London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

Ukrainians with passports can apply for UK visas online

Ukrainians with passports can apply for UK visas online

Ukrainian refugees who have passports or ID cards will be able to apply for UK visas online from Tuesday, says Priti Patel.

The move has been done with the approval of the security services, the home secretary told MPs.

It will only apply to people applying under the scheme where they can join family members already in the UK.

The speed of the UK's response has been criticised, with Labour's Yvette Cooper calling it a "total disgrace".

Ms Patel said those applying online would be able to give their biometric data, such as fingerprints, once in the UK - allowing visa application centres to focus on those without passports.

No further details were given about how a second scheme for refugees, in which people and organisations could sponsor Ukrainians to come to the UK, would work or when it would begin.

It had been suggested that the family scheme might be expanded to include relatives of people in the UK on temporary visas but this was not addressed by the home secretary in the Commons.

But the Foreign Office has confirmed that all Ukrainian staff working for the British embassy and British Council in Ukraine plus their dependents are also able to come to the UK.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was right that the UK should have "an offer as generous as possible" that was "as light touch as possible" for refugees, but said it remained important to have checks.

He said "more than 1,000" visas had been issued but added that number would "climb very steeply".

Meanwhile, a UK charity appeal for Ukraine has raised £120m in less than a week. The Disasters Emergency Committee - made up of a group of UK aid charities - said the level of donations is second only to the response to the Boxing Day earthquake and tsunami in 2004.

Ms Patel said the new "streamlined approach" to visas would make the application process "quicker and simpler" but that the Ukrainians with passports can apply for visas online digital system would still allow "important checks" to be done.

Speaking about the issue of security, Ms Patel said the Salisbury poisonings in 2018 had showed what Russian President Vladimir Putin was "willing to do on our soil" and demonstrated that "a small number of people with evil intentions can wreak havoc on our streets".

MPs who had been pushing the government to go further and faster have called the change progress - but many are anxious for more details of the second sponsorship scheme to take in Ukrainians without family in the UK.

An announcement on this may not come until Monday, BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said.

Shadow home secretary Ms Cooper asked why it had taken "being hauled into the House of Commons to make basic changes to help vulnerable people who are fleeing from Ukraine?"

She also questioned why there had been a delay when the home secretary had "had intelligence for weeks, if not months, that she needed to prepare for a Russian invasion of Ukraine".

During a visit to the Tapa military base in Estonia, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the Home Office approach to visas had been a "complete shambles that is diminishing our reputation across the world".

He later told BBC Radio 5 Live the Home Office was "chopping and changing" policies and "making it harder" for refugees to reach the UK.

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has written to Mr Johnson urging him to do what the EU has done and waive all visa requirements for any Ukrainian nationals. Poland alone has taken in nearly 1.3 million people so far.

Earlier Ukraine's ambassador to the UK, Vadym Pystaiko, said refugees must not face bureaucratic hurdles, adding that most refugees did not pose a threat.

Pop-up visa application centre opening

From Phil Mackie in Arras, France


The Préfecture du Pas-de-Calais has announced where the "pop-up" visa processing centre for Ukrainian refugees will be.

There had been reports it would be in Lille, but it's in Arras in France, which is one hour from Calais, two from Brussels and three from Paris.

Although the UK government had promised that it would be open for several days, it still isn't, but the French authorities say it will be by Friday.

Many of the hundreds of Ukrainians who are in northern France have spent the past week travelling to the French and Belgian capitals to submit biometric information and documentation.

Many have already been processed and it's thought most will be by next Tuesday, when the process becomes simpler and will move online.

Meanwhile, the UK has announced sanctions against seven more Russian oligarchs including Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.

More than two million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded, and the Home Office has come under pressure to speed up visa processing.

Armed Forces Minister James Heappey told BBC Breakfast the Ministry of Defence had offered to assist the Home Office with the visa process, although the countries where application centres are set up would have to approve British troops being sent to help.


The decision to allow Ukrainians with an identity document to apply online for a visa to join family members in the UK is significant.

It means that from next week many refugees escaping the war and heading for Britain will not have to go to a visa application centre or VAC.

Allowing them to complete biometric tests in the UK after they arrive will reduce the pressure on stretched facilities in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere in Europe.

Biometrics required as part of a UK visa application include fingerprints and a photograph of the applicant's face.

However, the new rules will still exclude anyone who fled without their passport or identity document. They will have to go to a VAC in person. The rules also exclude Ukrainian residents who are not citizens of Ukraine.

Speaking on BBC One's Question Time, Mr Prystaiko pointed out that most of those trying to get to the UK were women with children who were not posing a terrorist threat and said he hoped "every bureaucratic red tape should be cancelled".

Elsewhere, Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said plans were under way to prepare for up to 100,000 Ukrainian children who might need places in UK schools.

'Overwhelming relief and sense of justice'


Luke Morgan has spent the last week trying to get hold of visas for his wife's family - travelling to Calais, Brussels and then Paris in an effort to fill out the necessary paperwork and provide biometric data.

Visas were finally granted on Wednesday for his wife's parents, sister and two nephews and the group set off for Calais right away after getting the visas.

The refugee crisis has escalated rapidly in recent days as Russia ramped up bombardments of civilian areas in cities.

On Wednesday, an air strike hit a maternity and children's ward at a hospital in the southern city of Mariupol.

The UK government's response to the refugee crisis has also been branded a "disgrace" by Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke, while fellow Conservative politician Sir Roger Gale called on Ms Patel to resign over the situation.


Ukrainians with passports will be able to apply for UK visas online from Tuesday - Priti Patel

Yvette Cooper on the Home Office response to Ukrainian refugees: “Our country is better than this”

Watch: A British man has called the UK visa process "torturous" after his wife's family fled Ukraine


Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×