UK’s new visa regime to hit East African migrants hard

The United Kingdom(UK) will soon bar dependents of foreign health workers from being granted entry via the Health and Care visa, in a move that could potentially be a blow to tens of thousands of African health workers hoping to move with their families there.

Increased demand for health workers and better-paying jobs has seen hundreds of thousands of nurses, doctors, and other health professionals moving to the UK post the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are just under3000 East Africans, especially Ugandans, Kenyans, and Tanzanians employed in the UK health care system as of this month. Many have shipped their families over the years.  According to a report in the House of Commons, Kenya tops the list with 1936 staff, Uganda has 797, andTanzania has 209 people employed in the NHS. Many shipped their families to theUK.

African countries with the most citizens working in the NHS are in descending order: Nigeria with22,000 medics; Zimbabwe, 5917; Egypt, 4149 and South Africa, 2226.

With UK policy allowing them to move with their dependents, 120,000 have been granted VISAs against 101,000 of those supposed to be working in the UK's health sector according to Secretary of State for the Home Department James Cleverly.

The new measures that will 'tighten the Health and Care visa' are expected to put an end to it and regulate immigrants moving into the UK while ensuring companies opt for local professionals and where there are none, they develop them.

"The package of measures will end the high numbers of dependants coming to the UK, increase the minimum salaries that overseas workers and British or settled people sponsoring family members must earn, and tackle exploitation across the immigration system.

"The government will tighten the Health and Care visa, which has seen a significant number of visas granted to care workers and their dependents, by preventing overseas care workers from bringing their dependants to the UK.

"Care providers in England will now only be able to sponsor migrant workers if they are undertaking activities regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

"In the year ending September 2023, 101,000 Health and Care visas were issued to care workers and senior care workers, with an estimated 120,000 visas granted to associated dependants, the majority of whom we estimate don't work, but still make use of public services."

The CQC is mandated with regulating and inspecting health and social caregivers in England, jobs flooded by foreign nationals.

Foreign health professionals will also have their salaries increased from £26,200 to £38,700to reduce the chances of companies employing them and sidelining locals to cutback on expenditure.

"My plan will deliver the biggest ever reduction in net migration and will mean around300,000 people who came to the UK last year would not have been able to do so.I am taking decisive action to halt the drastic rise in our work visa routes and crack down on those who seek to take advantage of our hospitality,"Cleverly told the House of Commons.