Ireland waives off English test requirement for foreign nurses

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Ireland has taken a big step to ease the immigration process for nurses, a critical job in the country. In response to a substantial visa backlog, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland has announced a «one-off» extension of the validity of English tests for these nurses, extending the period for three months.

This decision was prompted by the challenging situation faced by nearly 1,000 nurses from abroad. They were at risk of their completed English tests expiring before they could secure their visas to practice in Ireland.

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Nurses moving to Ireland for work in thehealthcare system from foreign countries are required to submit a completed English test as part of their visa application, in line with the standard practice in the country. This problem had previously emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic due to travel restrictions, which prevented applicants from traveling to Ireland to renew their tests or take necessary actions, leading to test expiration issues.

“On recognition of the delays caused beyond the control of the applicants, NMBI decided to offer a once-off extension to nurses and midwives impacted by visa delays,” an NMBI spokesperson told The PIE.

The delays in visa processing also led to visa rejections from the Department of Justice for some nurses, compounding the problem. The NMBI is currently working to process the existing backlog of applications that arose due to these visa delays attributed to issues within the Department of Justice, as stated by their spokesperson.

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