Here's how many people in Portsmouth, Gosport, Fareham and Havant have offered up their homes to Ukrainian refugees under the sponsorship scheme

THE government has just realised data on how many visas have been issued to Ukrainian refugees in each area – under its sponsorship scheme.
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Known as the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, the system allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor.

Visas have been issued to local authorities based on the postcode of the sponsor’s address, or of the accommodation address if the applicant is not staying with the sponsor.

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A woman and her child sit on the pavement in a subway station turned into a shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Demands for ways to safety evacuate civilians have surged along with intensifying shelling by Russian forces, who have made significant advances in southern Ukraine but stalled in some other regions. Efforts to put in place cease-fires along humanitarian corridors have repeatedly failed amid Russian shelling. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)A woman and her child sit on the pavement in a subway station turned into a shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Demands for ways to safety evacuate civilians have surged along with intensifying shelling by Russian forces, who have made significant advances in southern Ukraine but stalled in some other regions. Efforts to put in place cease-fires along humanitarian corridors have repeatedly failed amid Russian shelling. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
A woman and her child sit on the pavement in a subway station turned into a shelter in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Demands for ways to safety evacuate civilians have surged along with intensifying shelling by Russian forces, who have made significant advances in southern Ukraine but stalled in some other regions. Efforts to put in place cease-fires along humanitarian corridors have repeatedly failed amid Russian shelling. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
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The number of visas issued as of April 6 within The News’ area are as follows:

Test Valley – 58

New Forest – 44

East Hampshire – 40

Isle of Wight – 39

Southampton – 17

Gosport – 11

Fareham – 10

Havant – 9

The data does not contain the number of visas issued through the Ukraine Family Scheme, which allows applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK.

It comes as home secretary Priti Patel apologised ‘with frustration’ amid ‘delays’ in the time it is taking for Ukrainian refugees to arrive in the UK.

She denied visa requirements and checks are slowing the process and causing delays, insisting the UK will ‘absolutely see changes in numbers’ as work continues.

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Around 12,000 people had arrived in the UK under Ukraine visa schemes as of Tuesday, according to Home Office figures.

Some 10,800 people had arrived under the Ukraine family scheme but only 1,200 had made it to the UK as part of the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme, provisional data published on the department’s website shows.

As of today, about 79,800 applications had been submitted to the schemes and 40,900 visas had been granted.

Of these, 43,600 applications were for the sponsorship scheme, with 12,500 visas issued.

Out of 36,300 requests made for family visas, 28,500 had been approved.

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