Review of immigration rules for nurses

The Home Secretary has written to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) asking it to change the restrictions on nurse recruitment from overseas and place nursing on the shortage occupation list with immediate effec. The MAC will review the change and present further evidence to the government by February 2016.

This means that nurses from non-EU countries will no longer run the risk of having their visas rejected, while non-EU nurses earning less than £35,000 a year who have been in the UK for six years will not have to leave the country from April 2016.

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said: “Safe staffing across all our hospitals and care homes is a crucial priority. The temporary changes announced today will ensure the NHS has the nurses it needs to deliver the highest standards of care without having to rely on rip-off staffing agencies that cost the taxpayer billions of pounds a year.”

DofH News story:  https://www.gov.uk/government/news/restrictions-on-nurse-recruitment-from-overseas-changed