Labour's Yvette Cooper says Government position on family visas is "totally confusing"
As we reported on EIN earlier today, the Home Office's immigration-related support for Ukrainians following the Russian invasion of the country has caused considerable confusion. Home Secretary Priti Patel today gave an update to the House of Commons and via Twitter confirming the Home Office's position, though it appears not to have cleared the confusion.
Image credit: UK GovernmentWhile there was no official written statement or press release accompanying today's update, the Home Secretary posted on Twitter this evening: "Today I have confirmed the first phase of a bespoke humanitarian route for the people of Ukraine, which is responding directly to the needs and asks of the Ukrainian Government. It will enable Ukrainians permanently settled in the UK to stay. They and British Nationals can also bring their Ukrainian family here to seek sanctuary – which could see the UK welcome up to 100,000 people. All they need to do is pass biometric and security checks – there are no salary or language tests. Applications are being processed in just hours."
The Home Secretary added that further announcements will be made in due course.
The Home Secretary had earlier today given much the same update to the House of Commons, saying: "The Government have already announced the first phase of a bespoke humanitarian route for the people of Ukraine. The new route responds directly to the needs and asks of the Ukrainian Government. Every conflict and threat situation is unique and requires a tailored response. Our new route will continue to keep pace with the developing situation on the ground and has so far already supported hundreds of British nationals and their families resident in Ukraine to leave. UK Visas and Immigration staff continue to work around the clock to assist them. The route has also enabled dependents of British national residents in Ukraine who need a UK visa to apply through the temporary location in Lviv or through the visa application centres in Poland, Moldova, Romania and Hungary. Over recent weeks teams have been surged to these areas and applications have been completed within hours.
"We are in direct contact with individuals and we have also lowered various requirements and salary thresholds so that people can be supported. Where family members of British nationals do not meet the usual eligibility criteria but pass security checks, UK Visas and Immigration will give them permission to enter the UK outside the rules for 12 months and is prioritising all applications to give British nationals and any person settled in the UK the ability to bring over their immediate Ukrainian family members. I can confirm that through this extension alone an additional 100,000 Ukrainians will be able to seek sanctuary in the UK, with access to work and public services. We are enabling Ukrainian nationals already in the UK to switch free of charge into a points-based immigration route or to the family visa route. We are extending visas for Ukraine temporary workers in some sectors, and they can now stay until at least December 2022, primarily because no one can return to Ukraine. Anyone in Ukraine intending to apply under the family migration route should call the dedicated 24-hour Home Office helpline for assistance before making an application."
Labour's shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in response in the Commons that Priti Patel had failed to clear the confusion.
Cooper commented: "The Home Secretary said that she was announcing a bespoke humanitarian route, but it is extremely unclear from what she said what the details actually are or who it will apply to. The Ukrainian people are showing great bravery, but we know that people, particularly mothers and young children and elderly parents, have left to find sanctuary."
Cooper later asked Patel: "Let me ask her something very specific about the elderly parents of people who are living here in the UK, who are not covered by her announcement yesterday. Will the elderly parent who tried to join her daughter in the UK, who was turned down and made to go away by UK Border Force at the Gare du Nord, be able to return to the Gare du Nord today and come safely to the UK?"
The Home Secretary responded with a single-word answer "Yes".
However, in a point of order in the Commons this evening, Yvette Cooper said the Home Office has since clarified that these arrangements only apply to immediate family members, namely spouses/partners, children under 18 and parents of children under 18, and to dependent adult relatives requiring care due to a medical condition. They do not, therefore, apply to the elderly parents of adults, as the Home Secretary had said.
Cooper said this is "totally confusing" and suggests either the Home Office is giving out wrong advice about the policy or else the Home Secretary had given wrong information to the House of Commons.
Cooper called on the Speaker of the House of Commons to encourage Home Office ministers to provide clarity on the situation for the sake of Ukrainian families.
Journalist Adam Bienkov noted on Twitter this evening: "Priti Patel told [Yvette Cooper] today that the parents of Ukrainian adults living in the UK *would* now be able to come to the UK. The Home Office now tell me this wasn't true. Nothing has changed today from the criteria they announced yesterday."
Bienkov added: "Also the government appeared to suggest today that up to an additional 100,000 Ukrainians would be let into the UK. Again, that isn't true. The Home Office now saying that figure refers to changes announced two weeks ago."
The Home Secretary told ITV tonight that the Government will announce further changes to the policy of accepting Ukrainian refugees in the next few days.