Registered for Homes for Ukraine - But how to Make Contact?

jumeriah64

It looks like maybe this is the right documentation starting point ....

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-a-visa-under-the-ukraine-sponsorship-scheme

CKhalvashi

jumeriah64 said:

I think we have found some Ukrainian folks we can help! 

Friends of ours have found a family they are taking in and via them, a family of three has been put in touch with us. We are due to talk shortly.

But the entry paperwork still confuses me at this point. I think we have to arrange a Visa. I just looked up the uk.gov pages on this and I think we need complete under this heading? ......

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/support-for-family-members-of-british-nationals-in-ukraine-and-ukrainian-nationals-in-ukraine-and-the-uk#if-you-need-to-travel-to-the-uk-urgently

If you need to travel to the UK urgently

If you need to travel to the UK urgently for compassionate reasons you should apply for a visa in the usual way at the nearest VAC if you can travel safely and include clear compelling or compassionate reasons for your visit in your application. You should also tell staff at the VAC about these reasons during your appointment.

You can upload supporting documents for your application online before attending your VAC appointment or you can have your documents uploaded at your appointment. There is a fee for uploading your documents at the VAC.

Anyone have any guidance on what to do and how needs to do it? I have a feeling we will need to go and collect the family who are near Odesa. The discussion will hopefully clarify where they can get to. Hopefully a major city like Sofia, Hungary, Warsaw. I guess then we can process paperwork at a UK embassy or similar? 

If anyone has guidance on that step I'd be very grateful to get that asap. So we can plan help with these folks. We are due talk late this evening. 

There are evacuation trains running to Chisinau, from where they can get to Iasi and onwards to the UK. Wizz have fixed fare flights for Ukrainian nationals as you are unlikely to complete this during the free ticket offer.

I've sent you several resources, so it may be worth asking there for support as many have been through the process already, the majority with successful results.

jumeriah64

CKhalvashi said:

jumeriah64 said:

I think we have found some Ukrainian folks we can help! 

Friends of ours have found a family they are taking in and via them, a family of three has been put in touch with us. We are due to talk shortly.

But the entry paperwork still confuses me at this point. I think we have to arrange a Visa. I just looked up the uk.gov pages on this and I think we need complete under this heading? ......

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/support-for-family-members-of-british-nationals-in-ukraine-and-ukrainian-nationals-in-ukraine-and-the-uk#if-you-need-to-travel-to-the-uk-urgently

If you need to travel to the UK urgently

If you need to travel to the UK urgently for compassionate reasons you should apply for a visa in the usual way at the nearest VAC if you can travel safely and include clear compelling or compassionate reasons for your visit in your application. You should also tell staff at the VAC about these reasons during your appointment.

You can upload supporting documents for your application online before attending your VAC appointment or you can have your documents uploaded at your appointment. There is a fee for uploading your documents at the VAC.

Anyone have any guidance on what to do and how needs to do it? I have a feeling we will need to go and collect the family who are near Odesa. The discussion will hopefully clarify where they can get to. Hopefully a major city like Sofia, Hungary, Warsaw. I guess then we can process paperwork at a UK embassy or similar? 

If anyone has guidance on that step I'd be very grateful to get that asap. So we can plan help with these folks. We are due talk late this evening. 

There are evacuation trains running to Chisinau, from where they can get to Iasi and onwards to the UK. Wizz have fixed fare flights for Ukrainian nationals as you are unlikely to complete this during the free ticket offer.

I've sent you several resources, so it may be worth asking there for support as many have been through the process already, the majority with successful results.

Hi CK, yes 100% as you say ..... in fact having spoken with the family this evening, they are very well prepared, organised and indeed mentioned about the free tickets option.

I was going to offer to drive and collect but they were already well prepared with this part. Made it very much more simple than I feared. And yes process is 100% as you have described.

