Article by EWB analyst Kateryna Kulchytska published in European Pravda analyses the visa policy of Great Britain in Ukraine, proving its unproportional strictness comparing to other non-EU European countries.
The key points
- In particular, Ukraine is the third in Europe by number of applications of its nationals for British visa after Russia and Turkey. At the same time Ukrainians have the highest share of denials among top-5 European countries.
Top-5 countries in Europe whose nationals applied for British visa the most often in 2017:
Country | Total applications | Visas issued | Denied | Share of visas denied |
Russia | 158 300 | 154 609 | 3 733 | 2,5% |
Turkey | 128 275 | 115 281 | 10 967 | 9% |
Ukraine | 44 308 | 38 553 | 5 536 | 13% |
Serbia | 14 284 | 13 575 | 586 | 4% |
Belarus | 11 361 | 10 718 | 582 | 5% |
- There is only one British visa centre in Ukraine. For comparison, there are 5 visa centers in Russia, and 7 – in Turkey.
- Considering that no European country outside the European Economic Area has a visa-free regime with the UK (except for Switzerland), Ukraine has no chances to wave visas to UK. Still Ukraine has to demand reviewing the visa policy and practice of Greate Britain: to lower the share of denials, to reduce time for application proceeding, simplifying or cancelling visas for certain categories (diplomats, sportsmen, journalists, civic society activists, musicians and other culture sector representatives)
PHOTO: TURISMO.ORG