Ukraine war: Scottish expat worried over Ukrainian wife's visa bid

Sean and wife Chloe spent the first few days of the invasion sheltering from Russian air strikes in Kharkiv

A Scottish expat trying to flee Ukraine is in talks with the Home Office about returning to the UK with his Ukrainian wife and their two-year-old son.

Sean Cusick, wife Chloe and their two-year-old son left the besieged city of Kharkiv last week on a train to Lviv.

The family hope to finally cross the border into Poland on Tuesday but they are worried about getting a visa for the UK.

The UK government is facing criticism over the issue of visas for refugees.

By Monday, about 300 had been granted to people fleeing the war in Ukraine - up from 50 on Sunday.

Lawyers dealing the application process say it is bureaucratic and inefficient.

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace said the process needed to be speeded up and his department would help the Home Office accelerate the system.

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Mr Cusick, who is originally from Glasgow, endured days of air strikes in Kharkiv before leaving the city with his family last week.

He spoke to BBC Scotland before the Home Office gave updated figures on refugee visas on Monday.

"The figures coming out in regards to the UK accepting visas is quite worrying," he said.

"The UK government said initially they would take 100,000 people, then 200,000 people.

"As of yesterday about 10,000 people have applied but only 56 or 57 have been accepted. We are not betting on it but we were hoping."

Mr Cusick said the family, who have two dogs and a cat, had been speaking to the Home Office ahead of their bid to cross the border into Poland.

He added that they had also received support from the Polish side and had people lined up to take them to their temporary accommodation.

"We don't know how long it is going to take at the border, he said. "It could take 10 hours it might be more than a day."

Ms Cusick said the family planned to take plenty of food and snacks to sustain them on the final leg of their journey out of Ukraine.

She is undernourished as a result of her experiences and requires medical treatment.

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But her main concern is for the family she has left behind, including her mother and sister.

Ms Cusick said: "I can't sleep because I am checking the messages and checking the notifications from my city, if there is any bombings in the area where my Mum lives."

She admitted the events of the last 12 days had taken a heavy physical and emotional toll.

"I feel extremely sad all the time," she said. "It is very difficult to enjoy anything."

Application in English

There are two main routes to a visa for refugees from the war, requiring them either to have family in the UK, or a designated UK sponsor for their application.

Barrister Jennifer Blair, who has been helping refugees in search of legal advice, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that they were facing a series of hurdles.

"The UK is requiring people to make a visa application if they're a refugee fleeing Ukraine, whereas other European countries are allowing people in and going through the process of regularising them after they've reached safety and got basic amenities in place," she said.

"You have to make an application online - a lot of people don't speak English and it's only an English application.

"You have to provide supporting evidence - a lot of people don't have that because they're fleeing war.

"You have to wait somewhere or travel somewhere - a lot of people we're advising are having to make quite dangerous or expensive journeys to travel to do their biometrics. So because we've got this admin, there's so many places where it can go wrong for people."

Ken Stewart's wife Tania had to wait for a visa to be able to enter the UK with her husband and children

Meanwhile, another Scot who managed to get to Poland has finally made it on to a flight to Heathrow with his family.

Ken Stewart had fled his home 40 miles west of Kyiv with his Ukranian wife Tania, three-year-old Yaryna and three-week-old baby Douglas.

They made it to Poland after a 40-hour wait in a line at the border.

On Twitter he shared a photo of his baby son on the BA flight to London.

They are heading back to Mr Stewart's mother's home in Aberdeenshire.

Ken Stewart's baby Douglas on flight to Heathrow

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