Immigration rules to be relaxed for Non-EU nurses and doctors
The UK government, in June 2018, under pressure from NHS staff and medical groups, announced its decision to exclude NHS staff from the tier 2 visa cap. This major rethink bodes well for the UK healthcare sector because recent numbers show that the NHS in England alone is short of nearly 10,000 doctors and 35,000 nurse vacancies waiting to be filled, largely because of the post-Brexit chaos looming ahead.
According to newspaper reports, as many as 1,500 visa applications by international doctors and medical professionals, who had already received their job offers and completed their sponsorship licence application, were denied due to monthly visa caps.
What are these visa caps?
The current point-based immigration system for the Tier 2 visa was introduced in 2008 by the Home Secretary Theresa May to control the net migration into the country. Any employer wanting to recruit workers from outside the EU had to ensure that they were licensed by UK Visas and Immigration and also apply for a Restricted Certificate of Sponsorship.
Since 2011, an annual cap of £20,700 (to be paid in monthly instalments) was introduced which meant that in order to be eligible for a certificate, employers must meet a minimum amount of points. This is based on factors such as salary, the job being in the shortage occupation list, certain PhD level jobs and the result of the resident labour market test, unless they can show that they are exempt.
What does it mean for the healthcare sector?
NHS can begin to fill the gaps in its workforce thereby ensuring that it can up its healthcare game, which according to it was suffering due to lack of non-EU workforce. It will ensure that the NHS is able to maintain a high level of patient care and reduce the burden on its present workforce, which in turn will increase productivity.
How do the other sectors benefit?
The move is a promising one because this means that by excluding doctors and nurses from the cap will ensure that more visas are available to other skilled professionals in other sectors and close the gap by freeing up more certificates of sponsorship for businesses. Currently, around 40 percent of monthly restricted certificate applications are for healthcare roles.
What can your immigration Lawyer do for you?
One can definitely say that this is a welcome move for the UK healthcare sector and will make it easier to navigate the government’s Tier 2 visa route. Employers will still have to navigate the current system and they can do so with the help of good immigration lawyers and solicitors, who are abreast with the changes and the implications and can guide them in the process.