Dozens of visas granted for Ukrainians coming to live in Kirklees

People waiting for trains on the platform at Kyiv train station on February 28, 2022.

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

According to the data, published by the Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a total of 162 visas have been granted across West Yorkshire with 66 in Leeds, 36 in Kirklees, 26 in Bradford, 19 in Wakefield and 16 in Calderdale.

Around 12,000 people had arrived in the UK under Ukraine visa schemes as of April 12.

However, provisional data published on the department’s website shows only 1,200 of these people had made it to the UK as part of the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme.

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

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

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 joined in the criticism over 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”.

Mr Adamson told BBC Breakfast: “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.”

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.

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