Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme Gets 24-Month Extension from 8 April 2026
28 Mar 2026
If you are a Ukrainian national living in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or the Ukraine Family Scheme, your options for extending your stay have just expanded. The Statement of Changes HC 1691, which took effect last week, introduces a 24-month extension for eligible Ukraine scheme beneficiaries — available from 8 April 2026.
What is changing
From 8 April 2026, two significant changes apply to the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) Scheme:
- Eligible applicants can apply for an additional 24 months of permission to stay in the UK
- The application window is extended from 28 days to 90 days before your current permission expires, giving you far more time to plan and prepare your application
This means Ukrainian nationals who have been in the UK since 2022 under one of the original humanitarian schemes — and whose permission may be approaching expiry — now have a clear route to remain through to at least 2028.
What this means for your ILR timeline
After 5 years of continuous residence in the UK with valid permission, Ukraine scheme holders become eligible to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain. The 24-month extension helps keep your qualifying period building uninterrupted. If you arrived in 2022 and your current leave expires soon, applying for this extension before it lapses is critical — a gap in leave could reset part of your continuous residence clock.
If you are using an absence tracker or ILR calculator, check your leave expiry date now and note that from 8 April you can start an extension application up to 3 months in advance. Before that date, the 28-day window still applies.
What to do
Check your current Biometric Residence Card or eVisa to confirm your leave expiry date. If your permission runs out within the next few months, be ready to apply from 8 April for the extended permission. You do not need to wait until your leave is close to expiry — with the 90-day window, you can apply well in advance.
Ukrainian nationals who arrived under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or Ukraine Family Scheme are eligible; those who switched onto different visa routes (Skilled Worker, Family, etc.) would apply under those route's own extension provisions instead.
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