‘Significant fall’ in visas granted to international nurses to work in the NHS

There has been a ‘significant fall’ in the number of UK visas granted to international nurses, a report has revealed.

New government statistics published in the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB) annual report, released on 12 February, shows that the number of Health and Care Worker visas granted for nurses in the first quarter of 2025 was ‘76% lower’ than the same quarter in 2024.

NHS England told writers of the report that it had ‘stopped incentivising’ NHS trusts to recruit internationally, adding that ‘the focus was on domestic workforce supply’. However, the report stated trusts were still working to retain existing international staff.

The news comes after the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that up to 46,000 nursing staff could leave the UK if latest government proposals to double the qualifying period for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) are approved. The Home Office has been consulting on increasing the ILR threshold from five to 10 years.

In December, health and social care secretary Wes Streeting said the NHS would ‘collapse’ without nurses from overseas, but warned that efforts needed to be made to reduce reliance on international recruitment.

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In the PRB report, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that the government ‘was committed to developing homegrown talent and giving opportunities to more people across the country to join the NHS’ and that there would be a ‘gradual reduction in the reliance on international recruitment’.

It added that the government’s highly anticipated NHS workforce plan would support this.

The report points to latest data from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in December 2025, which shows an almost 50% drop in the number of international professionals joining the register compared to the same six-month period last year.

Statistics were also released in the PRB report for Northern Ireland and Wales, showing a decline in international recruitment. In Northern Ireland, numbers have fallen significantly since 2023 with only 76 international nurses recruited to the five Health and Social Care Trusts in 2024/25, compared with 520 in 2022/23.

The Welsh Government told the report there had been a ‘notable rise’ in international recruitment between 2023 and 2024 which coincided with demand, but employer representatives in the country said services were ‘generally no longer recruiting from overseas’.

NHS Employers also said that international recruitment had decreased in the last two years, due to central funding from NHS England being cut off and government priorities shifting. It said that the 10 Year Health Plan had a target of reducing the reliance on international recruitment to 10% by 2035, and the impact of this would be an increased dependence on local labour markets.

A spokesperson for the DHSC said the government would continue to support international staff but reiterated it was focused on the ‘recruitment and retention of homegrown nurses’.

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They said: ‘The NHS benefits hugely from its international staff, and we’ll continue to support talented overseas nurses who want to dedicate their time, energy and skills to the health service.

‘However, it’s only right that British taxpayers should see a return on the investment they make in training our own medical talent, which is why we’re focusing on the recruitment and retention of homegrown nurses, investing in boosting graduate pay and introducing the graduate guarantee to give them better job opportunities on graduation.’

The PRB report also revealed that NHS nurses on Agenda for Change contracts in England and Wales will receive a 3.3% pay rise for 2026/27.

Health and social care secretary Mr Streeting said the increase would be in nurses’ pay packets from April ‘for the first time in six years’.

Mr Streeting said the government had accepted the NHS PRB’s recommendations ‘in full’ and that this year’s award was ‘above the government’s affordability’.

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He added that as part of an overall Agenda for Change pay package for 2026/27, the government will, with trade unions, ‘agree and implement funded improvements’ to the pay structure.

It also revealed that graduate nurses are being put on job waiting lists despite government promises to provide more roles for newly registered nurses and midwives. Evidence showed that the transition into employment was ‘variable’ and ‘inconsistent’ for newly registered nurses.

The report states some NHS trusts have been interviewing new graduates and placing them on ‘a waiting list’ due to ‘financial positions’ preventing them from offering roles.