Illegal Working Crackdown Announced By Minister – Employers Risk £20,000 fine

In the latest government crackdown on illegal working, Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire, has warned that businesses employing illegal migrants face "the full force of government machinery" and risk fines of up to £20,000 per worker. However, at the current Home Office removal rate it will take 4000 years to find and deport all illegal overstayers from the UK.

The Minister said that “rogue employers” who give work to illegal immigrants and visa overstayers were denying UK citizen’s jobs.

Immigration officers are specifically targeting raids on cleaning firms, building sites and care homes according to The Times.

A study carried out by the London School of Economics estimates that there are 618,000 "irregular" residents in the UK, however, campaign group Migration Watch said the figures is closer to 1.1 million.

In 2006 the ippr think tank estimated that it would cost £5 billion and take 20 years to remove 500,000 illegal immigrants and overstayers thought to be in the UK at that time.

Figures published in the Daily Mail this week claimed tha that last year Home Office Immigration Enforcement teams arrested around 700 people and removed just 132 overstayers. At this rate it will take 4600 years to remove the existing illegal immigrants from the UK! Removal figures are probably closer to the thousands per year, but it still means it will take 600 years to remove 600,000 visa overstayers.  

Almost 10 years on from the ippr report, despite numerous measures to tighten the Immigration Rules and reduce grounds on which to appeal against a refusal, the Home Office has an even bigger task on its hands as hundreds of migrants attempt to enter the UK illegally through Calais.

Make sure your employee files comply with the law or face a £20,000 fine

The Conservative government have made progress and more raids being launched by Immigration Enforcement teams, HM Revenue & Customs, the Gangmasters’ Licensing Authority and Health and Safety Executive to tackle the problem.

Other measures to deter overstayers, brought in under the 2014 Immigration Act, include forcing landlords to check the immigration status of their tenants and a reduction in the number of immigration appeals.

Employers can be fined up to £20,000 for employing each illegal immigrant, and, if they knowingly employ the worker they could spend up to two years in prison.

NHS Trusts are still short of nurses and doctors and are recruiting overseas. Tier 2 work permits and working visa sponsorship are being offered to qualified international nurses with IELTS 7.00 and the first stage of NMC registration.

If you need immigration advice of a full file audit service for employers, drop me an email. 

Tier 2 Work Permits for Nursing jobs in London available for limited time

Are you UK NURSING GRADUATE looking for a permanent job in an NHS hospital in London?

A leading agency is now recruiting a limited number of nurses for an NHS hospital in the London area and need qualified RGN's with NMC PIN's for interview in August.

NON-EU NURSES IN THE UK

Tier 2 Sponsorship or UK Work Permits and Visas also available for nursing jobs in the London area for nurses with UK nursing degrees, NMC PINS (or in process) and IELTS 7.00.

The hospital wants nurses who are currently in the UK either as a Tier 4 students graduating or a nurse on an existing Tier 2 Working visa. They can also help you to transfer your UK visa and permit from a Nursing Home job to an NHS employer.




 The hospital are offering a Band 5 salary and London allowance (£24900) and will also throw in a £500 relocation allowance if you have to move to London.

This is a permanent job, so you will enjoy the full NHS benefits, such as a pension scheme and paid holidays, as well as excellent training and career opportunities within Britain's largest employer.

NO PLACEMENT FEES

No fees charged for work placement.

This would also suit a Croatian nurse who requires a work permit to work in the UK.

Contact me now if you are interested or email your CV as these job vacancies will be filled very quickly.

Home Office plans to send international students back home after spending up to £50000 obtaining a UK degree

The Sunday Times has leaked Home Office plans to force overseas students – who can spend as much as £50000 in course fees and living costs completing a UK degree at a minor university - to return to their home country after their courses finish before applying for a visa extension.

The latest Government plan to reduce net migration, reportedly being considered by the Home Secretary Theresa May, will be seen by international students, who bring in billions of pounds to the UK, as another slap in the face.

The news is bound to drive yet more of bright young people to the more student friendly visa regimes of Australia, Canada and other EU countries such as Germany.

Under May’s proposals, students from non-European countries would have to return home and apply for a work visa if they wanted to continue to live in the UK after graduation.

This means that if an employer wanted to sponsor a Tier 4 student visa graduate under a Tier 2 working visa, the candidate would have to travel back home to apply for another visa to re-enter the UK, a process which could take several months.

The report in The Sunday Times said Mrs May wants a future Conservative government to "move towards zero net student migration" by sending home those who come to Britain on student visas. 

