UK-based Ukrainians in visa plea over family members

Svitlana calls her family in Ukraine every few hours and remains hopeful she can help get them to safety

Ukrainians living in the UK are pleading for a rethink on visa restrictions as they desperately try to get family members to safety.

About seven million people are thought to have been displaced by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the United Nations reports that more than 500,000 people have fled the country.

Currently, only those settled in the UK can bring over immediate family members but there are calls to widen access.

For many it is an anxious wait as they try to keep contact with relatives amid a fast-moving conflict.

Under the current rules Svitlana, from Bristol, is unable to arrange for her cousin to join her.

Svitlana was born in Donetsk and grew up in Kharkiv, where her family remains. She moved to Bristol to study at the age of 16 and is now a British citizen.

She said: "I campaign to be able to bring my cousin here because she's a very close family member of mine but at the moment it's not possible."

About 200 people attended a rally in support of Ukraine on Wednesday evening in Bristol

After criticism the UK was doing less than EU countries, the government widened the scheme.

It currently allows adult parents, grandparents, children over 18 and siblings to come over, and UK firms will also be able to sponsor a Ukrainian entering the country.

But for Svitlana this doesn't go far enough. She wants visa requirements to be waived in light of the conflict.

"I feel it's not being fair that only immediate family can come," she said.

"All family is family and all people are people. We need to help them to survive, to live."

'Heart-wrenching'

She is collecting donations and fundraising to support those in need in her home country and is deeply concerned for her family.

"At the moment in Kharkiv it's actually impossible to get out so it would be amazing if something can be agreed for a safe route at the hotspots of war in Ukraine to evacuate people and get them to a safe place.

"I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to get them out. They are still alive. I'm desperate," she added.

Julie said it had been a very upsetting time for everyone in her family

Julie, 56, who lives near Frome in Somerset, has flown to Poland to help her seven-year-old Ukrainian granddaughter, Jessica, who has had to flee her home in Kyiv with her mother Viktoriia, maternal grandmother and three-year-old brother.

Julie's son is in the Navy and was unable to get to Poland to meet Jessica, who he co-parents with Viktoriia.

Viktoriia and family left Kyiv on Saturday and spent more than 24 hours travelling to Poland, arriving at the border on Sunday, but visa delays have prevented them going any further.

"We are a very close family... it's been an upsetting time for everyone, but particularly Viktoriia and her mother as they have had to leave family behind.

"Obviously Viktoriia wanted to get her children out and her mum went with her but it is heart-wrenching not knowing what happens next," she said.

They went to the British Embassy on Monday to apply for visas and were told they would hear about them in 24 hours, "which hasn't happened", said Julie.

Maryna Morris is trying to get her son to join her in the UK

"I rang the embassy again on Wednesday and they said it could take a minimum of 15 days so we're all a bit anxious just waiting to hear really.

"It would just be nice if the government, or whoever needs to, could get things turned over quite quickly, that's all we're begging them to do, so it's a bit of stability for anyone trying to come to England and see their families in the UK," she added.

Maryna Morris is also trying to get her son Alexei out of Ukraine to be with her in Avonmouth, Bristol.

'Eight days like eight years'

She said it was not safe for people to even go to the shops and there was a lack of food as areas become cut-off.

"Eight days of this war for me is like eight years," she said.

Meanwhile, Iryna has lived in Bristol for eight years but does not yet have settled status, which means under the current visa rules she can't help get her sister and her children to the UK from Poland, where they have fled.

"It's really worrying for me because I'm trying to think what people are going through," she said.

Iryna lives in Bristol with her British husband David and their daughter

"They've lost their jobs, their stability, their income. I really want them to join me because I can help them and give them this safe haven.

"I can shield them from all the bad things that's happening in Ukraine," said Iryna.

In a statement to Parliament, Home Secretary Priti Patel said the UK government had announced a "generous" and "unprecedented" package of measures to help Ukrainians and their family members enter the UK.

But she added Russian troops were "seeking to infiltrate" Ukrainian forces and there were "extremists on the ground" in Ukraine, so "we cannot suspend any security or biometric checks on people we welcome to our country".

Kristina is from Ukraine and is studying in Bristol

Forest of Dean MP Mark Harper, who served as immigration minister from 2012-2014, told the BBC Britain should be welcoming refugees.

"It's very clear in this case, people escaping from Ukraine are refugees from a war and we should be generous and welcoming and I think that's the general mood of Britain," he added.