Rights granted under the EU-UK withdrawal Agreement that allow Ukrainian citizens to join relatives with EU citizenship in the UK cannot now be exercised, just when they are needed most.
Settled is calling on the Home Office to provide an immediate and effective means to exercise these rights so that people can travel from Ukraine to the UK.
Close family members of those EU citizens who have been granted Settled or Pre-Settled Status in the UK have the right to join them here, according to the EU-UK Withdrawal agreement 2019.
Family members in Ukraine needed to apply at the Kyiv Visa Application Centre and wait some months for an EU Settlement Scheme Family Permit to join their family in the UK. The recent closure of the Kyiv Visa Application Centre prevents them from exercising this right. The conflict makes a solution urgent.
Settled asks the Home Office:
– To remove the requirement for family members to make an in-person application for a family permit at a UK visa centre since none is available in Ukraine. Instead, allow secure online applications and allow applicants to scan and travel with their existing documents (passports) rather than needing to physically enrol biometrics.
– To grant such eligible applications as quickly as possible, and any others that are awaiting a decision.
– To expand eligibility to include not only close family members but also extended family where dependency can be demonstrated.
Settled urges the UK Government to consider these actions as part of their wider humanitarian response to support the people of Ukraine.’
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