Roughly 3,000 frontline medical and care workers will have their visas extended for one year free of charge by the UK government, Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Wednesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th April, 2020) Roughly 3,000 frontline medical and care workers will have their visas extended for one year free of charge by the UK government, Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Wednesday.
The latest announcement will see hundreds more frontline workers, including midwives, radiographers and pharmacists, have their visas extended after Patel announced plans on March 31 for 2,800 foreign-born doctors, nurses, and paramedics to be given the visa extensions.
"We have already announced the extension of visas for NHS doctors, nurses and paramedics. Now we are going further by extending this offer to hundreds of other frontline health and care workers, both in the NHS and in the independent sector," Patel said in a Home Office statement.
The extensions apply to foreign health care workers whose visas expire between March 31 and October 1 this year. Those working in both public and private health care are eligible to receive the extension.
Patel also stated that family members of foreign health care workers who die as a result of contracting COVID-19 will be given an indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.
Immigration lawyers have previously criticized Patel's plans to extend the visas of certain health care workers, saying that the proposals lack clarity and could exclude key workers such as hospital porters.
According to a June 2019 study by the Office of National Statistics, more than 76,000 non-EU workers are employed by the NHS.
