We want everyone who comes to live in Oxford to feel welcome here and to be able to take advantage of all the city has to offer.
Whether you have come to this city as an asylum seeker, refugee or through other routes (such as students, EU migrants, skilled workers etc), we hope that these pages provide you with useful information and sources of advice and help.
Oxford is proud to be a City of Sanctuary and we want to welcome those who are fleeing violence and persecution. We celebrate the contribution that refugees and asylum seekers have made and will continue to make to our community.
Message of Welcome from Oxford City Council’s Migrant Champion, Dr Cllr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini
"My father is a political refugee and we moved here from Tehran when I was 13. I spoke hardly any English and everyday life for the whole family was a real challenge. At times it felt like there was a curtain that separated us from others at our local high school and we all missed home terribly. I now feel hugely honoured and privileged to be working as a Consultant Anaesthetist at Oxford University Hospitals and to be representing you all as the Council’s first Migrant Champion.
"You are not alone in trying to live a dignified life here in Oxford. There are fantastic organisations across the city helping to lift that curtain as much as possible and to develop a crucial net of support with you all. As the Migrant Champion I will be working within the Council and with our partners. We will be working hard to lift the obstacles and ensure that all our citizens can access local services, with your rights protected, needs met and voices heard in council policy."
Video welcoming newly arrived communities to Oxford
- Watch 'Welcome to Oxford - Arabic' at YouTube (3 minutes, 14 seconds) (شاهد الفيديو باللغة العربية)
- Watch 'Welcome to Oxford - Pashto' at YouTube (3 minutes, 13 seconds) (ویډیو په پښتو ژبه وګورئ)
- Watch 'Welcome to Oxford - English' at YouTube (3 minutes, 14 seconds)
