Ukraine ambassador to UK struggled to get visa for his wife to join him

Vadym Prystaiko says UK Home Office system has long-standing issues even before war

Ukraine ambassador to Britain has revealed that he struggled to get a visa for his wife to come with him to Britain when he was appointed.

Vadym Prystaiko said the UK's immigration policy had been bureaucratic and out of line with the rest of Europe "even before the war".

It comes as the UK refuses to grant open door entry to Ukrainians fleeting the Russian invasion of their country, even as the rest of Europe drops all entry requirements.

Mr Prystaiko, a former foreign minister and ex head of his country's mission to Nato, assumed office as ambassador to the UK in July 2020.

Describing the evolution of the UK's visa process for Ukrainians he said:

"You used to produce visas in Ukraine in Kyiv, which allows all Ukrainians to get one, but that's the biggest-by-territory nation in Europe. So even travelling to one particular place was hassle already.

"Then you moved it to Poland years ago. It was much more difficult to get to Poland. Then you moved it all the way to these islands. To process visas it was always bureaucratic hassles."

Turning to his own experience, he told MPs on the Home Affairs select committee: "I have to tell you that even when I was coming here as ambassador, I got my visa on time, and although I was already approved by your government for half a year, my wife didn't have it. So even simple things like that, bureaucracy is so tough."

Mr Prystaiko also contrasted the UK's approach with the Schengen visa zone, which has given Ukrainians visa free entry for tourism purposes for around a decade. Britain has enjoyed visa free tourist entry to Ukraine since 2005.

"When we reached agreement for a visa free regime with Europeans, which worked quite beautifully for almost 10 years we never managed to open this particular nation," he said.

"I know that you have strict immigration policies but all Europeans also have them at the same time. We opened up for your citizens in 2005!"

UK government has said it will only grant visas to Ukrainian refugees with family connections or sponsorship by a third party.

Immigration ministers have suggested people could be pretending to be Ukrainian and that they might consider coming to Britain on work visas to pick fruit.

The approach has sparked anger in other countries, with France's interior minister accusing the British government of a "lack of humanity".

The European Union has activated a special law which will allow all people fleeing the conflict to access housing and other public services for an initial period of three years. They will not be asked to apply for asylum or visas.

The latest official stats suggested 300 Ukrainians have been granted visas to come to Britain – dwarfed by the two million who have actually fled the country. Poland hosts 1.2 million and the UK’s neighbour Ireland has taken 2,000 people so far, with its government saying it expects to take between 80,000 and 100,000 people in total.