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The article examines how and why actors become “passeurs” (a notion close to the one of norm and policy brokers). Based on extensive field research, this case study focuses on the transfer of asylum norms in Ukraine. International organisations establish a transfer chain and recruit employees who, together with local NGO staff, frequently new to the asylum field, become professional passeurs. They spread international norms among Ukrainian state officials, often via personal links, and succeed in turning them into voluntary passeurs. Studying transfer through the lens of passeurs helps to nuance the dichotomies between imposed and voluntary transfer, as well as between norm promoters and recipients. It also contributes to emerging research on the temporalities of transfer.