Question to the Home Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce visa-free travel for relatives of UK citizens living in Ukraine during the current emergency.

There are no current plans to introduce visa free travel for relatives of UK citizens living in Ukraine. However, the Government has made a number of changes to help relatives of UK citizens to enter the UK.

On 27 February 2022, the Government made changes to allow Ukrainian family members of British nationals to apply for a family migration visa, free of charge, if the British national usually lives in Ukraine.

The Home Secretary announced on 1 March a fee free, bespoke Ukraine Family Scheme 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 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.

A Ukrainian national with a valid passport is able to apply online for a Ukraine Family Scheme visa without the need to enrol their biometrics until after arrival in the UK.