Overseas nurses ‘pushed into poverty’ by UK visa policies

The report by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has warned that the UK risks a “mass exodus” of international nurses, as two thirds are now considering leaving the UK due to the financial burden of living here.

“Migrant nursing staff pushed into poverty will simply choose somewhere else to do their nursing”

Patricia Marquis

More than one in five professionals on the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register are internationally educated.

However, UK immigration policy means that overseas nurses are not entitled to the same benefits as their UK-educated counterparts, leading many to financially struggle when they come here.

Many nurses are on temporary visas, such as the Health and Care Worker visa, meaning they are subjected to the ‘no recourse to public funds’ (NRPF) rule which denies them access to benefits such as universal credit, child benefit and housing benefit.

Nurses can only access these benefits once they are granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR), which requires them to have lived in the UK for at least five years.

The RCN warned that a single ILR application now costs £2,885, leaving many migrants trapped in “poverty and destitution” under temporary visa arrangements.

The union has urged the government to remove the NRPF condition and reduce visa fees, including the ILR application costs.

It comes as an RCN survey of more than 3,000 internationally educated nursing staff found that they struggled more with housing, childcare and general household costs than their UK-educated counterparts.

Almost two thirds of respondents (62%) said they had considered leaving the UK and returning to their country of training due to the high cost of living.

Some 54% of respondents reported working more than their contracted hours or withdrawing or reducing contributions to their pension scheme over the last 12 months to help them get by.

In addition, over a third (36%) of internationally educated nurses with a child or children under five years old reported struggling with their living costs and feeling increasingly worried about their finances. This figure was 40% for those with a child or children between five and 16 years old.

The RCN noted that internationally educated staff were more likely to be responsible for all household costs than their UK-educated counterparts.

The survey asked about the impact that the NRPF visa condition has had on nurses’ ability to navigate the cost-of-living crisis.

Respondents said the lack of additional support had forced them to work longer hours to keep up with the costs.

One respondent said: “The impact of [NRPF] is enormous as I’m really struggling to make ends meet.

“Struggling to feed and clothe [my] children with no help from anywhere. I’m exhausted and financially drained.”

Another said: “I had to go into credit card debt and do more weekend and night shifts in the past.

“This meant that I was away from my child and relied on [the] help of friends for childcare on nights/weekends.”

Meanwhile, other respondents reported feeling trapped in unsuitable housing due to the high cost of rent, which had been compounded by their exclusion from public funds such as universal credit.

One nurse said: “I’m facing challenges finding affordable housing.

“I’m currently using 50% of my salary just to afford a room, which has led me to work additional hours to support both my family and myself.

Patricia Marquis

“This financial strain is taking a toll on my mental wellbeing.”

Patricia Marquis, executive director for the RCN in England, said: “As it stands, the current system denies migrants access to vital benefits, despite them paying tax and doing the same work as their domestically trained colleagues.

“The reality is that migrant nursing staff pushed into poverty will simply choose somewhere else to do their nursing – this is a tragedy for patient care.

“Ministers must lead from the front and show that migrant nursing staff are welcome here and have the same value as their domestic colleagues.

“The no recourse to public funds condition applied to migrant workers must be ended immediately.”

The UK Government was contacted for comment.