Businessman brands visa system a ‘disgrace’
‘It’s not fit for purpose’: Businessman brands visa system a ‘disgrace’ as he and Ukrainian wife battle red tape to get her cousin and friends into UK
Mark Lewis and wife Irina spent nearly eight hours filling in home scheme formsMr Lewis is at his wits’ end trying to get his second cousin and others to safetyHe is a lifelong Conservative voter – but says fiasco may have changed his mind
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A businessman desperately trying to bring his wife’s cousin, her friends and one of their mothers from Ukraine to the UK has branded Britain’s visa system a ‘disgrace’.
Mark Lewis and his Ukrainian-born wife Irina spent nearly eight hours filling in forms for the women to come to Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
The group – who spent 24 hours travelling to the Polish border – had to trek to Warsaw because some didn’t have passports with them. So far, only four of their seven applications have been approved.
Mark Lewis and his Ukrainian-born wife Irina spent nearly eight hours filling in forms for the women to come to Britain under the Homes for Ukraine scheme
Mr Lewis, 56, who works in finance and lives in Chertsey, Surrey, is a lifelong Conservative voter – but says the fiasco may have changed his mind.
He said: ‘Frustration is the polite word for what we feel. They won’t be able to get my vote again unless they sort this mess out.’
‘I’ve got this horrible feeling (the system) is completely not fit for purpose,’ he added.
Mr Lewis and his Kharkiv-born wife are at their wits’ end trying to get second cousin Katya Katchan, 21, five of her friends and one of their mothers to safety.
The girls are Kostya, 21, Viktoriia, 18, Andriana, 16, Viktoriia, 20, plus Yelyzaveta, 20, and her mother Nataliia, 55.
The girls are Kostya, 21, Viktoriia, 18, Andriana, 16, Viktoriia, 20, plus Yelyzaveta, 20, and her mother Nataliia, 55
Katya spent a week sleeping in a corridor in her parents’ apartment in Zaporizhzhia, south-eastern Ukraine, as shells rained down.
Frustrated by the visa process, Mr Lewis said: ‘I don’t know how anyone is meant to do it, while they’re fleeing a war zone and running for their lives, on a mobile phone – and they don’t speak English.’
While the women wait, Mr Lewis fears for their safety.
He said: ‘There’s a lot of predators. For people traffickers it’s like all their Christmases have come at once; these girls are young and naive.’