Tomorrow we start on paperwork and those resources are very helpful. It seems to be clearing the process. Will keep you posted CK but looking positive at this moment. 

jumeriah64

Just to add an update to anyone looking to help under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Whilst we experienced slow and pitiful processing at national level for Visa's like so many, at local council level, the support received has been absolutely first class .... CRB checks, property checks, offers of free smoke/CO2 detectors, help filling forms out, help getting children into schools, registered with GP's registration with DWP. Really very impressive and proactive.

Absolutely do speak with your local council. In the case of our council (Telford and Wrekin) I cannot speak highly enough. They hand held us through complex forms, held Teams meetings to check and processed the same forms in less than 5 days (including weekend) through to getting a formal piece of paper drop through the door. Sorry think it's called a DRB now.

And that continues. There is good support there.

The same cannot be said for the Visa application scheme. But it was suggested to me to leverage our local MP. We did. And I have to speak as I find, I received replies within three hours and multiple replies until late at night from the MP and her office. The next day, one of the applicants had the green light and the other two at least received an acknowledgement that the process had started. 

Was it as a direct result of speaking with the MP? I'd like to think it is and I have a suspicion that actions were taken that led to the partial result. They do not yet all have approval but we do have solid movement. Worth to use this route if you are hitting a brick wall. 

jumeriah64

And so, after 25 days, several emails to MP's and the bridge from polite to more direct discussion and our family now at last have had issued their 'Freedom to Travel' documents.

25 days!

But it is now real rather than theoretical. So I should be pleased.

I am pleased but why oh why do we continue be sub-standard in near every respect as a country and yet so pompous and outrageous with our claims of being 'world beating and leading'.

So Wednesday will see them on the plane and a new opportunity starts.

However all that aside, important key turns for folks going through the same loop and trying their best to make a difference .....

What you need to do, is to have your MP (or more likely an admin in said office) take a walk over to the 'Home Office Casework Hub' in Parliament and quote the GWP numbers your applicants will have been issued.

This seems to be the key thing. Essentially, your MP can visit a desk and rattle specific GWP's and shake a result out.

Not the way it should be but worked for us.

Worth to pass that on to anyone still trying to impact the process.

Now to tune in those Ukrainian TV channels and work out the PC keyboard 

jumeriah64

And a question please for any of you still in the process of doing this please or having found more than I have.

Anyone know any credible outfits facilitating mobile phones and sims for people under the Homes for Ukraine scheme?  CK?

I keep hearing snippets that Vodaphone or Three or someone or other is supporting the issue of free mobiles or sims but every time I ring and ask the question, no-one seems to know anything.

Would be grateful for some solid lines of inquiry on that one. Spent ages hunting blind avenues so would be great find a solid way forward.

Oh and bank accounts .... same again, I heard it's tough going opening a bank account for folks coming over. If anyone knows of know paths forward banking wise that work, that would be really helpful.

Voyager2002

jumeriah64 said:

And a question please for any of you still in the process of doing this please or having found more than I have.

Anyone know any credible outfits facilitating mobile phones and sims for people under the Homes for Ukraine scheme?  CK?

I keep hearing snippets that Vodaphone or Three or someone or other is supporting the issue of free mobiles or sims but every time I ring and ask the question, no-one seems to know anything.

Would be grateful for some solid lines of inquiry on that one. Spent ages hunting blind avenues so would be great find a solid way forward.

Oh and bank accounts .... same again, I heard it's tough going opening a bank account for folks coming over. If anyone knows of know paths forward banking wise that work, that would be really helpful.

I understand that Vodaphone is giving out free SIMs for Ukrainians... but only to registered charities acting on their behalf. So you need to find a local charity willing to collect the SIMs that your family need and then hand them over.

The travel documents that your family hold should enable them to open a bank account with NatWest... but it takes them about a week to process the application! Revolut and Monzo should be able to accept the same documents and open accounts very quickly.

Note that one of the first things your family will need to do is claim Universal Credit. The simplest way to do this is online, for which bank account and telephone number are needed. (Applying in person in the Job Centre should be possible without a bank account, but in practice could prove impossible.)

