Helping a Ukrainian family - visa & experience so far

[trickysummer]

Hi everyone,

Similar to the other thread about this which has had many responses, I’m now working through the process of helping a Ukrainian family (mother and child) make the move to the UK. my wife suggested it a couple of weeks back and having registered with a charity, an introductions web site which allows Ukrainian’s to make contact with uk sponsors, and the government web site on Friday we were contacted.

The main things we were concerned about was the language barrier, mainly from the perspective of at least both sides being able to communicate prior to them making such a big step, plus all the other things which are going to be required to ensure they can get their visa, and a level of support when they arrive, plus for us it was important our own kids (7 & 9) felt part of the decision.

We had a video call on Saturday, their conditions were not good at all, clearly very cold, lots of people in very limited space, and poor connectivity, after that call it was impossible not to know that this is the right thing to do. The mother speaks a little English but it was going to be very hard to explain the visa process, from what I can find online, none of which is in Ukrainian (English only).

Luckily I have a Russian speaking colleague who kindly offered to join a call today, with the families agreement, to get the Visa’ submitted. This process is very time consuming, i am used to completing foreign visa applications from when I have worked or holidayed in various countries around the world. The Ukrainian Uk visa process took me 2 hours to complete, it is required to be done for each traveler, despite significant data duplication. Fortunately the family’s Wi-Fi connection held out, which they are piggy backing off a nearby apartment for. We now are in the hands of Uk immigration to get the green light before they can book travel and get over here.

This is my experience so far after a very quick moving development this weekend. I hope to be able to update this thread with good news on the visa’s soon.

A few questions I have got which I don’t know the answer to just yet…

Does anyone else who’s done this know about any good resources online, in Ukrainian language which maybe useful to share? The family are keen to know about things like the school application process, whether they need to get a Uk bank account and how soon can they do this once their visa is approved, or if their PrivatBank one can be used when they register for universal credit (the mother is a very qualified professional and keen to seek work when she feels able), plus any other helpful tips or info. Is there any Ukrainian channels on sky? Or streaming services other than the usual Netflix, Disney, Prime we should be looking into so they can have some language specific content? (Fortunately I believe RT has been taken off the air!)

Me & my wife are happy to provide for them whilst they get everything sorted out, and will do all we can to make them feel as welcome as possible. Figuring out welcome packs or familiar ingredients or anything like that needs looking into.

Would welcome replies from anyone else in this process at any stage, I’m happy to share anything I can to help, or hear things you’ve learned which maybe useful?

Thanks everyone…

[swanseaboydan]

I think I am lucky as local Russian and Belarusian friend will be giving me support initially. Also - someone has set up a local Facebook group
With the intention of linking Ukrainian families here once they arrive. The whole application process is a nightmare though .. good luck,

[trickysummer]

Thanks Swanseaboydan your post spurred me on. Hopefully the process quickly gets easier, hard to believe the Uk gov application website is not in dual language