Refugees: Afghanistan

(asked on 21st September 2021) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to simplify the process of family reunion across national boundaries for Afghan refugees.


Answered by
Victoria Atkins Portrait
Victoria Atkins
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
This question was answered on 29th September 2021

The Government’s family reunion policy allows a partner and children under 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. For Afghan refugees in the UK, we already have rules in place for their close family members to apply to join them in the UK and these can be found at https://www.gov.uk/settlement-refugee-or-humanitarian-protection/family-reunion

The UK is working with international partners to secure safe routes out of Afghanistan as soon as they become available. However, while the security situation remains extremely volatile, we recommend people still in Afghanistan do not make applications and pay application fees at this time as they will not be considered until biometrics are provided. The British Embassy in Kabul has currently suspended in-country operations and all UK diplomatic and consular staff have been temporarily withdrawn.

Those Afghans who are outside of Afghanistan and able to get to a Visa Application Centre to provide their biometrics can make an application in the usual way.

A policy statement on Afghanistan resettlement has been published on gov.uk www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-resettlement-and-immigration-policy-statement.

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