CKhalvashi

Vodafone are offering free SIMs to charities. 30 day contracts can be had for so little it may be an easier route, depending on how much you value your time Skype definitely are offering free calls to Ukraine, it just requires a Skype account (I'm using this currently to keep in contact with friends/suppliers/clients as required instead of my normal VOIP provider for this reason).

As above, Natwest, Revolut, Monzo or Wise would be good in this situation.

UC applications can be online, however in person interview may be required. I have never applied for UC (or any other benefit) so can't give you the practice of this.

jumeriah64

Voyager2002 said:

jumeriah64 said:

And a question please for any of you still in the process of doing this please or having found more than I have.

Anyone know any credible outfits facilitating mobile phones and sims for people under the Homes for Ukraine scheme?  CK?

I keep hearing snippets that Vodaphone or Three or someone or other is supporting the issue of free mobiles or sims but every time I ring and ask the question, no-one seems to know anything.

Would be grateful for some solid lines of inquiry on that one. Spent ages hunting blind avenues so would be great find a solid way forward.

Oh and bank accounts .... same again, I heard it's tough going opening a bank account for folks coming over. If anyone knows of know paths forward banking wise that work, that would be really helpful.

I understand that Vodaphone is giving out free SIMs for Ukrainians... but only to registered charities acting on their behalf. So you need to find a local charity willing to collect the SIMs that your family need and then hand them over.

The travel documents that your family hold should enable them to open a bank account with NatWest... but it takes them about a week to process the application! Revolut and Monzo should be able to accept the same documents and open accounts very quickly.

Note that one of the first things your family will need to do is claim Universal Credit. The simplest way to do this is online, for which bank account and telephone number are needed. (Applying in person in the Job Centre should be possible without a bank account, but in practice could prove impossible.)

Thanks for the steer but how to go about finding a local charity? I have asked the local council Ukrainian Sponsor co-ordinator so maybe something comes back form that route. 

Bank wise that's really helpful and even a week with Nat West is not so bad. Wife with Nat West and is pretty much next door to her place of work so that might be a good starting point.

Universal Credit. Will get onto that. The council folks asked if we would like DWP support some weeks back and we said yes. Is this the same? Apologies have next to no experience in this sector. 

Just to mention, the father does have the offer of formal paid work already. It's modest and farm based but all the same, someone not sitting around. Should we still go down the UC route?

Many thanks for the steer .... very useful stuff.

jumeriah64

CKhalvashi said:

Vodafone are offering free SIMs to charities. 30 day contracts can be had for so little it may be an easier route, depending on how much you value your time Skype definitely are offering free calls to Ukraine, it just requires a Skype account (I'm using this currently to keep in contact with friends/suppliers/clients as required instead of my normal VOIP provider for this reason).

As above, Natwest, Revolut, Monzo or Wise would be good in this situation.

UC applications can be online, however in person interview may be required. I have never applied for UC (or any other benefit) so can't give you the practice of this.

Thanks CK. I think mobiles will be required given parents doing school run and work etc. Especially in the early days. 

Strangely whilst we have access to most things but have zero in this area ... handsets or sims. I guess I need find some details of a charity. I don't mind some time invested. Spent a lot already which is fine. Just keen at this point to avoid wasted time and bet on sure things.

Comms wise from our place they have everything. I've set up a good spec PC with all the normal headset, cam and standard VC tools. And our network is a top end Virgin fibre one. So speed is excellent. They will better equipped than most city offices in that respect :-)   And we have a Portal TV thing on the TV will have in the second lounge.

Interesting thing might be others setting up to support .... you can get a massive haul of Ukrainian TV channels very cheaply and for multiple devices using Mediacast on a cheap Roku stick plugged into an HDMI port. I've set it up for two TV's and it works extremely well. I ordered two over speced Firesticks (now returned) only to find they worked just as well on older Roku sticks. And you can get these cheap on ebay. Very robust solution.