Ukraine crisis: The Brits trying to get family out of the country

Atif is originally from London but has a Ukrainian fiancee

With Russian troops ordered into eastern Ukraine, some British citizens are still desperately trying to get their families out of the country.

Atif Choudhury, from London, says his "stress levels are through the roof" as he tries to get a visa for his Ukrainian fiancee to travel to the UK.

He flew to Ukraine on 11 February and had been planning to start a new life with his partner there. But shortly after he arrived, the UK told its nationals to leave because of fears of a Russian invasion.

The UK government has announced a temporary waiver on visa fees for non-British family members and partners of UK citizens in Ukraine, and a relaxing of criteria. But in general, Ukrainians still need a standard visitor visa (or other visa) before entering the UK, even for a short trip.

So far Atif has been unable to apply for his fiancee due to a technical error with his online application form.

When he tries to submit the application an error occurs saying his answer cannot use special characters - even though this isn't the case.

Atif, 51, says he has made several phone calls to the Home Office but "they just keep passing me from pillar to post".

Although there are not believed to be widespread technical issues with the online application form, Atif has so far been unable to get the problem resolved.

"I can't believe we might be stuck here due to a technical error," he tells the BBC. "We're starting to get pretty scared now and I don't know what to do."

"The situation has really become unbearable. Emotionally, mentally it's really draining," he adds.

Due to the escalating situation near the Russian border, the couple recently left where they were living in Odesa for the western city of Lviv.

Despite the dangers, Atif is determined he will not leave Ukraine without his fiancee.

"If war breaks out, if there is an invasion, I will continue to stay with her."

• 'We don't have the option to leave Ukraine'

• Why is Putin ordering troops into Ukraine?

Jon Bryant, who is originally from Southampton, is also facing an anxious wait to see if his Ukrainian wife will be able to get an emergency visa, after first trying to apply a week ago.

His wife, who is seven months pregnant, is reluctant to leave her home and family behind in Ukraine but Jon is worried about their safety.

"Clearly if things deteriorate here it's not going to be pretty," he says. "It's going to be a very scary situation."

To get a visa approved, applicants must attend an in-person appointment in Kyiv or Lviv, more than 10 hours by bus from where the couple live in Odesa.

Jon, 51, has been calling daily to try and book an appointment but was told this was not possible and he should just turn up.

They now plan to travel there on Thursday night in the hope that they can get an appointment.

"If that's unsuccessful I'll have to find another way for my wife to travel with me to the UK because the situation is escalating constantly right now," he says.

Jon married his wife Nataliia last year, after they met on a cruise ship where they were both working

Nick Mansfield, from Poynton in Cheshire, says he has spent hundreds of pounds calling the UK Visas and Immigration hotline from Ukraine to try and get his wife and two daughters, aged five and eight, to the UK - but no one was calling him back.

After several days waiting for a response, he got so desperate that he decided to fly back on his own to the UK, where he thought it might be easier to make calls and secure a visa for his family.

The couple have been married for six years but for the past few years he has been splitting his time between Ukraine and the UK, where he owns a web design business.

His wife had been planning to get a visa to move to the UK two years ago but then the pandemic put a stop to their plans.

They now have an appointment to get an emergency visa in Kyiv on Friday - but Nick says he "wasted" five days waiting for the immigration service to call him back.

The Home Office said the government was "working around the clock to process visa applications".

"These applications are being prioritised and, where we have all relevant information, we will aim to process within 24 hours and issue to the person as soon as possible.

"Where further information is needed we will contact the applicant within 24 hours to advise of this," a spokeswoman said.

Nick splits his time between the UK and Dnipro, where wife and two daughters live

Nick has now booked his family a flight from where they live in Dnipro, eastern Ukraine, to Kyiv but is worried it could be cancelled if the situation deteriorates.

The 38-year-old is also concerned that by the time his family are able to get a visa there may be no flights to the UK. Lufthansa and Swiss Air Lines are among the companies that have already suspended flights to Ukraine.

He wants the UK government to charter flights to help its citizens and their family leave Ukraine but ministers have warned this won't be possible.

Nick says that if his wife were able to travel without a visa "I would just book them on a flight now".

"[The UK government are] trying to do stuff faster but I don't know if it's fast enough," he says. "I don't know how long we have."

Dnipro, where the family live, is in eastern Ukraine, not far from the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, which are controlled by Russian-backed separatists.

Nick fears the industrial city of Dnipro could be one of the first Russian troops head for if President Vladimir Putin decides to send forces further into Ukraine.

"I'm just hoping there's not going to be a violent invasion," he says. "If they decline this visa I'm going to fly back. There's no way I could leave my wife and daughters there on their own."