NHS leaders have warned that post-Brexit UK immigration rules will make visas difficult to access for care workers, sparking a potential shortage of staff. The NHS Confederation has urged government ministers to show ‘flexibility and pragmatism’ across the new system to prevent the flow of international care workers from drying up.
The NHS Confederation, which represents health organisations across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, fears that care workers from Europe and elsewhere in the world will struggle to qualify for visas under the UK’s strict, post-Brexit immigration system.
Hundreds of thousands of vacancies
Senior European policy manager for the Confederation, Kate Ling, told a parliamentary inquiry that there were 112,000 care work vacancies across the sector at any given time and that there are genuinely severe concerns that the new UK immigration rules will make the situation worse.
LONDON, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Below are details of a British scheme offering a path to citizenship for more than 5 million people in Hong Kong after London declared that China had broken the terms of a 1984 handover treaty by imposing a new security law.
WHAT IS A BRITISH NATIONAL OVERSEAS?
The offer applies to those with British National (Overseas) status and their dependants. This is a special status created under British law in 1987 that specifically relates to Hong Kong.
It allows adults and children to register and hold a BN(O) passport if:
- they were a British dependent territories citizen by connection with Hong Kong.
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The UK government will deliver on its commitment to open a new visa for Hong Kong BN(O) status holders on Sunday 31 January.
The commitment was made following the Chinese government’s imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong last year, in breach of its commitments under international law.
The visa reflects the UK’s historicâ¯andâ¯moral commitment to the people of Hong Kong who have had their rights and freedoms restricted.
Those with British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) status and their eligible family members will be able to come to the UK to live, studyâ¯and work. As with other visas, afterâ¯5 years in the UK, theyâ¯will be able to apply forâ¯settlement, followed byâ¯British citizenship after a further 12 months.
Our commitment to Hongkongers shouldn t stop with the visa programme
Tom Randall MP and Sarah Champion MP are vice-chairs of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hong Kong
Protesters write slogans on placards as they occupy the departure hall of the Hong Kong International Airport during a demonstration in August 2019
On Sunday, the historic Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) visa programme will open; a fitting end to a week of celebrations and activism marking the 180
th anniversary of the founding of modern Hong Kong.
The scheme will allow Hongkongers who hold British National (Overseas) citizenship, an offer that was made to people who were British citizens by connection with Hong Kong in 1997, and their close family members to apply to come and stay in the UK for up to 5 years.