Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her oral statement of 1 March 2022, whether someone living in the UK on a visitor visa who wants to bring an elderly aunt or uncle to the UK from Ukraine would be covered by the Ukraine Family Scheme.
Answer
As set out in the Home Secretary’s statement to the House on 1 March, a fee free, bespoke Ukraine Family Scheme has been introduced. The route allows both the immediate (spouse, civil partner, durable partner, minor children) and extended (parent, grandparent, adult children, grandchildren, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, in laws and their immediate family) family members to join their relatives in the UK.
The UK-based sponsoring relative must be a British citizen, a person who is present and settled in the UK (including those with settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme), a person in the UK with refugee leave or with humanitarian protection, or a person in the UK with limited leave under Appendix EU (pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme). This route was launched on 4 March.
A niece is permitted to join her aunt and uncle in the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme if those relatives have the appropriate status to sponsor as a UK-based relative under the scheme.
A person who is in the UK as a visitor would not qualify as a UK-based sponsor and would not be covered by the scheme to bring relatives to the UK.
We continue to keep the situation in Ukraine under constant review. Further information on the visa process for Ukrainian family members who wish to come to the UK can be found here: