Support for Ukrainian refugees in Wales

We’re looking at the arrangements for Ukrainian people arriving in Wales since March 2022. 

We’ll look to answer the question: Is the Welsh Government, working with its partners, responding effectively to support Ukrainian refugees in Wales?

We’ll focus in particular on the Welsh Government’s Super Sponsor scheme.

Our work aims to cover the initial response in the early days of the programme, current approaches, and future plans. To do this, we need to find out how the support for Ukrainian refugees has worked in practice in Wales.

We want to hear from you

Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the United Nations Refugee Agency says that nearly 8 million refugees leaving Ukraine have been recorded across Europe. 

In March 2022, the UK Government announced plans to allow Ukrainian refugees to enter the UK. These schemes allow Ukrainian nationals and their family members to make applications to stay in the UK for up to 3 years.

• A Ukraine Family Scheme visa [opens in new window] allows British nationals and people settled in the UK to bring a wider group of family members to the UK. 
• The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (Homes for Ukraine) [opens in new window] allows Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor who can provide accommodation. Individuals can apply for visas from Ukraine or from any other third country. 

Also in March 2022, the Welsh Government announced that it would act as a Homes for Ukraine ‘super-sponsor’, allowing people to apply for a visa to come to Wales without a named sponsor. The Welsh Government paused this route in June 2022. 

Since March 2022, almost 6,500 people have arrived from Ukraine in Wales, including around 3,000 people who have arrived from Ukraine sponsored by the Welsh Government. 

We want to hear from people who have an experience to share including Ukrainian refugees, hosts or other people that may have been involved with supporting the response.

Complete our call for evidence [opens in new window]

This call for evidence will close on Friday 18 August 2023

If you have any questions, please contact callforevidence@audit.wales