Politicians from all parties highlighted a variety of serious problems with the Homes for Ukraine visa system during an urgent question to the Commons about the handling of the refugee crisis by the Home Office. The latest figures show that only one in five people issued visas under the Homes for Ukraine program has arrived in the United Kingdom. The deputies suggested that the relatively small number of people traveling was a consequence of the non-simultaneous issuance of visas to family units, with the approval of visas for children often taking several weeks longer. About 86,000 visas have been issued to people leaving Ukraine under the two government programs for Ukrainian refugees (Ukraine’s family system and the Homes for Ukraine program), but only 27,100 have traveled to the UK. Of the 51,300 visas issued under the Homes for Ukraine program, only 11,000 have actually arrived in the United Kingdom. Home Secretary Kevin Foster dismissed as nonsense reports that the Home Office had a deliberate policy of denying visas to children. “I know the allegations that have been made, the false allegations that I have to say, that there is a deliberate move to reject individual visas. “This is complete nonsense,” he told the Commons. However, he acknowledged that there were bureaucratic issues that meant refugees did not immediately receive emails informing them that visas had been issued. “We are aware of an issue with the way the current system works, in terms of the decision that is made and then it has to be sent,” he said. It has been clear for several weeks that there are serious delays between visa approval and refugees receiving emails telling them they are allowed to travel. This is thought to be the result of a pending workflow between two separate groups of civil servants, with one group responsible for issuing visas and another group based elsewhere responsible for notifying those decisions. Foster said there was a separate team working to “secure the shipment”, but said the government was working to set up “a fully online” automated system next month to “resolve the issue”. Shadow Home Secretary Stephen Kinnock said there was widespread frustration with the speed with which refugee cases were being handled, adding: “For too many, the open line has calmed down.” Many MEPs said delays in issuing visas had left refugees stranded, exposing them to homelessness and various other risks as they waited for a visa to be issued by the UK government. Stuart MacDonald, a spokesman for Scotland’s Home Office, said the government had erected “a huge wall of bureaucracy and bureaucracy” which “caused utterly dissuasive misery to Ukrainians fleeing the war” and called for its abolition. SNP fellow MP Deirdre Brock highlighted the case of Julia, a Kharkiv primary school teacher who has been waiting more than a month for a visa for her two-year-old daughter. She was told earlier this week that the visa had been issued and the travel documents would be issued in a few days. “But the mother of the child had called by mistake, as it was actually someone else’s visa that had been issued and it would take about two more weeks for the correct visa to arrive. “These people are actually homeless,” he said. “Every day the message that they are welcome in the UK is fading a little more.”
“I feel powerless”
Andrew Saunders, who offered to support Yulia and her daughter Diana, said: “From start to finish it was a surprisingly inconvenient and inconvenient process – it was going to take three to five days, but we have been through more than a month and we are still waiting for the visa for the two-year period “. Julia, who asked not to have her last name printed, said she was confused by the need to carry out extended checks before issuing a two-year visa. After a month in Germany, she said, her money ran out and her daughter was increasingly upset. “I feel really upset and frustrated. We are already in four places and have to move again this weekend, so I’m looking for a fifth place to stay. I feel powerless. “ A government spokesman said: “We are processing thousands of visas a day – this shows that the changes we have made to streamline the service are working and we will continue to build on this success to further speed up the process.”