A “source” close to the Home Secretary told the newspaper: "Making sure immigrants leave Britain at the end of their visa is as important a part of running a fair and efficient immigration system as controlling who comes here in the first place.

"Theresa is pressing for the next Conservative manifesto to contain a policy that will make sure that anybody coming here on a student visa will have to leave the country in order to apply for a new visa of any kind.

"She wants to make the colleges and universities that sponsor foreign students responsible for ensuring their departure.

"She wants to be able to fine colleges and universities with low departure rates and deprive the worst of them of their right to sponsor foreign students."

At present under the current Immigration Rules, the majority of graduate students are able to switch to a Tier 2 work visa whilst the UK. They also have options to apply for further leave to remain, for instance by switching to a Tier 1 or Entrepreneur visa.

The latest move will further erode the available options for graduate to remain in the UK. The previous Post Study Work (PSW), which allowed graduates to remain in the UK for up to 2 years in order to find an employer, was abolished along with other attractive features which helped make the UK a leading destination for fee paying students.

The coalition Liberal Democrat Business Secretary Vince Cable, who holds responsibility for universities has previously warned about the anti-immigration message being sent out around the world which is putting off students from countries like India from attending UK universities.

A senior Lib Dem source said her plan made "zero economic sense" and could deprive the UK of highly-skilled graduates.

"Such a blunt instrument would not get our support," the source said.

"The idea that you have people from abroad studying in this country and they become engineers or scientists of huge practical value to the economy, and rather than have them stay here you immediately turf them out makes zero economic sense."

Whilst the proposals have yet to become law, any foreign student currently studying in the UK or considering coming to the UK to study at a British university will be affected by the new visa rules upon graduation. In other words, even if they idea is never followed through the damage has been done and UK universities will have lost international students and much needed fees.

NMC Test of Competence for International Nurses who want to work in the UK starts at University of Northampton

Good news for international nurses who want to work in the UK as a nurse or midwife. The University of Northampton's School of Health has successfully started delivery the new 'Test of Competence' on 17 November, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has confirmed.

The new competency test for non-EU nurses and midwives replaces the old Overseas Nurses Programme (ONP) and will fast-track the process for internationally trained nurses and midwives seeking to work in the UK as well as ensuring candidates are assessed robustly in a standardised way.

The new assessment process is formed of two parts starting with a test in the candidates own country:

1.  multiple choice computer-based exam, which candidates sit at test centres around the world
2. practical clinical examination delivered at the University of Northampton in the UK

The NMC, the official professional body which regulates nursing in the UK, said they “want to ensure that all people joining the Nursing and Midwifery Council's register are meeting the UK standards”.

Jackie Smith, NMC Chief Executive and Registrar, said:

“Each year, hundreds of nurses and midwives who trained outside Europe apply to practise in the UK. 

"As a responsible regulator, we need to make sure that they are able to demonstrate clinical and theoretical knowledge as well as the professional values that will ensure patient-centred, compassionate care.

"This test will put candidates through scenarios that they may find in the UK’s health services."

Although we have not seen the results of the changes, the competence-based testing system for international nurses should be more straightforward than the previous cumbersome and expensive ONP, which often hindered hospitals and care homes from recruiting overseas nurses. The simple two-part process will do away with the subjective 3-6 months of adaptation and supervision and help hospital Trusts employers fill thousands of UK NHS nurse job vacancies they are unable to fill within the UK or EU.

Nurses union RCN said there are around 20,000 nursing job vacancies in the UK. With NHS hospitals unable to recruit enough nurses in Spain and Portugal, they are once again offering Tier 2 working visa sponsorship for non-EU overseas nurses and those who are on Tier 4 students in the UK. Student Visa holders are allowed to switch to Tier 2 work permits whilst in the UK.

Going through the initial NMC registration process and obtaining a PRN letter can take several weeks, if not months, so if you are serious about coming to work in the UK you should get started as soon as possible. NHS hospital employers going out to countries like India or the Philippines will not want to wait around for 3-6 months while you sit an IELTS test and apply for the your NMC if they have candidates who are already in process. English tests are required for most of the English speaking countries - Australia, NZ, Canada - likely to need more nurses, so get studying!

Non-EU nurses and midwives still have to pass an IELTS English test at an overall band score of 7.00 in order to register with the NMC - and have at least 1 year's clinical experience in a hospital (private nursing or 'company' nurse will normally not be sufficient for the NMC). For full details on the new registration process and working in the UK for non-EU trained nurses or midwives, visit the NMC website or email me your CV if you are interested in migrating to and working in the UK as a nurse.