UK family stranded by visa havoc after 3,300-mile rescue
A UK couple who have driven over 3,300 miles to rescue their 15-year-old Ukrainian niece are stranded in Paris after falling foul of the UK’s “shameful” visa mess.
William Heylend and his Ukraine-born wife, Natasha, left their home in Winchester, Hants, at 9am on Saturday, February 26.
“The bombs started falling and they evacuated,” William said. “We made the decision the following morning. We threw clothes into a suitcase and set off.”
The couple, in their early 40s, drove for
36 hours in their
15-year-old
Mercedes Vito van to the Moldovan border. There they collected Natasha’s brother’s youngest daughter, who fled with family and just a carrier bag of clothes.
Natasha’s brother returned to Ukraine, while his new partner and her daughter, have gone to stay with relatives in Italy.
William and Natasha, who have two daughters – Rose, 18 and Nikita, 19 – said their trip via France, Belgium, Germany and Austria, Hungary, Romania paled into insignificance against their niece’s terrifying ordeal.
“It was nothing in comparison to the dangers faced by our family fleeing central Ukraine. Travelling through roadblocks, avoiding blown bridges and worrying about having enough fuel to reach the border,” William said.
After finding their niece at 2am on the Monday they stayed in a hotel before driving to a family member’s farm in Romania over dangerous icy roads in the Carpathian mountains – which William said they were “woefully unequipped” for. They then continued west, reaching
Brussels on Wednesday. On Thursday they applied for a standard visa and stayed with a friend of a friend before heading to Calais on Monday, only to be turned around as their application had been deferred.
They are staying in an Airbnb in Paris until an extended family visa is approved.
Of the process, William said: “It’s very confusing. English is my first language and it was difficult.
“It’s heartbreaking. There’s no working system. It’s impossible, shameful and a disgrace.”
A Government spokesman said: “A new sponsorship route, which will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored to come here is being brought forward.”