Immigration Matters: care work in UK

Showing posts with label care work in UK. Show all posts

Friday, March 12, 2021

Immigration Rule changes opens door to recruit overseas health and senior care staff to work in the UK

Overseas workers in key health and care roles will have more opportunity to work in the UK following changes announces to the Immigration Rules, the Home Office has announced.

New jobs that have been added to the UK Shortage Occupation List, which gives people in these roles a major advantage in obtaining a skilled worker visa, include:

· pharmacists

· laboratory technicians and for the first time in over a decade

· senior care workers and nursing assistants.

Further additions to the Shortage Occupation List include:

· Health services and public health managers and directors

· residential, day and domiciliary care managers and health professionals not elsewhere classified

· audiologists and dental hygiene therapists, as well as

· modern foreign language teachers.

These radical changes will help healthcare businesses and public services across the UK, which have struggled to recruit staff, to access to the best and brightest talent from all over the world in a post-brexit era.

The move follows the government’s rollout of the new points-based immigration system, after the UK left the European Union and opted out of EU freedom of movement at the end of last year.

Minister for Future Borders and Immigration Kevin Foster said:

Every year we welcome healthcare workers from across the world to our United Kingdom, with many having played a key role on the frontline of the NHS during the recent pandemic. This latest set of changes, combined with our Health and Care Visa, will ensure they can easily get the immigration status they deserve.

Under the points-based immigration system, people applying to come to the UK through the skilled worker route must gain 70 ‘points’ to be eligible for a UK work visa.

A job listed on the official Shortage Occupation List is worth 20 points.

Added to points gained under the mandatory criteria – an acceptable standard of English, a job offer from a licensed sponsor and the required skill level, worth 50 points – gives people applying for jobs on the shortage list the required 70 points for a UK work visa (work permit).

The updated list comes after a review published by the independent Migration Advisory Committee last year.

Other important changes made under the Immigration Rules include:

· Confirming the Student Visa Graduate route will launch from July 1;

· Updating the Skilled worker visa going rate to include a minimum hourly rate to safeguard against employers who may require employees to work longer hours to make up for the lower rates of pay;

· Replacement of the current Intimidation Policy with the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy; and

· Further building on the world-leading Global Talent route to automatically endorse recipients of international awards, including the Nobel Prize, to qualify for a visa, with more prizes to be added later in the year.

The government also announced plans to launch another new immigration route to help start-ups and fast-growing firms recruit the talent they need to innovate and grow during the Chancellor’s Budget speech as part of a range of measures for highly skilled migrants.

For the first time since the abolition of the HSMP visa, highly skilled migrants with a job offer from a recognised high-growth firm will qualify for a visa without the need for sponsorship or third-party endorsement.

The changes will be welcomed by industry and healthcare sector leaders who are desperate for staff, especially in hospitals, care homes and domiciliary care providers.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

UK Visa £1,000 Immigration Skills charge on Tier 2 working Visas starts 6 April 2017

The new Immigration Skills Charge for large numbers of Tier 2 holders will come into force from 6 April 2017. The Home Office levy will be imposed on UK employers holding Tier 2 sponsorship licences employing non-EEA migrants on Tier 2 working visas.

UK Home Office

The Guardian recently reported that the skills levy on foreign workers could be extended to EU and EEA migrants post Brexit in order to reduce immigration and encourage employers to hire British workers first. Britain’s policy on European migrants resident in the UK has yet to be decided and will probably form part of ongoing negotiations once article 50 has been triggered later this month.

Net migration to the UK fell by 49,000 last year following the Brexit vote, but more likely due to earlier curbs on immigration. Meanwhile, thousands of EU citizens are applying for UK passports and Indefinite Leave to Remain (permanent residence) in the panic to beat possible Home Office restrictions.

The UK Immigration Minister, Robert Goodwill, has stated that that British businesses were over reliant on migrant labour and said that an apprenticeship levy would be put in place later in 2017, in order to help meet the government’s pledge to train more than three million apprentices prior to the 2020 general election.

Mr Goodwill said: “In April this year we are also bringing in the immigration skills charge for non-EEA skilled workers. If you want to recruit an Indian computer programmer on a four-year contract on top of the existing visa charges and the resident labour market test there will be a fee of £1,000 per year.

“So for a four-year contract that employer will need to pay a £4,000 immigration skills charge. That is something that currently applies to non-EU and it has been suggested to us that could be applied to EU.”.

In excess of 16,000 EU citizens were granted UK citizenship last year, indicating that despite Brexit and all the 'doom and gloom' predictions many Europeans want to remain living in Britain.

The UK is an attractive place to work, start a business or buy property, with no restrictions on foreign buyers and a vibrant mortgage market with record low interest rates. Last week, a leading mortgage lender announced that it was introducing a fixed rate mortgage with an interest rate of .99%.

If you would like to learn more about investing in UK property, I have a limited number of complimentary tickets to a LIVE EVENT - Beginners Property Course (held in the UK), which will give you the basic knowledge and techniques to get started as a property investor. If you are interest, email me your full name and telephone number to euukimmigration@gmail.com.

See also:

Fines issued to landlords under right-to-rent offences

Turn Your Passion into Profit

Thursday, February 23, 2017

UK net migration drops but immigration from Romania and Bulgaria soars to record levels

UK net migration fell by 49,000 to 273,000 in the year to September 2016. Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures reveal.

This is the first time in two years that the net migration figure - the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the UK - had dropped below 300,000.

Overall immigration to the UK is estimated to be 596,000 – made up of 268,000 EU citizens, 257,000 non-EU citizens and 71,000 British citizens.

Whilst EU immigration from several countries fell, record numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians - 74,000 – came to live in the UK.

Around 323,000 people may have left the UK, slightly up on the previous year by 26,000.

The levers are estimated include 128,000 British citizens, 103,000 EU citizens and 93,000 non-EU citizens, although exact figures for legal and illegal immigration in the UK are almost impossible to calculate.

Anglicising the figures, BBC Home Affairs Correspondent, Dominic Casciani, said:

“Net migration is down. But while the net decrease looks substantial, nobody can say for sure what's triggered the change because these quarterly figures could have been influenced by a string of short-term factors.

“For a start, there appears to have been a rise in emigration - and when that goes up, net migration can come down.

“Secondly, some of the change could be down to seasonal fluctuations in student numbers.

“Thirdly, although there were significant departures by people from some parts of Eastern Europe, the number coming from poorer Romania and Bulgaria went up.”

In summary, the overall number of people arriving to work in the UK is about the same as previous years. The UK still has jobs, while other EU countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece all have high levels of unemployment.

Over 16,000 EU citizens were granted UK citizenship last year, indicating that despite Brexit many Europeans want to remain living in Britain.

The UK is an attractive place to work, start a business or buyproperty – no restrictions on foreign buyers - a vibrant mortgage market with record low interest rates.

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Dario from Croatia talks about working in the UK

If you would like more information about how Croatian EU Citizens can legally work in the UK visit my blog - Immigration Information for Croatians Coming to the UK to Work, Study or Visit.

Immigration Matters