Doctors Barred from Tier 1

Part of Britain's new Tier 1 in a five tier immigration system may leave many medical doctors from outside the European Union blocked from entering the UK. Tier 1 is part of the Highly Skilled migrants rule and the new restrictions were announced by the Home Office in early in 2008.

The new guidelines are expected to decrease the number of applicants that are still in training by as much as 2,900 in 2009 in hopes of opening up more positions for British trained medical graduates. It seems the competition for these medical posts has sharply increased the past few years as the UK sees more medical graduates from within the country.

The new rulings will not have any affect doctors already involved in training in the UK under the HSMP program. Those already enrolled in training are covered and will be exempt from the new guidelines and will be allowed to extend their stay in the UK. They will be asked to prove they qualify under the normal requirements of Tier 1. Even so, the competition for medical posts is expected to still be tough.

In hopes of displacing this issue, the Department of Health tried to establish guidelines last year for National Health Service (NHS) employers which suggested doctors look for UK born applicants before hiring foreign applicants event though they may be residents in the UK.

The ruling was later overturned but the government has since appealed the decision and it is on the dockets to be heard by the House of Lords in the near future.