as “free text” on individual case files and can only be extracted manually at disproportionate cost.

The number of people claiming asylum in the previous three years, and to date in the current year is shown below:

Source: Asy_D01 Asylum claims raised, by nationality, age, sex, UASC, applicant type, and location of claim.