On 1 July 2025 the UK government published a new statement of changes to the Immigration Rules confirming the immediate closure of Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).
Main applicants under the ARAP scheme must have applied to the Ministry of Defence (MOD) before 3pm on 1 July 2025. All applications made under the ARAP received before the closure of the scheme will continue to be considered. Applications for family members will continue to be accepted after 1 July 2025.
The scheme has been closed with almost immediate effect, despite a convention that changes should be laid before Parliament at least 21 calendar days before they come into force
Explaining why the convention has been breached, the government says that giving notice would lead to a spike in applications and 95% of applications submitted to date are duplicates or ultimately found to be ineligible. This would further increase the backlog in ARAP decisions, which already face long delays.
Alongside the closure of ARAP, the ACRS scheme has also closed. Although unlike ARAP it was not possible to apply to ACRS directly, the UK government has confirmed they will not accept any further referrals no further pathways will open.
The explanatory memorandum accompanying the statement of changes notes that over 12,800 people have been successfully resettled under the ACRS since 2021. However, this falls significantly short of the commitment to resettle 20,000 people through the scheme.