Eligibility and Mandatory Checks
Content
1. Eligibility
To meet the requirements to be approved as a sponsor you must:
- be over the age of 18
- be based in the UK
- have at least 6 months permission to be in the UK (from the date of the guest’s visa application)
- provide one of the following documents (must be valid):
- UK Passport
- Irish Passport or Passport Card
- Biometric Residence Permit
- Biometric Residence Card (issued to some non-EEA national family members granted status under the EU Settlement Scheme).
- an eVisa ‘share code’
- UK – issued photo driving licence
- Irish issued photo driving licence
- Crown Dependency issued photo driving licence
- confirm you can provide accommodation for a period of at least 6 months in the UK
- make sure that all adults in the sponsor household meet suitability requirements as set out in text below
Your accommodation should:
- have appropriate safety features reflecting the age and specific needs of any children due to be accommodated (further information about making your home safe for children can be found on the Child Accident Prevention Trust and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents websites).
Checks that need to be completed before you can host - (All checks are free of charge).
For full details visit Eligibility, safeguarding, DBS and accommodation checks
2. Home Checks
East Devon District Council's Environmental Health Team will contact you and arrange to visit your home to check it is suitable.
If all checks are satisfactory the host will receive a confirmation letter from the Environmental Health team to confirm this.
If the visiting officer feels that additional works need to be completed before the family arrives, we will tell the host and confirm via email/letter. A further visit will then be arranged once required works have been completed.
3. DBS check
After your accommodation has been approved, DCC will initiate your DBS check and safeguarding checks. If you already hold DBS certificate – unfortunately we cannot accept this, a new one, which is generated specifically for Homes for Ukraine needs to be provided. You do not need to pay for this – we will initiate this ourselves once you have filled in the forms.
Please look out for the DBS email and check your spam/junk folder. If you are struggling to log in and do your DBS check application – please contact us.
You will be able to check the progress of your DBS checks online.
Once all checks have been completed EDDC will approve the match and a move in date can be agreed.
Once a guest has moved to a property, please inform EDDC about the move by contacting Homes for Ukraine Support.
4. Welcome visit
A welcome visit will take place in your home. The visit will be completed by a Resettlement Officer who will be your point of contact for the duration of your hosting.
Resettlement Officers are responsible for the wrap around support for you and your guest. This includes:
- Advise and support about Universal credit
- Help with finding jobs
- Help with applying for schools
- Dispute resolution
- Anything else that you might need help with in relation to your hosting
Please note all the above checks must be completed before a Thank you Payment can be processed. To help us in this process please notify EDDC as soon as your guest arrives by emailing Homes for Ukraine support
5. Other visits
From time to time (approximately once every 6 months) we will need to re visit yourself and your guest in your property. The officer visiting will speak to you and your guest separately.