Safe and Legal Routes to the UK

In the YE June 2026, there were 124,930 grants of leave on safe and legal (humanitarian) routes, allowing people to come to, or remain in, the UK. This was 12% lower than in the YE June 2025, largely due to fewer grants of Refugee Family Reunion visas and out-of-country British National (Overseas) visas, as well as fewer arrivals under the Afghan Resettlement Programme. Most (69%) of grants were to people already in the UK who were extending their leave.

Of the total, 38,267 were out-of-country grants, issued to individuals outside of the UK. This is 29% fewer than in the YE June 2025.

There were 15,595 grants of out-of-country visas under the Ukraine Schemes in the YE June 2026 (a 9% increase compared to the previous year), bringing the total grants to 290,044 visas since the schemes opened in March 2022.

Figure 2 shows grants on the Ukraine visa schemes peaked in the YE December 2022 with 209,706 grants.

BN(O) out-of-country visas peaked in the YE March 2022, with 86,439 granted, soon after the scheme opened. The general trend since this period has seen BN(O) visa grants decrease each year since. There were 5,944 grants of BN(O) visas in the YE June 2026, bringing the total number of grants to 187,552 since the scheme opened.

The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme was introduced on 18 March 2022 and allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

The Ukraine Family Scheme closed to new applications from 19 February 2024 and the Ukraine Extension Scheme closed for most new applications on 16 May 2024, however children who are born in the UK can apply for permission to stay after this date.

This route opened on 31 January 2021 and is open to individuals who hold a BN(O) passport and are, or have recently been, resident in Hong Kong, and their dependants.

Not everyone granted a visa will have used it, either because they have not yet arrived in the UK or may have chosen to go elsewhere or remain in Ukraine. The number of arrivals follows a similar trend to out-of-country visas granted, peaking not long after the introduction of the schemes, at 110,000 in the YE December 2022.

There were 3,840 people resettled in the YE June 2026. This is 48% fewer than the YE June 2025. Of those resettled in the YE June 2026, 87% (3,352) arrived through the Afghan Resettlement Programme (ARP); the remaining 13% (488) arrived through the UK Resettlement Scheme and Mandate Scheme.

Since the first arrivals in 2021, the Afghan Resettlement Programme has resettled a total of 39,058 people.

In July 2025, the Government confirmed that there will be no further ACRS pathways or referrals, ARAP is closed to new applicants and that ARR is discontinued. However, existing applications on these schemes will continue to be processed and therefore, there will be arrivals in future quarters.

A total of 22,157 people were resettled between 2014 and 2021 under the Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) schemes, the majority of whom were Syrian nationals. The UK Resettlement Scheme has resettled 4,589 refugees since its launch in 2021.

On 4 September 2025, the Refugee Family Reunion route was paused, see ‘Appendix Family Reunion (Sponsors with Protection)’. Outstanding applications, submitted before the pause, will continue to be progressed under the rules in place prior to the pause, alongside cases resolved through appeal.

Between late 2023 and early September 2025, Refugee Family Reunion grants increased relative to historic levels. The increase followed a high number of individuals granted refugee status over this period, who became eligible to sponsor partners and children to join them in the UK under the Refugee Family Reunion route.

Total grants in the year ending June 2026 (12,888) were 38% lower than the previous year.

The most common nationalities granted Refugee Family Reunion in the year ending June 2026 were Afghanistan (17%), Yemen (13%), Sudan (11%), Iran (11%) and Syria (9%).

Refugee Family Reunion visas allow partners and children aged 17 and under to join those granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK if they formed part of the family unit before their sponsor fled their country.

Applications submitted before 4 September 2025 may still appear in the data in the following months. This is because applicants have up to 240 days to attend a Visa Application Centre and provide their biometrics. An application is only counted in the statistics once biometrics have been taken.

This Appendix, also known as refugee family reunion, is now closed to new applications pending a review.

Given the immediate pressures that result from family reunion, we are therefore introducing a temporary pause to Appendix Family Reunion (Sponsors with Protection), as we undertake a full review and reform of the current family rules to ensure we have a fair and properly balanced system.

It is correct that there is currently no 2025/2026 quota for new referrals to the UKRS. However, there continue to be arrivals under the scheme as we prioritise facilitating the relocation of individuals who have already been accepted for resettlement.

