Eligibility, safeguarding, DBS and accommodation checks: Homes for Ukraine
Information about how to become a Homes for Ukraine sponsor, including checks the council will make, and eligibility criteria.
Eligibility and checks
To meet the requirements to be approved as a sponsor you must:
- be over the age of 18
- be based in the UK
- be a British or Irish Citizen or settled in the UK (which means having the right to live in the UK permanently) on the date of the guest’s visa application
- provide one of the following documents:
- UK or Irish passport or Irish passport card
- Valid biometric residence permit or biometric residence card
- Home Office Travel Document
- Share-Code and the person’s date of birth, so you can conduct an online check of their identity and status - Check someone’s immigration status: use their share code
- a photo driving licence issued by the UK, Ireland, or the Crown Dependencies along with a UK, Crown Dependency or Irish birth or adoption certificate with matching biographical details
- confirm you can provide accommodation for a period of at least 6 months in the UK
- make sure that all adults in the sponsor household meet suitability requirements as set out in text below
British or Irish citizen sponsors are asked to provide a copy of the biodata page of their passport. Sponsors can use a recently expired passport if it has not been replaced.
British or Irish citizens who do not hold a valid UK or Irish passport can provide a UK or Irish birth certificate (if born before 1 January 1983), or a registration or naturalisation certificate alongside a photo document, such as:
- Proof of Age Standards Scheme (PASS) card
- National Entitlement Card (NEC)
- UK or Irish photo driving licence
- Irish passport card and/ or Non-UK or Irish passport
If your sponsor has a UKVI account, they can use the online View and prove service to show their identity.
- confirm you can provide accommodation for a period of at least 6 months in the UK
- make sure that all adults in the sponsor household meet suitability requirements as set out in text below
Your accommodation should:
- have appropriate safety features reflecting the age and specific needs of any children due to be accommodated (further information about making your home safe for children can be found on the Child Accident Prevention Trust and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents websites).
Not meeting the requirements
If you are not eligible for approval as a sponsor, the guest can’t continue their application with you as their sponsor and you will not be eligible for any payments.
A sponsor may also be found not to meet the requirements for approval after a visa has been issued, for example after local council welcome checks.
In this instance, you will not receive the monthly thank you payment, and guests will be helped to find a new sponsor.
Security and criminal checks
To be approved as a sponsor on the scheme, the Home Office will do security and criminal checks on you, and on all adults aged 18 and over who will live in the same household as the guests.
This includes checks on government databases and other third parties such as the Police National Computer, or its equivalent in Northern Ireland.
Central government will make these checks when considering the visa application.
If you, or other adults who are required to undergo checks, do not meet the suitability requirements for approval as a sponsor, the visa application may be paused, and the guest will be offered other options. Central government will consider if any information received as a result of these checks could represent a risk to the applicant, especially if they are a child or vulnerable adult, when deciding if the sponsor is suitable.
Disclosure and Barring Service checks for people who have lived overseas
If you have recently lived abroad, local authorities might seek additional information on your suitability to become a sponsor beyond obtaining a Disclosure and Barring Service certificate so that relevant events that occurred outside the UK can be considered.
These checks could include:
- A criminal record check. The Home Office publishes information on how to obtain a criminal record check for someone from overseas. See Countries Q to Z: applying for a criminal records check for someone from overseas.
- A reference from an employer confirming that they are not aware of any reason why you may be unsuitable as a sponsor.
- A Letter of Professional Standing from your professional regulating authority, if appropriate. Sponsors should contact the UK Centre for Professional Qualifications who can signpost to the relevant international regulatory body.
For Ukrainian nationals who are themselves seeking to become sponsors, local authorities could also choose to consider a Certificate of Conviction or No Conviction from the consular section of the Ukrainian Embassy in London. See Countries Q to Z: applying for a criminal records check for someone from overseas.
The local authority has the discretion to recommend that a sponsor is unsuitable if they are not satisfied with the outcome of safeguarding or welfare checks.
As the lead sponsor, you will need to ask the consent of all adults in the household to provide their details on the application form for these checks.
If you (or a member of the household) have a criminal conviction, caution, or warning, this may be identified through central government checks and the nature of the offence and the time since it happened will be considered.
Not all convictions, cautions or warnings will mean you are unsuitable to be a sponsor.
You may not meet the criteria for approval if:
- the named individuals listed as sponsor and members of the sponsor’s household on the visa application are different to the adult hosting the guest
- the sponsorship is linked to an obligation to work in exchange for accommodation
- accommodation is unsuitable to live in for 12 months. For example, it does not have kitchen space
- sponsors make multiple applications to sponsor individuals/households and their accommodation is unsuitable for housing the number of people the sponsor is planning to house
- sponsors make multiple applications to sponsor eligible minors
Being approved as a sponsor for one applicant is not a guarantee that you will be approved as a sponsor for future applicants.
