Actions for guests
The Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme enables you to apply to extend your stay in the UK for a further 18 months after your Homes for Ukraine, or other valid Ukrainian visa, expires.
It is free to apply for the UPE scheme, and if your application is successful, you will be able to continue to live, work and study in the UK and access public funds.
Read further guidance on Applying to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme.
You must have been already granted permission under the Homes for Ukraine (HfU) Scheme, Ukraine Family Scheme, or Ukraine Extension Scheme to apply for the UPE scheme. Only HFU guests are eligible for host payments if they continue to live with their host.
You may apply for the UPE scheme 28 days before your Homes for Ukraine, Family Scheme Ukraine, or Ukraine Extension Scheme visa ends. You must have a UKVI account and access to your eVisa. Please note, you must also be in the UK when you make your application. Your application will not be valid and may be rejected if you apply from outside the UK.
Applying for a child under 18
When making an application as or on behalf of a child under the age of 18, you will need to provide the child’s full birth or adoption certificate which shows the details of their parents.
You will also be asked to provide evidence of the child’s parent or legal guardian’s nationality or identity document. The Home Office has stated that all documents need to be translated into English
Additionally, you will be asked to provide evidence of the parent or legal guardian’s immigration status, for example their passport number or Unique Application Number (UAN).
After you have applied
You should receive a decision on your UPE scheme application within 8 weeks of submitting the application.
If your current permission expires before a decision is made on your UPE application you do not need to take any action, as your current permission will continue under section 3C leave. The purpose of section 3C leave is to prevent a person who makes an in-time application to extend their leave from becoming an overstayer while they are awaiting a decision on that application.
You should not travel outside of the UK or any other part of the Common Travel Area (the Common Travel Area includes the UK, Ireland, Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man) whilst waiting for a decision on your application. If you do travel, then your application will be withdrawn and will not be considered.
Any questions should be sent to the Visa Agency and not to Somerset Council as we do not process the visa applications.
Once you receive your visa
Once your UPE visa has been issued we do require you to email us a share code and ‘share’ the result with us online. If you do not do this then we will cancel your hosts’ monthly payments.
Actions for hosts
You will have already received a letter from the council detailing our decision around thank you payments and what you will need to do. These changes will come into effect from 1 April 2025, so you will need to be aware of your guest's current visa end date.
Your guest can apply to change to a Ukrainian Permission Extension visa (UPE) up to 28 days before their visa ends. Once your guest has applied for their UPE visa you may submit your application for UPE payments. Please do this by emailing homesforukrainend@northdevon.gov.uk and we will send out your new agreement. Host payments will be paid at £425 per calendar month rate for a further 12 months as of 1 April 2025, then reduce to the government issued £350 per calendar month for the final six months.
Thank you payments to hosts will only be issued where the guest and host are not in a close family relationship. Further details can be found on the Gov.uk website. If this does apply to you then please do not claim.
Payments will be aligned with your previous HfU payment date. For simplicity’s sake the application form is the same one as you have used before. When asked for arrival date you should use the guest’s new UPE start date and not their original HfU arrival date.
Once your guest's UPE visa has been issued we do require them to email us a share code and ‘share’ the result with us online. If they do not do this then we reserve the right to cancel host payments.
Any questions should be sent to homesforukrainend@northdevon.gov.uk.