In addition, individuals in France can apply to come to the UK under a new safe route: the UK/ European Applicant Transfer Scheme.

The Home Secretary has announced the reopening of the UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS) for new referrals, providing genuine refugees a safe and legal route to the UK.

Around 1 in 4 referrals will be for Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees, fleeing war and persecution.

The government expects the total arrivals across UK Resettlement and the 3 new community sponsorship routes to number in the hundreds at first, but this will grow into the low thousands as levels of illegal migration fall. A cap will be set each year.

Those who come to Britain on these routes will be placed on a 5 year path to permanent settlement. This is, by design, more generous than those who arrive by small boat or other illegal means, as the government seeks to disincentivise illegal routes and encourage capped, safe, and legal routes instead.

In October, charities and non-profits will be able to apply to become sponsors for a community sponsorship route which will allow communities to host refugees, and a student sponsorship route which will allow universities to host refugee students. The first arrivals of refugees for both routes are expected in autumn 2027.

Small boat arrivals in the YE June 2026 (33,374) were 23% lower than in the YE June 2025 (43,309) but remain broadly in line with levels seen in the YE June 2024 (31,493) and YE June 2022 (35,356).

The top 5 most common nationalities (Eritrean, Sudanese, Afghan, Somali, and Iranian) arriving on small boats in the YE June 2026 accounted for two-thirds of all small boat arrivals in that period.

Eritreans were the most common nationality arriving by small boat in the YE June 2026, with 5,875 arrivals, 2% lower than in the previous year (Figure 4).

Despite the overall decrease in the number of people arriving by small boat, the number of Sudanese nationals arriving by small boat in the YE June 2026 (4,191 arrivals) was 11% higher than in the previous year. The number of Somali nationals arriving by small boat also increased in the YE June 2026, with 3,901 arrivals, 76% higher than the previous year.

Statistics on small boat arrivals include individuals who were detected on arrival to the UK, detected in the Channel and subsequently brought to the UK, and those encountered in the UK who were suspected of having arrived on a small boat within the previous 72 hours. They do not include any people who arrived on larger vessels (such as a ferry), those who arrived in the UK undetected, or those prevented from departing France or intercepted by French authorities and returned to France (see the ‘user guide’).

Total 'out of country grants' relate to those offered safe and legal (humanitarian) routes outside of the UK, including Ukraine Visa Schemes grants, BN(O) Route visa grants, Refugee Family Reunion visa grants and the resettlement and relocation schemes.

The data on Refugee Family Reunion visa grants includes cases granted for exceptional circumstances which would render a refusal a breach of Article 8 (family and private life) of the European Convention on Human Rights. Prior to 12 April 2023, such cases may have been considered under Leave Outside the Rules and therefore not included in the data published here.

Resettlement activity was paused during the second and third quarter of 2020 due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Resettlement recommenced in December 2020.

Refugee Family Reunion visa grants 4886 4304 3668 4121 4450 4849 6039 5199 5712 7456 4797 5645 4113 9320 19258 18577 4928 20643 12888

Of which out of country grants 5603 4765 4721 5088 5236 6714 11251 11411 11518 13068 5620 99256 273413 82102 64156 48814 15714 54139 38267

UK Resettlement Scheme z z z z z z z z z z z 1269 1159 617 711 537 296 869 477

IER_D01: Number of detected arrivals via illegal routes to the UK, 2018 Q1 to 2026 Q2 - dataset

Outcomes of applications for entry clearance visas, 2005 to 2026 Q2 - dataset

Res_D02: Resettlement, 2010 Q1 to 2026 Q2 - dataset

Fam_D01: Refugee Family Reunion visa grants, 2010 Q1 to 2026 Q2 - dataset

Hum_01: People offered safe and legal (humanitarian) routes, by route, 2010 to the year ending June 2026

z' in the table indicate that the scheme was not open during that time period, percentages where the base number is less than 50, and percentages where the route has not been open for the duration of the years compared. Yearly totals may also not relate to a full 12 month period if a scheme opened or closed during that year.

Res_01: Number of people resettled in the UK, by age and resettlement scheme, 2010 to the year ending June 2026

Small boat arrivals were relatively low from 2018 to 2020, with 10,608 arrivals in total across these 3 years. However, since the YE December 2021 there have been between 29,000 and 46,000 small boat arrivals each year, with the highest number of arrivals in the YE December 2022 (45,774).