New here

Hi all,
a friend linked this formum for me. I've never used a forum like this some I'm learning. I have recently thought about moving from the USA. I want my kids to know the world doesn't revolve around America and it's values. My husband and I are very open to change and new things and I want my kids to see and learn new perspectives. But right now I'm just trying to figure out if it's even possible for us to move to the U.K.  Seems from what I'm reading that visas are hard to get even with an in demand job and I am starting to think that it's probably not possible to get a visa. I'm a neonatal icu nurse (3 years out of work to stay home with our kids) and my husband is an instrumentation and electrical technician at an Exxon Mobil plant. We are in no rush I just want to find out if it's possible and if it is where to start. I also don't even know where to ask someone what kind of education might help. Should I get my masters? Do I need to take certain classes to work towards getting myself qualified to work as a nurse there? I'm so overwhelmed with all of it and I don't even know who to ask. Thanks for reading and I guess now I'll be spending my free time reading as much of this site as I can to get info.

Nurses are in demand.  Oil industry is offering badly here.

You'd likely take a massive pay cut to accept a job here.

The UK is extremely anti-immigration at the moment (yes, even more so than the US).  Why the UK?

To be fair, I think most people here think the world revolves around the UK.     It's not *too* dissimilar in its views.

Nurses are in demand.  Oil industry is offering badly here.

You'd likely take a massive pay cut to accept a job here.

The UK is extremely anti-immigration at the moment (yes, even more so than the US).  Why the UK?

To be fair, I think most people here think the world revolves around the UK.     It's not *too* dissimilar in its views.

Why the U.K.? Well when I told my husband that I wanted to try to live somewhere else he said Scotland. I thought he was joking because I've been reading the Outlander series of books but he wasn't. There's no set reason why I just want to go somewhere else. And I'm afraid to look at countries with a significant language barrier. I don't know how easily I would pick up an entirely different language. So I thought U.K. Bc the language barrier isn't quite as significant.

I don't keep up with the USA news and current events as well as I should and I definitely don't keep up with current events elsewhere. I didn't realize how anti immigration the U.K. is too.


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Yeah, it's really bad.  Try to catch up a bit on Brexit and you'll start to get a small idea of what it's like.

A lot depends on if you want to be the one to get a visa or your husband.  I'm thinking you *could* qualify as a nurse here.

But would you rather live somewhere where your husband will be the main worker?  I have friends in oil and gas here who have lost their UK jobs.  One has moved to Oman, the other to South Korea.  Both have kids!

Yeah, it's really bad.  Try to catch up a bit on Brexit and you'll start to get a small idea of what it's like.

A lot depends on if you want to be the one to get a visa or your husband.  I'm thinking you *could* qualify as a nurse here.

But would you rather live somewhere where your husband will be the main worker?  I have friends in oil and gas here who have lost their UK jobs.  One has moved to Oman, the other to South Korea.  Both have kids!

We are ok with either one of us being the main worker in the family. When I decided to stay home part of it was because my position at the time was in a less than ideal facility that did not care about their patients. So I left partly because I did not want to continue working in that facility any more. We didn't decide for me to stay home bc I was the woman and it's woman's work or anything like that. So if it's me to be the main worker than that's totally ok with me and him. Besides it's time he stayed home 24/7 with the small humans anyway

I wonder how hard it would be for me to qualify as a nurse specialized in nicu. I've only ever worked neonatal icu and haven't worked with pedis or adults. And i see on a few posts that there is an income minimum so now I wonder if a nurse would make that minimum limit for a visa anyway. So much info and I can't read fast enough.


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Hi MVoight-Sellers!

I agree with Kfdancer in that the the oil and gas industry does seem to be dead in the water at the moment but the good news is that, from what I understand, there is significantly less anti-immigrant feeling in Scotland than in certain parts of England.

We have a member here who recently started working as a nurse in the UK.
Here is one of her threads, perhaps you could message her and pick her brain! 

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=88896.msg1153346#msg1153346

I assumed you'd continue to work in neonatal.  I'm sure it's in demand.

Hi MVoight-Sellers!

I agree with Kfdancer in that the the oil and gas industry does seem to be dead in the water at the moment but the good news is that, from what I understand, there is significantly less anti-immigrant feeling in Scotland than in certain parts of England.

We have a member here who recently started working as a nurse in the UK.
Here is one of her threads, perhaps you could message her and pick her brain! 

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=88896.msg1153346#msg1153346

Thank you! I did message her.


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I assumed you'd continue to work in neonatal.  I'm sure it's in demand.

I always worry being specialized in neonatal bc a lot of facilities here prefer nurses to have Med/surg experience. And recently I havent been able to find work bc the local facilities aren't hiring for neonatal and won't hire me for adults.


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I always worry being specialized in neonatal bc a lot of facilities here prefer nurses to have Med/surg experience. And recently I havent been able to find work bc the local facilities aren't hiring for neonatal and won't hire me for adults.

