Many people have been in touch with me about Government support for Ukrainian refugees. I know this is an issue my constituents care deeply about, and I am grateful that so many are offering to donate supplies and open their homes to those who have fled the war zone.
The situation in Ukraine and the forced displacement of Ukrainians is heart-breaking. I am absolutely appalled by the actions of President Putin’s barbaric regime and my thoughts are with the Ukrainian people, whose courage and patriotism in the face of foreign aggression is inspiring.
We are facing the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the second world war. Back then the UK stepped up and opened their homes to children fleeing the Nazis and so it comes as no surprise that people want to do their bit and welcome Ukrainian refugees now.
Thus the Government has made significant changes to the immigration system to allow the rapid implementation and provision of visas to Ukrainians who have been forced to flee their country. There will be no numerical limits on the visas we are granting, and visas will be free and valid for 3 years.
Through the Ukrainian Family Scheme, Ukrainians with family members in the UK will be able to apply for a temporary visa to come to the UK and access work. This scheme will now include extended family and is estimated to welcome in over 200,000 Ukrainians.
The “Homes for Ukraine” scheme has also opened, allowing Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to come here. There is no limit on this route, which will allow sponsors to nominate an individual or family to stay with them, rent-free, for at least six months. Once people arrive, they will have access to the NHS and other public services.
Many of my constituents have already expressed an interest in supporting Ukrainian families in this way. If you would like to register your interest in the scheme, you can do so at https://homesforukraine.campaign.gov.uk/ and I would very much appreciate it if you could keep me posted if you do choose to do this, as I would like to help the families that come to my constituency as best I can.
I am pleased that applicants with a passport or ID card will be able to apply for UK visas online and then give biometric data once in the UK. This will drastically speed up the process and allow visa application centres to focus on those without passports.
I have heard some calls for visa waivers and whilst I understand the sentiment behind this I believe it is vital that the British people are kept safe and it would be unwise to suspend security and biometric checks. This is an approach that we have retained consistently throughout all emergency evacuations, including that of Afghanistan and is probably more important in this case than ever before.
I trust you are pleased with the outcome of the various policy changes we have made to help welcome Ukrainian refugees as and when they choose to come to the UK.