More than 65 visas granted to Ukranian refugees with sponsors in Leeds, data shows

Issued under the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, the scheme allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor.

The data was published by the Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities on Friday, April 8.

Visas have been issued to local authorities based on the postcode of the sponsor’s address, or of the accommodation address if the applicant is not staying with the sponsor

The data does not contain the number of visas issued through the Ukraine Family Scheme, which allows applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK.

According to the data, a total of 66 visas have been granted for refugees with sponsors in Leeds.

A total of 96 have been granted in other parts of West Yorkshire; 26 in Bradford, 19 in Wakefield, 16 in Calderdale and 36 in Kirklees.

This means a total of 162 visas have been granted to Ukrainian refugees with sponsors who live in West Yorkshire.

The data does not contain the number of visas issued through the Ukraine Family Scheme, which allows applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK.

Around 12,000 people had arrived in the UK under Ukraine visa schemes as of Tuesday, April 12 according to Home Office figures.

Some 10,800 people had arrived under the Ukraine family scheme but only 1,200 had made it to the UK as part of the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme, provisional data published on the department’s website shows.

As of Thursday, about 79,800 applications had been submitted to the schemes and 40,900 visas had been granted.

Of these, 43,600 applications were for the sponsorship scheme, with 12,500 visas issued.

Out of 36,300 requests made for family visas, 28,500 had been approved.

The Home Secretary has apologised “with frustration” after coming under fire over “delays” in the time it is taking for Ukrainian refugees to arrive in the UK.

But Priti Patel denied visa requirements and checks are slowing the process and causing delays, insisting the UK will “absolutely see changes in numbers” as work continues.

Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, described the figures as “scandalous and shameful”, claiming thousands of people are “stuck in limbo” as she called on Ms Patel to “account for this national disgrace”.

The head of the British Red Cross has criticised the “long, complex” application process for Ukrainian refugees seeking sanctuary in the UK and has called for the removal of visa requirements.

Mike Adamson, the charity’s chief executive, said only a “small trickle” of refugees are reaching the UK and that it should be made “much easier to come here”.

“It will remain a slow process with the current visa arrangements in place and it’s only if we remove those that we’ll actually start to see a steady flow,” he told BBC Breakfast.

“The whole of Europe and many other countries have waived their visa requirements.

“Most Ukrainians have biometric passports so we can do checks on them when they get here, we can find out who they are.

“And if we set up really good welcome centres and hubs, as the Government has actually promised, then we can look after them there, go through the matching processes, check out all the safety and security requirements.

“But the key thing is we get far more people here and then Britain would be playing its part at scale alongside our partners across Europe and of course showing solidarity and practical support to the people of Ukraine in this terrible situation.”