The U.K. Home Secretary Priti Patel has delivered some outstanding news to intended parents in Great Britain, revealing in a letter that three-year visas will be made available to Ukrainian surrogates who are pregnant with British citizens.
According to the letter the Home Office sent to leading surrogacy lawyers in the country, a provision will also be made for babies born outside the United Kingdom to Ukrainian surrogate mothers.
BioNews reported that the U.K. Visas would be granted to Ukrainian surrogates "outside the Immigration Rules," meaning that the government's scheme will be discretionary. This might sound alarmingly vague, but that is not a complete surprise as much of the U.K.'s immigration and nationality laws regarding surrogacy is discretionary.
Ukrainian surrogates to be given 3-year U.K. visas
Pregnant surrogate mothers from Ukraine and their "immediate family members" will be eligible for three-year U.K. visas. They will be able to live in the United Kingdom during that period with the visas granting them access to public funds and employment.
The application will be free to make for Ukrainian surrogates, and there will be no Immigration Health Surcharge given to them. The information that has been available thus far suggests this proposed route will mirror the Ukraine Family Scheme devised by the U.K. government recently.
In this case, surrogate mothers will be permitted to enter the United Kingdom as the government will treat them as family members of the intended parents. The Ukrainian surrogate mother is not mandated to live with the intended parents or that the latter will be financially responsible for her. According to Free Movement, both parties are free to arrange things that way if they wish to do so.
This is a major boost for Ukrainian surrogates carrying babies with British citizenship and the intended parents as they only need to prove their relationship for the former to be allowed entry to the United Kingdom.
Proving the relationship between the surrogate and the intended parents would presumably require evidence of the surrogacy arrangement and the pregnancy. It would be better if there is a letter from the agency or clinic with details of the surrogacy.
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Only the surrogate's children and partner can come with her to the U.K.
The surrogate mother's "immediate family" that can come with her to the U.K. would likely include only her children and partner. Under the Ukraine Family Scheme, Ukrainian children who do not own a passport can be included in their parents' travel documents.
However, it remains to be seen if intended parents of any nationality can sponsor their Ukrainian surrogate mother to move to the United Kingdom. If concessions given in the Ukraine Family Scheme will be followed, it will not only be British citizens who can act as sponsors for Ukrainian surrogates, but also people who are settled in the United Kingdom; citizens of the European Union who are living in the U.K. since before 2021; and even refugees.
According to a report by the BBC, surrogacy is legal in the United Kingdom, but under the English law, the surrogate's name will be on the birth certificate as the baby's mother. That makes Ukraine a prime option for intended parents as the country has lax surrogacy laws.
