Families signed up to Homes for Ukraine who are still waiting for refugees to get permission to travel to the UK want a public inquiry into the visa shambles.
Mental health nurse Lauren Corbishley, 43, of Dawlish, Devon, started a petition after fighting for four weeks to get a traumatised family safely to the UK.
They finally arrived last week, but hundreds of others are still waiting for their permission. A list of 390 families awaiting visas, compiled by Lauren, was handed in to the Home Office on Monday.
The number had risen to 514 families by tonight.
Lauren wrote to the Home Office on behalf of those families: “There really are no excuses.”
She told the Mirror: “It’s five weeks and counting, and that’s not good when you’re fleeing a war.”
One British host still waiting is mum Alex Clayton, 37, a lawyer from Ilkley, West Yorks.
Her guests Oksana and daughter Sofi got their permission to travel last Thursday but she says Oksana’s son Savellii has had nothing.
Alex said: “We feel guilty for giving the family hope when three weeks later they are still stuck there. It seems the Home Office are either so incompetent that they didn’t realise this would happen, or they don’t care.”
The Home Office said Savellii’s permission to travel had been emailed to the family.
A Government spokesman said: “In five weeks, over 56,000 visas have been issued so people can rebuild their lives in the UK through the Ukraine Family Scheme and Homes for Ukraine.
“We continue to process visas as quickly as possible. The Home Office has made changes to streamline the visa system including simplifying forms and boosting staff numbers.”
