A COUPLE from the Forest who offered refuge to a pregnant woman and her young child forced to leave their home in war-torn Ukraine have slammed the UK’s refugee scheme as their visas weren’t approved in time for her medical deadline to fly - despite being submitted more than four weeks ago.

Emma and Rob Bligh, who live in Parkend, had agreed to sponsor 28 year-old Ukrainian citizen Inna and her two year-old son Michael to come to the Forest through the Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, but after four weeks, their passage to the UK was left in major doubt.

Inna is more than 35 weeks pregnant and the last day she could safely fly was Sunday (May 8).

Emma and Rob desperately tried to liaise with the Home Office to make sure that her and Michael’s visas came through in time.

But as of Thursday (May 5), Michael’s visa was still ‘pending’, and while Inna’s came through at the end of April, she had still not received her Permission to Travel letter, leaving the pair with little chance of being able to travel to the UK at all.

Inna and Michael are currently staying in temporary accommodation in Romania with work colleagues of her husband, Yevhenii, having left their home in Kyiv on the first day of the invasion back in February.

Now Inna is attempting to make last minute arrangements to have her baby in Romania, as “hope is all but gone” of them being able to travel to the UK.

Emma and Rob say that “fundamental” issues with the Home for Ukraine scheme has left them potentially unable to fulfil their commitment to Inna and Michael, and that the Government needs to take urgent action to address its complexity and remove the “brick wall of silence” they have faced.

The couple matched with Inna - who is currently studying to become a lawyer specialising in ecology - through the Host4Ukraine website, and after she and Yevhenii researched the Forest online, they felt it would be “a tranquil and safe place” to bring Michael to give him “peace and security”.

And after chatting with Inna and Michael over a WhatsApp video call, it was then agreed that Emma and Rob would accommodate them at their home in Parkend.

The visa applications were submitted on April 5, and all parties felt there would be “plenty of time” for them to be processed and to bring the family to the UK before the baby was due.

Emma and Rob have attempted to track the progress of the visas throughout the process but say the Home Office has been “completely uncontactable”, with a provided helpline unable to give them any information or updates.

The couple have also contacted Forest MP Mark Harper’s office for help, but after four attempts, they said were still not given any update on the status of the visas until Thursday morning (May 5).

The MP’s office told them the Home Office “wouldn’t budge” and required Inna to take a new passport photo of Michael to the Visa Application Centre in Bucharest - for which she’d have to take the two year-old on a 10-hour round train trip - which she is now too pregnant to do.

Now Emma and Rob are calling on the Government to review the complexity of the process, particularly the visa forms which are “long” and “difficult to navigate” for Ukrainian speakers.

They also say children under five should be able to travel on a parents’ passport where a photo is present, and that family members should be linked into one application.

“We understand the requirement to have checks in the process to validate and protect our Ukrainian friends, but not when it creates agonising delays to getting them here, or in our case potentially failing to get them here at all,” Emma said.

She added that although their commitment to accommodate Inna and Michael is in doubt, they will continue to try to help the family in any way they can.

“Having messaged daily with Inna over the past month, we have formed a very special friendship and whatever happens we will stay in touch.

“Getting to know her has been life enhancing and humbling and we will keep in touch and keep trying help in whatever way we can.”