Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to support victims of domestic violence who are applying for (a) visas and (b) citizenship from within the UK.

Tackling domestic abuse is a key priority for this Government and we are committed to supporting all victims of domestic abuse. Anyone who has suffered domestic abuse must be treated as a victim first and foremost, regardless of their immigration status.

The Destitute Domestic Violence Concession (DDVC) allows for eligible migrant partners to apply for the lifting of the no recourse to public funds condition associated with their leave, enabling the victim to access welfare benefits while their application for indefinite leave to remain as a victim of domestic abuse (DVILR) is made and considered. We aim to consider all DVILR applications within six months and applicants have access to public funds and permission to stay in their own right, until a decision on their application is made. This removes the need for them to remain with their sponsor on whom they may have been financially dependent or reliant on for their permission to stay in the UK.

To be eligible for DVILR an individual’s last grant of leave must have been on a spouse, civil partner, unmarried partner or same sex partner visa in a relationship with a British citizen or settled person. Other cohorts, such as those with refugee leave or the partners of those with pre-settled status via the EU Settlement Scheme, are also eligible to apply for DVILR. Applicants who are destitute are exempt from paying a fee for this application.

Data on the number of applications and performance under the DV route are published quarterly, with the latest quarter available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/visas-and-citizenship-data-q2-2022.

Following the Government’s review of support for migrant victims in 2020, last year we launched the Support for Migrant Victims Scheme.

The 12-month pilot, run by Southall Black Sisters and their delivery partners, and supported with £1.5 million of Government funding, has provided wraparound support services for migrant victims of domestic abuse with no recourse to public funds. Support includes: accommodation, subsistence, and counselling.

The pilot and independent evaluation aims to ensure that we have a robust evidence base to inform future policy decisions surrounding our support for migrant victims. The evaluation will be producing a final report later in 2022.

In the interim, we will provide £1.4 million in 2022-23 to continue to fund support for migrant victims of domestic abuse, whilst we take on board vital lessons learned from the pilot to inform future policy decisions.