This is because each application is considered separately and you may no longer meet the criteria for approval, for example, if your accommodation is unsuitable for housing additional people or if a future guest has different needs (for example a child, elderly person or someone with disabilities).
If, as a result of these checks, you or other adults do not meet the suitability requirements for an approved sponsor, the government will tell you. The guest from Ukraine will be told separately and offered help to find a new match.
If the applicant contacts you about this, you should encourage them to seek a rematch if they still want to come to the UK. The applicant should not travel to your address. If they do so, you will not be eligible to receive the thank you payment as the arrangement will not be recognised under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Accommodation and safeguarding checks (including DBS checks)
There has been a legislative change, which is at the discretion of the local councils to conduct Enhanced DBS checks (including a check of the relevant barred list) on all HFU sponsors and those aged 16 and over in their household. Date of change: The relevant Statutory Instrument came into force on 18 November 2022.
Your local authority will complete checks on the accommodation and living arrangements, along with safeguarding checks (including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks) to determine your suitability as a sponsor.
If you do not consent to undergoing these checks, you will not be able to become a sponsor.
Your local council will decide which type of DBS checks are required in line with government guidance. You will not be charged for these checks.
Your Local council must request an Enhanced DBS check (with a check of the relevant barred list) on adult Homes for Ukraine sponsors and those aged 16 years and over within their households. You will need an Enhanced check:
- If you are applying to host a child who is not travelling with or joining their parents or legal guardian under the eligible minors scheme. These Enhanced DBS (with a check of the children’s barred list) checks should be carried out before their visa application can continue. There is separate guidance for sponsors of eligible minors.
- Even if there is a familial relationship between you, as the sponsor, and the eligible child (children aged under 18 who are here without their parents or legal guardian), an Enhanced DBS check should still be requested for all members of your household who are aged 16 years and over. This includes a check of the children’s barred list.
- If your guests are a family group which include children, an Enhanced DBS check (including a check of the children’s barred list) will be necessary, for all those who are 16 years and over in the sponsor household who are not related to the guest.
- If the council decides, that an adult guest that you are not related to needs more support due to age, disability or illness (that you, or an individual aged 16 years and over within the household, intends to provide) then the local council may ask for an Enhanced DBS check (including a check of the adults’ barred list) for those specific members of the household that will be providing the additional support.
In all other circumstances, where you are accommodating guests in your own home, including if you as a new sponsor are being rematched with guests, your council will use their discretion to decide if you and any other household members aged 16 years and over need to apply for an Enhanced DBS check (with a check of the relevant barred list).
If your council decides than an Enhanced DBS check is not needed, all members of the household who are aged 16 years and over will need to have a Basic DBS check.
Your local council will also make at least one in-person visit once your guests have arrived to see if there are any welfare concerns or formal assessments that should be made.
Your local council will assess whether any of the information gathered through these checks impacts on your ability to act as a sponsor. Sponsors are not eligible for the monthly thank you payment until the local council has completed their checks and are satisfied that the sponsor meets the requirements of the scheme.
If a sponsor does not meet the suitability requirements, they will not receive this payment.
If, as a result of these checks, you do not meet the suitability requirements to be a sponsor, the visa application may be held, and the applicant offered alternative options in cases where a visa has not already been issued.
A sponsor may also be found not to meet the requirements for approval after a visa has been issued (this does not apply for sponsors of eligible children who must pass checks before the visa is issued). This may be a result of failed accommodation checks or other safeguarding concerns (such as any raised through the completion of DBS checks) identified by your local authority. In these instances, the guests will be supported to find a new sponsor.
Checks on your home
Your local council will make at least one in-person visit when your guests have arrived to see if there are any welfare concerns or formal assessments that should be made.
Your local council will assess if any of the information gathered through these checks impacts on your ability to act as a sponsor.
If as a result of these checks, you do not meet the suitability requirements to be a sponsor, the visa application may be paused, and the guest will be offered other options in cases where a visa had not already been issued.
A sponsor may also be found not to meet the requirements for approval after a visa has been issued. This might be because they failed accommodation checks or other safeguarding concerns are identified by your local council (such as any raised through the completion of DBS checks). In these instances, the local council will tell sponsors and guests that the sponsor is not suitable. The sponsor will not receive the monthly thank you payment, and guests will be helped to find a new sponsor.
Last updated 19 February 2024 + show all updates
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Guidance has been updated following changes to the Homes for Ukraine Immigration Rules on 19 February 2024.
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More detail has been provided regarding the additional information that local authorities will seek for prospective sponsors who have recently lived abroad.
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First published.