Child caught up in visa red tape could arrive within days
A Ukrainian child refugee who was locked in a visa battle to get to Scotland could be here within days.
Nataliia Zavhorodnia’s plight has been taken up personally by refugee and immigration ministers in the UK Government after it was highlighted by the Sunday Mail last weekend.
The 15-year-old fled the Russian war on Ukraine with her aunt Millena Kornieieva and the pair have been matched up to a couple in Hamilton under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
But while Millena’s visa was approved almost straight away, Nataliia’s application has been caught up in red tape. Because she’s not travelling with a parent, she wasn’t eligible under a loophole in UK immigration rules. Her mum has stayed in the family home in Kyiv to look after her nine-year-old son and wanted her daughter to leave with her aunt over fears of attacks from Russian soldiers.
Lanarkshire MP Margaret Ferrier has taken up the case on behalf of her constituents Kate and Martin Fuller, who want to give Nataliia and Millena space in their home.
She raised the case in Westminster on Wednesday when Immigration Minister Kevin Foster promised to look at the details. After a meeting with Refugees Minister Richard Harrington on Thursday, the MP is hopeful of a positive resolution.
Ferrier said: “I am pleased that, following the Minister for Immigration’s commitment to review this case, his office have confirmed that Nataliia’s paperwork is being reviewed urgently and we should hear back in the coming days.
“I also had the opportunity to raise this with the Minister for Refugees, who committed to personally review the case.”
There is also a chance that Nataliia’s case could end up changing the rules so other children are not in the same situation.
Kate said: “For a while we all thought this wasn’t going to happen but we are feeling much happier about it.”
Nataliia’s paperwork is being reviewed urgently