Giambrone & Partners' immigration teams fast-track Ukrainian applications to safe havens in Europe

As the serious Russian/Ukrainian situation unfolds, European countries, including Portugal, Spain, Italy and the UK  have opened their doors to Ukrainians by fast-tracking visas and other travel documentation enabling Ukrainian citizens to join their relatives in Portugal, Spain, Italy and the UK. 

Many displaced Ukrainian citizens are expected to choose Portugal, Spain or Italy as the countries of choice, to be closer to their home country.  

Diana Maria Raberio, a partner who heads the Porto office in Portugal, commented “individuals abruptly leaving their homes in Ukraine may prefer the cheaper living costs in Portugal as they have been so suddenly uprooted and have had little or no time to prepare.”

Giambrone’s expert immigration teams are working closely with each country’s government department to accelerate the visa applications by ensuring that all the documentation to support an application is present and valid and the application will not fail due to error or omission.

Dagmara Marciniak,  a senior associate based in the Barcelona office, said “there is a concerted effort across all the Giambrone's immigration teams to assist Ukrainian citizens in every way possible to reach Europe” she further commented, “their applications will take priority we will do everything possible to obtain decisions as quickly as possible.”

Our immigration lawyers will make every effort to speed up all Ukrainian citizens’ applications leveraging their many years of experience dealing with complex immigration procedures. They are keenly aware of the imperative for Ukrainian citizens to relocate as swiftly as possible.

A considerable number of businesses are taking steps to evacuate their Ukrainian employees and assist them to safety.  Many of whom have relatives in nearby European countries such as Spain, Portugal, Italy, and also the UK.   The special measures announced by European governments to fast-track visas and European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) enabling Ukrainian citizens to join their relatives will, in many cases, also allow the individuals in certain industry sectors to continue to work.  The reasons businesses have given for taking pre-emptive measures to protect their Ukrainian employees, other than the obvious humanitarian reasons, are that by doing so they ensure minimum disruption and maintain business continuance, providing the organisation with a higher level of certainty that the impact of the conflict will remain minimal. 

Ukrainian citizens have been strongly advised to leave the country as soon as possible by customary regular visa routes rather than delay and find themselves placed in refugee status as the conflict escalates and the possibility of obtaining visas and other documents as a means of relocation diminish.

Companies taking a protective role towards their employees show a sound commercial strategy, as well as acting ethically. Not only does it benefit the organisation by ensuring that their full complement of staff is not suddenly reduced, it also demonstrates to employees and clients alike that their employees are valued.  The current trends to consider more than just an employee’s performance in the workplace but also to be aware of a range of other factors such as avoiding compromising their mental  health.   

Giambrone & Partners’ immigration teams across our European offices will support any organisations wishing to assist their Ukrainian employees. 

For information on how Giambrone can support your visa application please contact Joseph Crick on JC@giambronelaw.com or please click here