In January, visa changes that had stopped Ukrainians from bringing their children to the UK were reversed. This gave hundreds of families hope that they could finally be together.
Ivan Vitsyn and his wife Olesia Aladko had been getting ready for months for their children to come to the UK. The family is from the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border. They left their 7 – year – old son and 10 – year – old daughter with Ivan’s parents while they looked for a good home in the UK.
The parents came to the UK in May 2023 as strawberry pickers on seasonal worker visas. They planned to sponsor their children under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. This scheme lets people in the UK host those running away from the war.
At first, they lived in a caravan. It took them several months to find a house to rent. But in February last year, the Conservative government suddenly changed the rules. Now, only British or Irish citizens, or those with the right to live in the UK permanently, could be sponsors.
Ivan, speaking through a translator, said, “We worked so hard to get ready to be with the kids. Then, all of a sudden, we couldn’t.” He added, “The dream was broken. We didn’t know what to do.”
Meanwhile, their children were stuck in Ukraine. They lived just 50 km (31 miles) from the battlefield, with the sounds of explosions all around. Ivan and Olesia tried very hard to find a British sponsor for their children, but they couldn’t.
Instead, they met scammers who asked for thousands of pounds to help.
Finally, they got in touch with the charity Settled. This charity helps Ukrainians with the visa process. Settled told them to apply for a visa, naming themselves as sponsors, even though the new rules were against it. They hoped the Home Office would make an exception. But their application was left hanging, with no decision, so they couldn’t do anything about it.
Ivan said, “Every day we checked our email. The wait was really painful.” Then, in January, the government said it was changing the rules back. Ukrainians could now sponsor their children to come to the UK again.
When Ivan and Olesia got an email saying their children’s visas were approved, they were very happy. Ivan said, “I can’t explain that feeling. It was the best feeling in the world.”
Settled has helped many Ukrainian families like Ivan and Olesia. Now, their applications are starting to get approved. But other people who want to bring relatives like siblings or parents are still apart.
Even though Ukraine wants to start peace talks and the US wants the war to end, the UK has given Ukrainians the right to apply to stay in the country for 18 more months.
Ivan hopes his family can go back to Ukraine one day. But he also said, “Even if the war stopped tomorrow, we’re not sure what would happen in our region.”
For Olesia, having her children with her means she can start rebuilding their lives in the UK. She said, “There’s probably no feeling like having your kids with you. You don’t worry. You don’t start your day reading about attacks in Ukraine. You sleep and wake up peacefully because your children are next to you. That’s all you need.”
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