Indian nurses in UK could be forced to return home

June 22, 2015 18:07

Nurses from India and other non-European countries employed with Britain's state-funded National Health Service could be forced to leave the UK under new immigration rules.

The UK's Royal College of Nursing has warned that a new salary threshold of 35,000 pounds a year could hit over 30,000 nursing staff from non-European nations.

India is the second-largest supplier of nursing staff to the country after the Philippines, with over 15,000 fulfilling nursing shortages within the NHS.

"The immigration rules will cause chaos for the NHS and other care services. At a time when demand is increasing, the UK is perversely making it harder to employ staff from overseas," said RCN general secretary Peter Carter.

The Conservative party led government is planning to introduce new stricter requirements for non-European migrants, including a minimum pay bar for workers which means they would have to leave the UK after six years if they are not earning at least 35,000 pounds per annum.

The cut-off date for the new rules has been set at 2011, meaning the first batch of nurses earning less will be sent home in 2017.

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