Ukrainian refugees will be able to apply for UK visas in Lille – Truss

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told MPs about the ‘pop-up’ site in the city in northern France after the Government’s resettlement policy was criticised.
Liz Truss told the Commons about the ‘pop-up’ site in Lille (Aaron Chown/PA)
PA Wire
Flora Thompson8 March 2022

Ukrainian refugees will be able to apply for UK visas at another processing centre being set up in Lille, according to the Foreign Secretary.

Liz Truss told MPs about the “pop-up” site in the city in northern France after the Government’s resettlement policy for fleeing war-torn Ukraine was branded “cruel and chaotic”.

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Labour MP Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) asked: “Will the Foreign Secretary speak to her colleague the Home Secretary about the cruel and chaotic way that desperate Ukrainian refugees are being treated by her department?

“It cannot be right that there is no visa application centre in Calais and Ukrainian refugees who travel thousands of miles to Calais are being redirected to either Paris or Brussels. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that this brings the UK into disrepute?”

Ms Truss replied: “The Home Office have placed staff in Poland and Hungary to help people, they have also … the Home Secretary has announced a new pop-up application site in Lille.

“I can tell her that the Home Office has set up a surgery for MPs in Portcullis House which I am sure she will be very welcome to take any cases she has to.”

It comes after Home Secretary Priti Patel told MPs on Monday: “I can confirm that we have set up a bespoke VAC en route to Calais but away from the port because we have to prevent that surge taking place.”

But she later told the Commons the Government is still “setting up” the visa application centre (VAC), adding that there was a need to avoid creating “choke points” in Calais and instead “encourage a smooth flow of people”, as concerns were raised over Ukrainians being turned away from the French port city.

There are no plans to open a centre in Calais, but this will be under regular review.

It is understood officials want to avoid drawing vulnerable Ukrainians to the area, where organised crime gangs exploit migrants hoping to cross the Channel.

Ukrainians already in Calais will be able to use the Eurostar for free to get to centres in Paris, Brussels and Lille, and Home Office staff will assess what additional support vulnerable people may need.

The pop-up facility in Lille, which is currently being set up, is not intended to become a large-scale visa application centre.

A Downing Street spokesman said the centre was “en route to Calais” and “the Home Office are working quickly to set it up and we expect it to be set up in the coming days”.

Asked why it was not being set up in Calais, the spokesman said: “We obviously want to make sure that we can provide the appropriate level of support that those who are seeking to enter the UK require.

“Obviously the Home Office and Border Force are best placed to make a call on where that would be best based to help support those people who are making their way through France.”

A crucial part of the application process is providing biometrics so we can be sure applications are who they say they are

Kevin Foster, Home Office minister

Home Office minister Kevin Foster told MPs there are “issues with providing specific application points at the port, but we are looking at how we can do it and we expect that to be set up within the next 24 hours”.

Speaking in the Commons, he added: “We are already seeing people presenting at Calais with false documents claiming to be Ukrainian” and the Government “will not take chances with the security of this country and our people”.

Responding to an urgent question by Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (The Cotswolds) on how the Home Office can speed up the urgent refugee applications coming from those leaving Ukraine, Mr Foster said “a crucial part of the application process is providing biometrics so we can be sure applications are who they say they are”.

These checks are in place to prevent malign actors, such as Russian agents, from misusing the visa and humanitarian offers that are in place.

He also told the Commons more than 500 visas had now been issued under the Ukraine Family Scheme, which launched on Friday, and more than 10,000 applications have been submitted.

There are hundreds of people thought to be working on the ground and behind the scenes to get visas processed, with additional staff put in place in every centre in Europe. 

The Home Office has taken up Defence Secretary Ben Wallace’s offer of staffing support from the Ministry of Defence.

The first visa applications were received on Friday and were approved on Friday afternoon and Saturday. 

It is understood to be taking staff around 20 minutes to turn around a completed application where biometrics have been taken.

None have been rejected, although a small number have been deferred where officials need more information.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in