The UK announces visa extensions for health workers

As per a November 20, 2020 announcement – Thousands more health workers to benefit from visa extensions – by the Home Secretary Priti Patel, “More than 6,000 frontline health workers will have their visas extended for a year for free, including doctors, nurses and paramedics.”

With the latest announcement, a large number of health professionals in the UK – as well as their family dependents – will have their visas extended for a year. There will be no fees or charges involved with the extension.

Over 6,000 health professionals stand to benefit from the visa extension.

A wide range of health professionals – doctors, paramedics, nurses, midwives, psychologists, occupational therapists, along with a range of allied health professionals – can now continue with their crucial work in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.

Earlier, the UK government had announced free visa extensions for health professionals that had their visas expiring between March 31, 2020 and October 1, 2020.

With the November 20 announcement by Home Secretary Priti Patel, visa extensions for health professionals will now be until March 31, 2021 [in place of the original extension until October 1, 2020].

As per the Home Secretary, the extension of the visas for health professionals and their families has been done in recognition of the “huge contribution healthcare professionals from overseas are making across the UK in fighting the devastating impact of coronavirus”.

According to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock, “I am hugely grateful for all of the frontline health and social care workers from overseas who have worked tirelessly to save lives and provide the best possible care during this global pandemic.”

The visa extension by the UK will be covering healthcare professionals working in the NHS as well as those in the independent health and care sector.

The 1-year extension will be “free of all fees and charges, including the Immigration Health Surcharge”.

Those that stand to benefit from the extension will be required to complete a simple online form for the purpose of verifying their identity.

The employers of the health professional will also be asked for a confirmation of their identity.

The latest announcement is a part of the many measures being taken by the UK government for supporting the healthcare sector in general and the NHS in particular during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to the UK, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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