SCOTLAND'S First Minister says she is hopeful after Priti Patel promised a streamlined online visa application system for Ukrainians seeking to flee the war with Russia.
In response to severe criticism over her approach to the crisis, the Home Secretary told MPs the changes will come in from Tuesday following assurances from the security services that the UK can still be protected from Russian efforts to "infiltrate" the country by posing as refugees.
The Home Office has come under pressure from opposition and Tory MPs – as well as the Ukrainian government – to simplify the system which allows family members of people settled in the UK to join their relatives.
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Patel said: “From Tuesday, I can announce that Ukrainians with passports will no longer need to go to a visa application centre to give their biometrics before they come to the UK.
“Instead, once their application has been considered and appropriate checks completed, they will receive direct notification that they’re eligible for the scheme and can come to the UK.
“In short, Ukrainians with passports will be able to get permission to come here fully online from wherever they are and will be able to give their biometrics once in Britain.
“This will mean that visa application centres across Europe can focus their efforts on helping Ukrainians without passports.”
More than two million people have fled Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.
While the European Union allows visa-free travel for Ukrainians fleeing the fighting, the UK insisted they are necessary to guarantee security.
Patel told the Commons: “I am in daily contact with the intelligence and security agencies who are providing me with regular threat assessments.
“What happened in Salisbury showed what (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is willing to do on our soil. It also demonstrated that a small number of people with evil intentions can wreak havoc on our streets.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel, Defence SecretaryBen Wallace and Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak listen as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses MPs
Patel said she was able to change the visa regime following security agencies’ fresh advice.
Nicola Sturgeon responded positively to the news, after saying the previous approach from Westminster has been "deeply shameful".
"Need to see detail of course - but this seems (I hope) to be a very significant shift towards a position of sanctuary first, paperwork second," she said. "If so, and while very belated, it is welcome - indeed, a massive relief. The UK position until now has been deeply shameful."
However, she added: "That said, if it still requires visa applications to be made before travel to UK, it does not yet go far enough."
And SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: "I strongly and wholeheartedly welcome what appears to be a significant U-turn from the UK Government on Ukrainian refugees.
"Scotland stands ready to welcome Ukrainian refugees with open arms. I hope we can now do that without unnecessary barriers from the Tory Home Office.
"The SNP has consistently called for the UK to have an open door policy for Ukrainian refugees. It's a disgrace it has taken the Tory government so long to change its position - and only after public pressure. We now need to see wholesale change implemented without further delay.
"That being said, we await the full details of the UK government's U-turn. The SNP is clear that all unnecessary barriers to sanctuary must be lifted - if the UK Home Office is still requiring visa applications to be made ahead of travel to UK then that is simply not good enough."
Back in the Commons, the Home Secretary faced calls from her own back benches to set up more processing centres in the UK specifically for elderly and vulnerable Ukrainians.
Conservative former minister Harriett Baldwin said: “I want to make a further suggestion, a practical one I hope, that could alleviate the situation. The House of Commons library says that there are 35,000 Ukrainian citizens here in the UK.
“I know that they are sick to death of worrying for their elderly mothers, babies, grandchildren and so on.
“Would it not be possible for us to have a hub for them here in the UK where everything could be done from here and they could be given provisional visas to come into the country, and then we check the biometrics here?”
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Patel said: “We are actually doing this across the country now. Yesterday I was in Manchester, we are working with the Ukrainian community groups there and also in Derby and, in fact, there is a whole network of the Ukrainian diaspora.”
She added the Ukrainian community had “asked to have hubs in community centres” in the UK, telling MPs: “We are establishing that, but we are working with the community to do that.”
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