The United Kingdom has introduced a new policy that prevents overseas health workers from bringing their families when immigrating on a Health and Care Worker visa.
The UK Home Office announced this in an X post on Monday, March 11.
This move is part of a wider government plan to significantly reduce overall immigration levels.
According to Monday’s announcement, 120,000 people who arrived last year would no longer be eligible under the new rules.
“From today, care workers entering the UK on Health and Care Worker visas can no longer bring dependants.
“This is part of our plan to deliver the biggest ever cut in migration,” the Home Office said.
In a separate post, UK Home Secretary, James Cleverly gave a timeline of policies expected to drastically cut net migration.
We are delivering on our plan for the biggest-ever cut in migration.
Overseas care workers brought an estimated 120,000 dependants to the UK in the year ending Sep 23.
Today we've put a stop to this👇 pic.twitter.com/myjR9crG4H
— James Cleverly🇬🇧 (@JamesCleverly) March 11, 2024
However, the decision has drawn criticism from healthcare providers and immigration advocates who warn it will exacerbate staffing shortages in the already strained National Health Service (NHS).
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