Neonatal ICU Nurse is the ONLY nursing job currently listed on the Tier 2 Visa Skills Shortage list... which means they are in demand and can't get enough UK nurses to fill the roles. Therefore it would be much easier to get a visa to work as a neonatal ICU nurse than any other type of nurse.

From the Skills Shortage List:

2231 Nurses
ONLY the following jobs in this  occupation code:
- specialist nurse working in neonatal intensive care units

Sponsors must retain evidence of the individual's provisional / full NMC registration and provide this to  the Home Office on request.
(Registration may need to be done after the individual has entered the  United Kingdom but must be done before starting work as a registered nurse).

Minimum Appropriate Salary Rate:
Supervised practice nurses (Band 3 and equivalent): £16,271
Band 5 and equivalent: £21,478
Band 6 and equivalent: £25,783
Band 7 and equivalent: £30,764
Band 8a and equivalent: £39,239
Band 8b and equivalent: £45,707
Band 8c and equivalent: £54,998
Band 8d and equivalent: £65,922
Band 9 and equivalent: £77,850
[Source: NHS Agenda for Change 2014]

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/423800/shortage_occupation_list_april_2015.pdf

Neonatal ICU Nurse is the ONLY nursing job currently listed on the Tier 2 Visa Skills Shortage list... which means they are in demand and can't get enough UK nurses to fill the roles. Therefore it would be much easier to get a visa to work as a neonatal ICU nurse than any other type of nurse.

From the Skills Shortage List:
See: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/423800/shortage_occupation_list_april_2015.pdf

Awesome!


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The only thing is that where you live could be more limited.  For example, I live in Wokingham and when I have #2 I'll deliver at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading (10 minutes away).  However RBH does not have NICU facilities.  No hospital in my county does.  If baby were need to go to NICU, I'll delivery (or be transferred) to John Radcliffe in Oxford, which is an hour away.

But the hospitals with NICU's will be in more populated areas.  Hopefully that's what you want!   

Awesome!


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Also, as per the 'appropriate' salaries listed in my post above, you could potentially get a Tier 2 visa on the lowest salary listed there, which is below the normal minimum requirement, if you weren't registered yet, but would be sitting the relevant nursing exams when you arrived.

From the Codes of Practice for Tier 2 Workers (pages 58-59):

Salary rates:
- Pre-registration candidate nurses who either:
• obtained a Nursing and Midwifery Council permission before 30 March 2015 to undertake the Overseas Nursing Programme, or
• have arranged to sit an Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to obtain Nursing and Midwifery Council registration (Band 3 and equivalent): £16,271

- Band 5 & equiv. £21,478
- Band 6 & equiv. £25,783
- Band 7 & equiv. £30,764
- Band 8a & equiv. £39,239
- Band 8b & equiv. £45,707
- Band 8c & equiv. £54,998
- Band 8d & equiv. £65,922
- Band 9 & equiv. £77,850
[Source: NHS Agenda for Change 2014]

Note: Nurses who enter Tier 2 can be paid at the Band 3 rate until they achieve full Nursing and Midwifery Council registration, even though this is below the minimum Tier 2 (General) threshold of £20,800. They must be sponsored to do a job as a pre-registration candidate nurse on the basis that:

(1) they obtained a Nursing and Midwifery Council permission before 30 March 2015 to undertake the Overseas Nursing Programme, and are being sponsored to undertake a supervised practice placement as part of the programme, which has been approved by the Nursing and Midwifery Council,

or

(2) they will sit an Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) to obtain Nursing and Midwifery Council registration no later than 3 months after the start date on their Certificate of Sponsorship, and familiarisation training will be permitted until the application for registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council Registration is either successfully completed, otherwise closed, or 8 months, whichever is earlier. You must provides evidence of the above, if requested to do so. You must also continue to sponsor them as a nurse after they achieve Nursing and Midwifery Council registration, and pay them at least the Band 5 rate once that registration is achieved.

See: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/423732/codes_of_practice_april_2015.pdf

Also, as per the 'appropriate' salaries listed in my post above, you could potentially get a Tier 2 visa on the lowest salary listed there, which is below the normal minimum requirement, if you weren't registered yet, but would be sitting the relevant nursing exams when you arrived.

From the Codes of Practice for Tier 2 Workers (pages 58-59):See: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/423732/codes_of_practice_april_2015.pdf

Wow this gets my hopes up. thank you. Me and the hubs need to talk some more about how soon we want to try to do this. After my initial googling I thought it was a lost cause but maybe not. I'm excited to see where this goes.


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FYI, there is a new requirement for nurses who trained outside the EU/EEA to take an English language exam called IELTS. There is no exception to this rule, even for native speakers. IELTS isn't that common in the US, so you may need to look into how/when/where you could take it. Also, it's not a strictly English-language test, but also tests academic skills, so you will need to take some time to learn about it and be prepared before you take it. My current job is training nurses from Romania (primarily) to take this exam so they can work in the UK. Have a look at this: https://www.nmc.org.uk/registration/joining-the-register/trained-outside-the-eueea/ielts/ and if you want more info, you can PM me.