Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when the Afghan Refugee Scheme will open for applications, and when the first refugees under this scheme is expected to arrive in the UK.
The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme is not yet open and remains under development. Officials are working urgently to stand up the remaining elements of the scheme. However, the first to be resettled through this scheme will be some of those who arrived in the UK under the evacuation programme, which included individuals who were considered to be at particular risk.
There will not be a formal Home Office owned application process for the ACRS. Instead, eligible people will be prioritised and referred for resettlement to the UK.
Further information on the eligibility, prioritisation and referral of people for the ACRS is set out in the policy statement published on gov.uk on 13 September, available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.