Debate on an e-petition relating to immigration fees for healthcare workers

E-petition 604472 is seeking to reduce the application fees for overseas healthcare workers seeking indefinite leave to remain (ILR), from £2389 to £243. Since the petition was made public, the application fees for ILR were increased by 1% to £2,404. The petition closed on 4 July 2022 with 34,392 signatures but has been selected by the Petitions Committee for debate despite not reaching the usual 100,000 signatures threshold.

The Health and Care Worker visa was introduced in August 2020 and allows healthcare professionals to apply to live and work in the UK with reduced visa application fees, as outlined below. The petition seeks to apply the same principle to ILR applications, to retain NHS staff.

The government responded to the petition, explaining that ILR is one of the “most valuable entitlements” offered by the Home Office and so should cost applicants more than temporary applications to stay in the UK.