Post by Deborah Udy Okusaga Akanne (@deborah_udy_okusaga)
NHS INTERVIEW MASTERCLASS — WEEK 3
The Immigration Salary List Ends in December 2026. Most Nurses, HCAs and AHPs Don't Know What That Means For Their Visa.
I need to start this week with something urgent.
Not an opinion. A verified policy fact that affects every international nurse, HCA, physiotherapist, and AHP who is currently in the UK or planning to come.
The Immigration Salary List — the mechanism that allows healthcare roles to be sponsored below the general £41,700 Skilled Worker threshold — is being phased out.
It ends December 2026.
Here is what that means in plain terms.
Right now, nurses, AHPs, physiotherapists, and Band 3–5 clinical support roles can be sponsored into the UK under the Health and Care Worker Visa at salary thresholds significantly below £41,700. Band 5 nurses start at approximately £28,407. Foundation year doctors around £32,000. AHPs at various Band 5 entry points. All of these are below the general Skilled Worker threshold — and all of them are currently eligible because they sit on the Immigration Salary List.
When the list ends in December 2026 — unless these roles are added to the Temporary Shortage List or the rules are modified — new overseas applications for roles not at graduate level (RQF Level 6 and above) will no longer be eligible.
Band 3 and Band 4 roles — healthcare support workers, healthcare assistants — are already at risk under the proposed higher skills threshold being implemented across 2025 and 2026.
This is not speculation. This is confirmed NHS Employers guidance published April 2026.
What this means for you:
If you are currently in the UK on a Health and Care Visa and your role falls below the new thresholds, you need to understand what happens at renewal.
If you are overseas and planning to apply for a UK healthcare role in 2027 — the landscape may look very different.
If you are a Band 5 nurse or AHP already here and your employer has not briefed you on this — ask.
This week I am covering everything that international healthcare professionals need to know about the UK right now. Not the glossy recruitment promises. The verified policy reality.
DM me "VISA" and I will tell you specifically how the December 2026 deadline affects your grade, your route, and your timeline.
Post 2 drops at 9:00 AM — it covers the one thing NHS interview panels are scoring this month that almost no IMG is preparing for.
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