In March 2006 the Department of Health (DH) announced the abolition of Permit Free Training and the introduction of the Work Permits system for all International Medical Graduates (IMGs) who are subject to UK immigration rules (i.e. have no leave to remain) to take up a post in the NHS from April 2006. In effect this means that in order to appoint an IMG a UK employer must show that there is no suitable resident worker (e.g. UK, EU etc) that can take the post.
The College understands the need to limit the influx of doctors from overseas. Due to the increase in UK and EU doctors there are not enough posts to fufil all doctors wants. However the College also felt strongly about not closing the doors for IMGs coming to partake in valuable short term training. The College has lobbied both the DH and the Home Office on these issues. The situation is laid out below, including the new Medical Training Initiatives introduced by the Home Office in September 2006 to allow clinical training links to continue.
A new immigration system was launched on Friday 29 February 2008 to ensure that only those with the right skills or the right contribution will be able to come to the United Kingdom to work and study. The new Managed Migrants System is a points-based system (similar to Australia’s). The key elements of the system are:
- it combines more than 80 pre-existing work and study routes in to the UK into five tiers
- points are awarded on workers' skills to reflect aptitude, experience, age and also the demand for those skills any given sector, to allow the UK to respond flexibly to changes in the labour market
- it is a fair, transparent and objective system that will enable potential migrants to assess their likelihood of making a successful application and should help to reduce the number of failed applications
- the system is being introduced in phases
Depending on an individual doctor’s circumstances, there are other immigration categories that might be appropriate to use (e.g. Sponsored Researcher, Academic Visitor, Tier 1 and Tier 2).
The College is not able to give immigration advice. Please contact the Home Office Border and Immigration Agency directly to confirm information given in this section.
Further information on: