The United Kingdom (UK) has banned health and care workers from foreign countries, including Nigeria, from bringing dependants to the country.

The affected workers include doctors, nurses, and other health professionals.

The British government made the announcement in a terse statement via the UK Home Office verified X handle (formerly Twitter) on Monday, March 11, 2024.

The measure, according to the UK government, was part of its plan to reduce migration into the country.

The UK government disclosed that foreign health workers brought an estimated 120,000 dependants to the UK in 2023.

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The statement reads: “From today, care workers entering the UK on Health and Care Worker visas can no longer bring dependants.

“This is part of our plan to deliver the biggest ever cut in migration.”

James Cleverly, Home Office Secretary, also spoke on the decision.

He said: “We are delivering on our plan for the biggest-ever cut in migration. Overseas care workers brought an estimated 120,000 dependants to the UK in the year ending Sep 23. Today we’ve put a stop to this.”

The UK Home Secretary added that the graduate route for international students is also being reviewed.

According to him, “We must prevent abuse of the graduate route into the UK & protect the integrity of our higher education system. That’s why today I’ve commissioned a review of the graduate route for international students by the independent Migration Advisory Committee.”

The United Kingdom Government had in January 2024 announced the commencement of the implementation of its policy banning Nigerian students and other nationalities studying in the UK from bringing their families over.

The Home Office noted that only those on postgraduate research or government-sponsored scholarship students will be exempted from the ban.

It said: “We are fully committed to seeing a decisive cut in migration.

“From today, new overseas students will no longer be able to bring family members to the UK.

“Postgraduate research or government-funded scholarships students will be exempt.”

The UK had, in May 2023, announced a planned crackdown that will see all master’s students and many other postgraduates banned from bringing family into the UK.

The UK Media House however stated that the ban will not apply to PhD students, whose courses usually last between three and five years and are very highly skilled.

This followed the reports that net migration into the UK has skyrocketed to 1 million with Conservative (Tory) Members of Parliament asking the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, “to get a grip on the rocketing numbers”.

The Star