Abstract Background Primary health care is key to address the health and social needs of refugees. Nurses are often part of multidisciplinary teams in primary health care, but little is known about their roles and responsibilities in refugee health. Our systematic review aimed to synthesise the existing knowledge about models of care (MoC) for refugees in primary care settings and the involvement of nurses in these models. Methods We searched PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science for literature published in English, Spanish, French and German. For grey literature, we additionally searched Google Search and Scholar, Microsoft Bing and DuckDuckGo. Eligible publications reported on MoC for refugees in a primary care setting and the involvement of nurses. We extracted and synthesised information about the structure of these models as well as the roles and responsibilities of nurses within these. Results 112 publications met our inclusion criteria. Our narrative synthesis focuses on 61 publications with in-depth insights into existing MoC and nurse involvement. We identified 45 MoC, mainly originating from high-income-countries and with almost a third from Australia. The majority of MoC set up a parallel health care structure that refugees could access for a limited period of time. In most MoC, the role of the nurse is described with a relatively high degree of autonomy and with clear areas of responsibility. Clinical and administrative tasks are only part of the nurse’s role, while educational and coordinating activities are often equally important. Conclusions Despite the significant number of refugees in European countries we identified only few reports on MoC specifically addressing their needs. While parallel care structures may be an appropriate approach for a short period of time, integration of refugees into the regular health system is key. Specially trained nurses are well placed to support refugees through a range of measures, including health education and case management. Key messages • Models of Care for refugees could help to navigate within a new healthcare system and ensure that no one is left behind. However, development of and research on such structures are still scarce. • Specially trained nurses are well placed to care for refugees and to support their integration into regular health systems through a range of measures, including health education and case management.