This is certainly a fortunate news to all nurses who are waiting to travel to the UK from India.
Nurses who are trying to move to the UK probably are aware that due to the criticality of the covid-19 pandemic situation in India, the UK government has temporarily suspended the recruitment of nurses at all hospitals that come under NHS England from the 30th of April 2021. Due to which many who received the visa and the air ticket couldn't make it. Moreover, many do not have any information on the next step.
However, based on the recent information, the UK government has lifted the ban on the recruitment of healthcare professionals from India. This means, if you are already carrying a UK visa, you may travel in the coming days or if your UK visa has expired, you may renew the visa and come to the UK at the earliest.
During the recent times, several nurses have completed their interviews, many have received the offer letter or have completed paper works, few are waiting for the certificate of sponsorship (COS). The related procedures that were stopped temporarily would be resumed soon or the next week. If you are a nurse, who has done these preparations, you will be able to travel to the UK in 1-2 months if everything is ready at your end.
The prime reason behind why the UK government imposed this sudden restriction is due to the rapid increase of covid cases in India and the concern about the Indian covid variant. The ban particularly affects the nurse’s recruitment is because; when India is going through a disastrous situation, it would be unethical or against the guidelines of the World Health Organization to recruit the professionals to a developed country like the UK.
Another reason behind this decision is that many Indian states faced a shortage of health care workers. During this time, we witnessed many countries extending hands to help India and also because of the above, the UK government decided not to recruit health professionals until the situation is under control. The restrictions have been removed, as the covid cases and related issues in India has started declining.
If you have the visa in hand, we'll be booking the tickets in the coming days. Envertiz is trying to move maximum candidates to the UK by the end of June or before your visa expires.
There are two challenges in front of us; there are lot of nurses waiting to travel to the UK, Envertiz alone has around 300 nurses ready to travel to the UK from India. Since India is in the red list, people coming from India should undergo ten days of mandatory hotel quarantine. Based on the announcement made by the UK government, if you are coming to the UK to work for the NHS, you need not go for a hotel quarantine as you have quarantine facility in the hospital accommodation. Many hospitals were not able to meet the required conditions and fulfil the arrangements and hence are preferring hotel quarantine only.
The second challenge we're facing is the shortage in passenger flights, as only 15 flights are available per week for those traveling to the UK from India and still there is no announcement about an increase.
We can be optimistic that in the coming days these difficulties can be avoided with more practical solution.
