Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason people on Ukraine visa schemes did not have visas automatically extended.

Although given consideration, it is not feasible to extend Ukraine scheme visas automatically. Automatic extension would require Ukrainians to confirm their residence in the UK and their willingness to have a visa extended, and so the possible customer benefits, and savings in process time, would be limited. Without requiring a registration process there would be a risk of not being able to contact all the eligible individuals which could lead to some Ukrainians being left without legal status.

The Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have had numerous discussions with the Ukrainian community, and there is currently an extensive programme of stakeholder engagement in place.