Saturday, April 02, 2022
Home Office misses the point on Ukrainian visas
The Independent reports that the Home Office has shut down part of the UK’s visa and immigration system in order to divert resources to its ”chaotic“ and bureaucratic scheme for Ukraine refugees.
They say that priority and super-priority visas for study, work and family purposes from countries other than Ukraine have been temporarily closed to applicants, with standard visas also experiencing delays. And yet, most European countries have waived visas and offered open access for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. The UK is still insisting they fill in lengthy forms and undergo copious visa checks.
The paper adds that the temporary shutdown of priority visas will make it difficult for people to come to the UK for last-minute purposes, with waits on standard visas expected to be at least six weeks. A Home Office minister this week apologised to people trying to visit the UK “for any inconvenience” the policy would cause. If anybody thinks the government is bending over backwards to accommodate women and children fleeing the Ukrainian war zone then they need to think again. This approach is entirely unnecessary:
Immigration experts warned that the government’s approach to the Ukraine crisis was clearly unsuitable for the task at hand, and suggested the UK should follow Europe’s lead in waiving visas.
“Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the only appropriate response has been and remains to waive visas,” Zoe Bantleman, legal director of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, told The Independent.
“From the outset, we, along with other specialist organisations, have called for the waiving of all red tape, of the visa application process, and of enrolment of biometrics overseas.
She added: “The answer is not to suspend priority processing for other applications, or rush staff to enrol biometrics.”
Ms Bantleman said the change could be easily made by deleting the word ‘Ukraine’ from the list of nationalities required to have visitor clearance to enter the UK.
“The UK would stand with Ukraine, and treat Ukrainians in the same way as it treats nationals of nearly 100 other countries,” she said.
“Once they arrive at the border, biometrics of Ukrainians could be taken and they could be granted leave outside the rules and a full application could be processed once they are safely in the UK, as was done for residents of Hong Kong.”
The Homes for Ukraine scheme has seen 28,300 applications from British families but only 2,700 visas have been issued for this. Surely, it is time to follow the lead of the rest of Europe, and abandon visas for Ukrainian refugees altogether.
They say that priority and super-priority visas for study, work and family purposes from countries other than Ukraine have been temporarily closed to applicants, with standard visas also experiencing delays. And yet, most European countries have waived visas and offered open access for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. The UK is still insisting they fill in lengthy forms and undergo copious visa checks.
The paper adds that the temporary shutdown of priority visas will make it difficult for people to come to the UK for last-minute purposes, with waits on standard visas expected to be at least six weeks. A Home Office minister this week apologised to people trying to visit the UK “for any inconvenience” the policy would cause. If anybody thinks the government is bending over backwards to accommodate women and children fleeing the Ukrainian war zone then they need to think again. This approach is entirely unnecessary:
Immigration experts warned that the government’s approach to the Ukraine crisis was clearly unsuitable for the task at hand, and suggested the UK should follow Europe’s lead in waiving visas.
“Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the only appropriate response has been and remains to waive visas,” Zoe Bantleman, legal director of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, told The Independent.
“From the outset, we, along with other specialist organisations, have called for the waiving of all red tape, of the visa application process, and of enrolment of biometrics overseas.
She added: “The answer is not to suspend priority processing for other applications, or rush staff to enrol biometrics.”
Ms Bantleman said the change could be easily made by deleting the word ‘Ukraine’ from the list of nationalities required to have visitor clearance to enter the UK.
“The UK would stand with Ukraine, and treat Ukrainians in the same way as it treats nationals of nearly 100 other countries,” she said.
“Once they arrive at the border, biometrics of Ukrainians could be taken and they could be granted leave outside the rules and a full application could be processed once they are safely in the UK, as was done for residents of Hong Kong.”
The Homes for Ukraine scheme has seen 28,300 applications from British families but only 2,700 visas have been issued for this. Surely, it is time to follow the lead of the rest of Europe, and abandon visas for Ukrainian refugees altogether.
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