Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government has made an assessment of the potential merits of offering Indefinite Leave to Remain to healthcare workers and their families who have been employed under a temporary work visa during the covid-19 outbreak.

Workers from overseas in the NHS and wider health and care sector have made a huge contribution in tackling COVID-19 and the Government has taken un-precedented measures to ensure the sector is supported fully, including free 12-month visa extensions for those working in eligible occupations in health and social care.

Individuals working in healthcare, on a route which leads to settlement, will be able to apply for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) for themselves and their family, providing they meet the requirements, including a period of lawful residence in the UK without excess absences, sufficient knowledge of the English language and life in the UK. In sponsored work routes, settlement relies on applicants having worked in their sponsored job for five years.

In addition, we are granting immediate indefinite leave to remain (ILR), free of any charges, to family dependants of migrant NHS, health and care workers who unfortunately lose their lives as a result of contracting COVID-19.