Delays to Ukrainian refugee applications ‘unacceptable’, admits minister

Lord Harrington says visa process ‘too slow’ as just under 10 per cent of 28,300 completed applications granted in two weeks

Children from Mariupol at a church in Lviv. Families trying to flee Ukraine have told of their frustration at British red tape
Children from Mariupol at a church in Lviv. Families trying to flee Ukraine have told of their frustration at British red tape

The refugees minister has blamed Home Office red tape for the "unacceptable" delays to Ukrainians' applications for refuge in UK homes that have seen just 2,700 visas granted in two weeks.

Lord Harrington, masterminding Michael Gove's Homes for Ukraine scheme, said the visa process had been "too slow" and bureaucratic, admitting his own attempt to fill in the application form had taken an hour. 

He said waits of two to three weeks for refugees to have their applications granted were "unacceptable".

On Tuesday, The Telegraph revealed that some Ukrainian families have given up on coming to the UK because of the red tape, deciding to stay in other EU countries.

One source at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said there was "frustration" and "anger" at the slow start to the scheme, adding: "Everyone appreciates it's a crisis and a new system – but it's that familiar refrain that we have seen in endless committee reports that, when you flick the switch, not a lot happens."

Home Office figures on Wednesday showed that just under 10 per cent – 2,700 – of the 28,300 completed applications for the Homes for Ukraine scheme had been granted, nearly two weeks after it officially opened. A further 170,000 people or organisations have registered an interest.

"There has been some talk, quite correctly in my view, that the visa application process, the actual filling out, is too slow," said Lord Harrington.

"I agree with that. I sat down on Saturday morning and spent just under an hour filling one out myself, and I was sitting comfortably with a cup of tea rather than being a refugee, not in Ukraine but in Poland or wherever. We are going through every step of trying to shorten that form."

Families have reported taking between two hours and half a day to complete the forms, which include uploading documents to prove residence and identity of both adult sponsors and refugees. Despite promises to process them within days, thousands are still waiting nearly two weeks on.

Love Bristol, a charity that has helped 70 Ukrainian refugees in Poland apply for UK visas, said none had so far been approved in the 13 days since the sponsorship scheme opened for applications.

Volunteer Andy Persson said: "It's frankly embarrassing because we've got all the desks side by side with our big UK flag, and then there's Germany next door, Spain on the other side.

"And we've been seeing people come to them, buses come in, they get everything sorted – 200 people a day going straight off to Spain, Germany, France. We have to tell people coming to us: 'It's going to be two or three weeks you're here before you go – are you sure you want to do that?'"

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Among those waiting are Viktoria Artemenko and her children Violetta and Vitaliy, who have been staying in temporary accommodation in Przemysl, Poland, as they wait for news of their UK visa application after being matched with a family in Manchester.

Mr Persson said some refugees who had wanted to come to the UK had changed their minds because it was more straightforward to go to other European countries.

Lord Harrington said: "It should not be two or three weeks [waiting time]. That's unacceptable. The reality is it is taking too long. A reasonable target would be two or three days."

He said his aim was to increase the visa approval rate to 2,000 a day "by next week or the week after", with 500 Home Office staff now working weekends and evenings to process applications. He admitted the scheme "is not a perfect scheme" and "we've not got everything right".

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Appearing before the Commons liaison committee, Boris Johnson defended the speed of offering refuge to people fleeing Ukraine, saying security checks were needed on refugees, to ensure they were who they said they were, and host families, to ensure they were fit to take refugees in.

Mr Johnson said there had already been cases of "people coming from that war zone who may not be entirely who they say they are", adding: "What I wanted was a system that was as light touch as possible and would enable people to come here but would enable us also to do checks.

"We are outside the Schengen system, we have the advantage of being able to clarify people's status, [that] they're bona fide – that's not a bad thing if you want to have a programme that really works and commands confidence."

It also emerged on Wednesday that dozens of Ukrainians have reported as homeless after arriving in the UK. The Local Government Association said 144 Ukrainian households had reported themselves homeless, 36 of which came to Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

They included some who had entered the UK via Ireland, which offers visa-free travel to Ukrainian refugees.

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