Britain to ease rules for migrants from Ukraine in February: what will change

In February, Britain will ease the rules for migrants from Ukraine, allowing them to reunite with their children. Ukrainians who do not have the right to permanent residence in the country will be able to bring their children to the UK.

This was reported by BBC News Ukraine on January 31. The rules will come into force after appropriate changes are made to visa documents.

It is known that in February 2024, the government imposed restrictions on the Homes for Ukraine program, which allows Ukrainians to flee the war, without warning. According to the new rules, those who do not have the right to permanent residence in the UK could no longer sponsor others, including their own minor children.

Charitable organizations noted that these changes led to the separation of families, and some parents, in desperation, even resorted to illegal means to bring their children to Britain. The new relaxations in the rules are a "great relief" for parents separated from their children, but, according to human rights activists, they still do not solve the problem of reunification with other relatives, such as siblings or parents.

In February last year, the Conservative government changed the rules of the Homes for Ukraine program, stipulating that only British or Irish citizens, as well as those with permanent residency, could sponsor those in need of housing. This deprived Ukrainians who are in the UK without permanent resident status of the opportunity to sponsor their relatives to move.

A legal conflict arose: minor children could be sponsored by third-party British citizens, but not by their own parents. At the same time, the government closed the Ukraine Family Scheme program, which allowed Ukrainians to join their relatives with the right to permanent residence in Britain.

Now, the government has announced that parents or legal guardians who are in the UK on any of the visa programs for Ukrainians will be able to apply to sponsor their children through Homes for Ukraine.

"This will be a huge relief for those parents who have been separated from their children and will finally be able to bring them to the UK to be reunited safely," said Dora-Olivia Wikol, executive director of the migrant support charity.

However, she noted that this will not help those who have been separated from other family members, including siblings. The organization emphasizes that they are aware of cases of many Ukrainians who have been separated from family members and want to bring them to Britain.

"We are asking the Ministry of Internal Affairs to consider applications for children stuck in Ukrainian conflict zones, some of whom have been in limbo for almost a year," said Yulia Ismail, immigration adviser at the charity.

In his turn, a representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that urgent measures had been taken to solve these problems. And now it will allow parents with visas under the Ukrainian program to sponsor their own children so that "they can join them in Britain."

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on January 23, it became known that Ukrainian refugees living in Poland but not working and not paying taxes may be left without state assistance under the 800+ program. The bill has already been submitted to the Polish parliament. The proposal came from Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski.

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