Ukrainians who are family members of British nationals and who want to evacuate from their home country are better placed than others trying to flee war thanks to a decision by the Home Office to relax the visa rules for this group.
However, new Home Office guidance, which was updated on Sunday states that these concessions are only temporary.
Family migration visas
Free for family members of British nationals who usually live in Ukraine. The definition of a family member includes a spouse or civil partner or an unmarried partner with whom the applicant has been cohabiting in a relationship for at least two years.
The application process has been made more challenging because the UK visa application centre (VAC) in Kyiv is closed and all British visa services there are suspended. Family members can apply through a new, temporary location in the city of Lviv to give their biometrics, or at VACs in Poland, Romania, Hungary or Moldova.
The Home Office has agreed some temporary concessions to support Ukrainian nationals currently in the UK who are unable to return when their existing visa expires. These concessions will help Ukrainian nationals in extending their stay in the UK without having to leave and reapply for a new visa from overseas.
The Home Office has also introduced a temporary concession to allow Ukrainian nationals already in the UK on a visitor visa to switch to a points-based route or a family visa route.
Standard visitor visa
Costs £95 for up to six months. Reasons for applying for this visa include tourism, volunteering and visiting family and friends. Fleeing war is not on the list, but currently this visa is the main alternative available to people who are not eligible for the family migration visa. These visas may take several weeks to process and a condition of the visa is that applicants have to give the Home Office undertakings that they plan to return home after a maximum of six months. The unpredictable nature of the war in their home country makes this difficult.
Calls are mounting from parliamentarians and NGOs to introduce humanitarian visas that would enable people fleeing the war in Ukraine to travel to the UK and claim asylum on arrival. At the moment no such visas are available.
The telephone number for UK Visas and Immigration is: +44 300 3032785
