An overseas nurse came to us for immigration advice after being terminated from his employment by a nursing home. We found that this migrant was sponsored under SOC 2231 under Tier 2 and was granted a visa on 11 April 2016 and entered the UK on 03 May 2016 without having passed IELTS & CBT to make him eligible to meet the immigration rules. His understanding was that he would do the Overseas Nurses Programme (ONP) at Northampton University. But this programme was closed by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in October 2014. In fact the final overseas nurses programme at City University London, an accredited ONP provider, was provided on 21 July 2016.
We also discover that this nurse has not had any registration application with the NMC under the ONP scheme to even have been granted a decision letter before 30 April 2015 which would have made it possible for him to enter the UK on this basis. In other words, it is remotely impossible for this nurse to have met both the NMC registration requirement and the Immigration Rules to enter the UK under Tier 2 of the Points Based System (PBS). We wonder how his visa application was granted. Paragraph 77(k)(a) of Appendix A provides that: No points will be awarded for a Certificate of Sponsorship if the Certificate of Sponsorship Checking Service entry records that the applicant is being sponsored in the occupation code “2231 Nurses” or “2232 Midwives” unless the applicant has:
(i) obtained full registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council; or
(ii) passed the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s Computer Based Test of competence, or
(iii) obtained a Nursing and Midwifery Council permission before 30 April 2015 to undertake the Overseas Nursing Programme, and be sponsored to undertake supervised practice as part of the programme in a placement which has been approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council,
Furthermore, he has not obtained his NMC pin number after two years from entering the UK and his sponsor has not cancelled his sponsorship until recently. Paragraph 77(k)(c) of Appendix A further states that the applicant will cease to be sponsored if full Nursing and Midwifery Council registration is not achieved within 8 months of the stated employment start date .
The nurse further discloses to us that there are over 50 nurses in the same situation who entered the UK under the pretense of undertaking an ONP and supervised practice placement and had to pay the care home £150.00 a month for the said training, which this nurse has been paying for the last 2 years but has never had any form of the said training provided at any given time. This is a very alarming news and it appears that the care home has sponsored these nurses under the old rules which should have failed but for unknown reasons the visa applications in big numbers have been accepted and continue to be so.
If you are a nurse and entered the UK thinking that you will undertake the ONP and supervised practice placement and you are yet to obtain your NMC full registration, you will now have breached the conditions of your stay. The Home Office may consider your entry to the UK to have been made on deception and could be a serious ground to ban you from returning to the UK for 10 years.
Or perhaps you have now obtained your NMC pin number and are working for this care home, you may find yourself being investigated by the Home Office and allegation of deception be made against you and face deportation and a 10 year ban as above.
This is a serious immigration matter and you must seek immediate legal advice to protect your immigration status and nursing career in the UK. You may contact us by clicking here.
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