Resettlement

Experts by Experience: Resettlement as a single parent

Making the journey firstly from your home country to a host country, and then to another country via resettlement, is a hard undertaking for any family – and one that becomes even more difficult as a single parent. The reassurance there is in being able to turn to your partner in such a situation, and…

Indefinite Leave to Remain: Changes to status for UKRS

Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILtR) means that there is no time limit for how long you can remain in the UK. It means that you are entitled to access benefits, education, healthcare and other rights of UK Citizens. It is possible to apply for Citizenship after you have lived here for 5 years. More details…

Experts by Experience – a call for Experts!

We know that the true experts in community led welcome are those who have welcomed, and those who have been welcomed. For this reason, we’re looking to grow the work we do with refugees, who are Experts by Experience.  An Expert by Experience is someone who has lived experience of the issues they’re discussing and…

Pre-Arrival Contact Guidance

The UK may be very different to the countries that refugee families arrive from, and so, as much as families are relieved and happy to hear they’re going to be resettled here, the idea can also be a little nerve-wracking too. By enabling families to make contact with the Community Sponsorship group prior to their…

Adopting an empowerment approach to ILtR applications

For families who arrive before winter 2021, they will have been given the right to live and work here for 5 years.  Once the family members have been in the UK for 4 years and 11 months, they will need to submit an application for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILtR).  The application process is carried out…

Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme (ACRS)

On 6 January 2022, the UK Government announced that the Afghan Citizens’ Resettlement Scheme had opened,  having previously confirmed that Community Sponsorship groups were going to be able to resettle Afghans through the scheme and into their neighbourhoods.  The UK Government will welcome up to 20,000 people from Afghanistan and the region over the coming years. This includes over…

Arrival planning guidance

The day you’ve been planning for is getting very close! Here, we share what other groups have done or thought about during the arrival period.   Managing the arrival of the family you will be supporting is usually one of the most exciting parts of your Community Sponsorship journey, as it marks the time when all…

Changes to BRPs

The Biometric Residency Permit is the ID card that will be issued to each family member once they have arrived in the UK. It is the size of a bank card, which can be used as proof of identity, and to confirm the right to work or study in the UK and the right to access…

Experts by Experience: Abdullah’s resettlement experience

One question that we’re often asked in Reset’s Community Sponsorship training sessions is: “What do refugees think their life in the UK will be like before they’re resettled?” We usually answer these questions with a range of anecdotes but with a strong reminder that refugees will have a breadth of opinions, worldviews and expectations of…

Experts by Experience: Khadeja’s resettlement experience

One question that we’re often asked in Reset’s Community Sponsorship training sessions is: “What do refugees think their life in the UK will be like before they’re resettled?” We usually answer these questions with a range of anecdotes but with a strong reminder that refugees will have a breadth of opinions, worldviews and expectations of…

Experts by Experience: Mohammed’s resettlement experience

One question that we’re often asked in Reset’s Community Sponsorship training sessions is: “What do refugees think their life in the UK will be like before they’re resettled?” We usually answer these questions with a range of anecdotes but with a strong reminder that refugees will have a breadth of opinions, worldviews and expectations of…

Experts by Experience: The village that welcomed a family

“It just felt like something that would be real in the increasingly strange, abstracted, times of lockdown; that it would make a tangible and potentially profound difference to the life-prospects of whoever the refugees were and possibly (selfishly?!) that it might also be a positive thing for me” The group started out with Tom, an…

How groups can support families experiencing bullying

This resource has been produced for community sponsorship groups who may need to support refugee families who are experiencing bullying in school. It has been produced in collaboration with the Anti-Bullying Alliance who are a coalition of organisations and individuals that unite against bullying to create safer environments in which children and young people can…