Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to facilitate urgent visas for Ukrainian (a) spouses and (b) other immediate family members of British nationals to enable them to travel to the UK following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

As set out in the Home Secretary’s statement to the House on 1 March, a fee free, bespoke Ukraine Family Scheme has been introduced which allows both the immediate (spouse, civil partner, durable partner, minor children) and extended (parent, grandparent, adult children, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws and their immediate family) family members to join their relatives in the UK.

The UK-based sponsoring relative must be a British citizen, a person who is present and settled in the UK (including those with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme), a person in the UK with refugee leave or with humanitarian protection or a person in the UK with limited leave under Appendix EU (pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme). This route was launched on 4 March.

We are setting no limit on the numbers of people who can come here. We will be glad to welcome as many Ukrainians as wish to come under this scheme.

We continue to keep the situation in Ukraine under constant review. Further information on the visa process for Ukrainian family members who wish to come to the UK can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/support-for-family-members-of-british-nationals-in-ukraine-and-ukrainian-nationals-in-ukraine-and-the-uk#non-british-family-members-of-british-nationals-in-ukraine