Latitude Law has volunteered as immigration lawyers to be part of the Ukraine Advice Project UK. They are a group of volunteer legal professionals with immigration and asylum expertise. Providing a free service to connect Ukrainian citizens (and others fleeing Ukraine) with free legal advice on UK immigration, visas and asylum from qualified and regulated lawyers.

Get immigration advice

The information in this article is provided by the Ukraine Advice Project UK

For this information translated to Читайте українською | Читайте на русском | Polski

To request advice, please contact [email protected] with some details of your circumstances and what advice you need.

Advice is only available in English. If you do not speak English, you will need to ask a friend or family member to translate for you.

The lawyers who have volunteered to give advice are experts in UK visas and refugee rules but not how to travel out of Ukraine or around Europe. There is some information about travel on the Work Rights Centre website.

How to come to or stay in the UK

Coming to the UK

You need a visa

If you have a Ukrainian passport, you need a visa to travel to the UK. You are almost certain to be refused entry without one.

If you have family in the UK

There are special visa arrangements in place allowing any British person or immigrant who is settled in the UK to sponsor Ukrainian family members to come to the UK, including parents, siblings, adult children, in-laws and cousins. This “Ukraine Family Scheme” opened for online applications on 4 March 2022.

Unfortunately, Ukrainian citizens with only temporary permission to live in the UK, such as a Skilled Worker or Student visa, cannot sponsor relatives under the Ukraine Family Scheme.

There is a special UK government immigration helpline for Ukrainians with family in the UK who want to ask about visas: call +44 808 164 8810 and select option 1 (0808 164 8810 if you’re in the UK).

Work or study visa

If you don’t have a British sponsor but might qualify for a normal UK work or study visa, these can also be granted without providing the usual documents.

Visitor visas

You can apply for a visa to enter the UK as a visitor and include “clear compelling or compassionate reasons for your visit”. You must intend to leave the UK at the end of the visit – a maximum of six months.

Claiming asylum

You cannot apply for asylum from outside the UK.

Already in the UK

Visa extensions

The UK government has made it easier for Ukrainian citizens already in the UK to stay on within the mainstream immigration system, including by applying to switch from a visit visa to another type of immigration permission (such as a work or study visa).

Claiming asylum

If you do not already have indefinite leave to remain in the UK you may wish to apply for asylum but should speak to a lawyer first.

Ukrainian citizens in the UK may be entitled to refugee status and/or humanitarian protection. This may also apply to stateless people normally resident in Ukraine.

There is more information about the asylum process in the UK on the Right to Remain website and the Free Movement website.

Learn more about securing residency in the United Kingdom as someone affected by the Ukraine war

The immigration lawyers at Latitude Law have been providing invaluable specialist advice and legal representation to clients since 2007.

The information in this article is provided by the Ukraine Advice Project UK

Reach out to Gary and request a consultation today.