• November 18, 2024

Qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain for healthcare workers in UK to remain 5 years

Qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain for healthcare workers in UK to remain 5 years

LONDON Nov 18: An e-petition on indefinite leave to remain for healthcare workers was debated in Westminster Hall today (18 November 2024). The petition was seeking to reduce the time that foreign healthcare workers in the UK have to wait to qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from five years to two years.

Tony Vaughan MP, Labour MP for Folkestone and Hythe, was asked by the Parliament Petition Committee to open the debate. He read out the arguments requesting the government to make the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain for health workers to two years from the existing five years.

This was followed by MPs speaking supporting the petition. Keralite Sojan Joseph, Labour MP for Ashford, spoke supporting the petition. This was folowed by other MPs too supporting the petition.

Seema Malhotra MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Migration and Citizenship) and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) replied to the petition on behalf of the UK government.

In her reply, the MP acknowledged the sentiment behind the petition and also congratulated the election of Bejoy Sebastian as RCN president. Replying to the petition she said: “Whilst I appreciate the idea of granting healthcare workers settlement after two years, the system must be fair to all users and that’s why it would not be right to allow health and care workers to qualify after two years when skilled workers including those in other much neededwith global demand would need to wait until they had completed five years on a work group before they are eligible to apply for settlement.

The MP also reiterated that the time given for healthcare workers to switch to another visa will not be extended from the present sixty days. She said: “The government does not have any plans to extend the period of time allowed to workers who have lost their jobs as this could leave them unable to work or support themselves for longer increasing the risk of destitution or that they become trapped in illegal working situations”.