Ukraine visa schemes in UK spark crisis

After fleeing Ukraine with her new-born baby and toddler in 2022, Lidiia rebuilt her life Britain, but now the 36-year-old fears she will have to return next year because there is no easy way to get the right to permanently stay in her new home. With the Russian invasion well into its third year and little sign of peace, Lidiia, who asked to use a pseudonym to protect her privacy, is terrified for her children.

- Lin Taylor, Reuters

"Even if they say there's a ceasefire ... I will have in my mind that in five, six years, (the Russians) are going to be back," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

"And then my son will have to be a soldier. My daughter might be killed," she said. Like most of the 218,000 Ukrainians who came to Britain on special visas from 2022, Lidiia is running out of time — her original visa is expiring and although she is applying for an extension, even that will run out after another 18 months. Although nearly 70% of Ukrainians in Britain want to stay, according to a 2024 Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey, without legal status, many say they will have no choice but to head elsewhere or return to their war-ravaged homeland.