Immigration newsletter 26 Apr 2006

UK doctors disgruntled with new postgraduate immigration policy. 

April 21, mainly overseas doctors demonstrated their displeasure at the new immigration rules that will make it difficult for doctors who qualified from outside the EU to remain for postgraduate training. Denis C Wilkins President of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland has said that the new rules move away from selection based on merit. 

"For more years than I can remember, doctors from the Indian sub-continent and other Commonwealth nations have been the backbone of the National Health Service in the UK. A change in Britain's immigration system means many of these doctors will have to make way for EU doctors who want to work in the UK," said Nordqvist of Medical News Today. 

The new rule, which comes into effect from July 2006, has come as a blow to non-EU qualified doctors who have been undertaking postgraduate training in the UK. Postgraduate students who qualified as doctors in non-EU countries will no longer be able to complete their postgraduate training in the NHS unless they came under the work permit or HSMP schemes. According to the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, there are 15,000 doctors undertaking postgraduate training who will be affected by this new rule.

Woman deemed too thin to stay in Australia.

An English woman was facing deportation from Australia after failing a medical examination because her weight was deemed too low. Helen Evans weighs 6 stones and 11 pounds, while standing 5 ft 3in. She is married to an Australian citizen and has spent three years trying to get permanent residency in Australia. The couple also have a young son who was born in Australia. 

However, a tribunal overturned the ruling and she has been told she can stay in Australia pending a decision on her application for permanent residence. 

The Australian Government has strict immigration policies in place when it comes to procedure and documentation, a Department of Immigration spokesman said. Mrs Evans application was incomplete, and we have failed her for that reason and it had nothing to do with her weight. The Australian government is careful to screen potential migrants to ensure they are not overburdening the health care system, the spokesman said, They had failed Mrs Evans request for residency because she refused to provide medical information on a number of occasions,continued the spokesman.