Personal help with integration and finding work
This page describes the help provided by the Refugee Integration and Employment Service (RIES).
The Refugee Integration and Employment Service is available to anyone over the age of 18 who has been given refugee status or humanitarian protection following a claim handled by a case owner in one of our teams around the country. It makes sure that new refugees receive the same service, wherever they are living in the United Kingdom.
The RIES builds on the success of Sunrise, our trial integraton service for new refugees which ran from 2005 to 2008. It aims to combine the best of previous integration programmes and put more emphasis on helping a new refugee to find work.
If you have been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection, the RIES will give you support for 12 months. The service includes:
- advice and support to meet your immediate needs, such as housing, education and access to benefits;
- advice to help you start long-term work as quickly as possible; and
- a mentor who will offer you friendship and will work with you on a one-to-one basis, sharing knowledge and experience.
We pay organisations around the country to run the RIES for us. If you are given refugee status or humanitarian protection, we make sure that you will be put in touch with the right organisation within a few days. Once we have done that, you will have a personal case manager who will plan how to help you integrate and to meet your urgent needs. This will include special support to help you find work and enter long-term employment.
If you work with refugees and need more detailed information about the RIES and the organisations contracted to deliver it, see the Refugee Integration and Employment Service page.