Private sponsorship programmes provide individuals, groups of individuals or organizations with an opportunity to sponsor refugees to come to their country, thus offering them protection and a new home.
In private sponsorship, the sponsors directly engage in the efforts to admit displaced persons in their country. They are the ones identifying, selecting, and supporting the entry and stay of people in need of international protection, who are not referred by UNHCR. While sponsors can freely choose whom to support, the individuals sponsored most often include nuclear and/or extended family members of the sponsors or people known to the community.
UNHCR does not nominate individuals or families for sponsorships and cannot influence or interfere with the sponsorship process in any way. Available sponsorship pathways include the Canadian Sponsorship Programme, and the Australian Special Humanitarian Sponsorship Programme.