Two Ukrainian parents who were working in Scotland when war broke out have begged the Home Office to reunite them with their 12-year-old daughter.
Farm workers Inna Yarovaya and husband Serhii have waited two months for the necessary documents to fly to the Czech Republic to collect Victoria and bring her to a safe sponsored home in Coldingham, near Berwick.
Although Victoria’s child visa has been approved, Inna has waited for an extension to their T5 worker visa, which would allow her to come back to Scotland.
Inna, 35, said: “We have been waiting a very long time but there is no more information we can give the Home Office.
“We just need someone to see that our case is very traumatic for our daughter and it is a real emergency for our family.
“We have a safe home in Scotland and all we want is for Victoria to be here with us.” Inna and Serhii came to work at a farm six months ago and hoped to return to Ukraine with savings.
The pair left Victoria with Inna’s sister but she was forced to flee the Ukrainian city of Sumy to Prague and then needed to work full-time to provide food. That means there is no one to look after the traumatised schoolgirl.
Victoria has been matched with a sponsor family, arranged by her parents’ employer.
The application was done on March 23 and two days later Victoria travelled to Prague to apply for a biometric residence card to be able to enter the UK.
But she is now stuck, as one Home Office department waits for another to rubber stamp her parents’ credentials to travel.
Nick Scott, who runs an employment agency for seasonal workers, said: “Eight weeks after applications were finalised we are still no closer to Inna being able to collect her daughter.
"First the Home Office delayed processing Victoria’s visa until her mother’s visa was extended.
“This was despite her original visa being approved in two weeks when she was an unknown – and not after six months of paying UK taxes with a pre-existing visa.
“Next, Inna’s visa was held up until her daughter’s visa was approved. And the case has remained in limbo. This cannot be difficult to sort out if the right people speak to each other.”
Nick added: “It was obvious any scheme to issue visas would take months and it is clear the Government put the scheme in place with the anticipation it would be a short war.
“How much fairer and sensible to say anyone with proof of Ukrainian citizenship can enter and then apply once here?”
Sponsors Julie and Jim Campbell are desperate for Victoria to join their family.
Their similarly aged daughters are looking forward to supporting Victoria at Eyemouth High School, where a place is secured.
After the Record contacted the Home Office we were told the T5 visa credentials were in the final stages of being approved.
A spokesman said: “The changes the Home Office has made to streamline the visa system are working and we are now processing visas as quickly as they come in – enabling thousands more Ukrainians to come through our uncapped routes.”
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