The foreign family of NHS workers who have died after contracting coronavirus will be granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK, Priti Patel announced today.
The Home Secretary told MPs that close relatives who had been living with the health workers before they died would now be allowed to stay in the country.
In a letter to the Home Affairs Committee she said: “We hope the number of people who find themselves in this position is very small and our thoughts go out to the families and friends of all medical professionals who have passed away fighting to keep us safe.
“We continue to monitor the situation carefully and consider our response. I can confirm that any dependants in this very sad position will be granted immediate indefinite leave to remain, without a requirement to pay a fee.”
More than 100 frontline NHS and social care workers have died after getting infected by the deadly virus while looking after patients and residents.
It is not clear how many of them had family members who were not UK residents, but the number is expected to be small.
Ms Patel confirmed that while automatic visa extensions will apply to midwives and social workers employed by the NHS - the policy for the social care sector was “under review”.
Last month the Home Office pledged to extend visas for the migrant NHS frontline workers and their relatives which are due to expire before October 1.
The Home Secretary said: “The disparate nature of the social care sector makes it a unique challenge when making specific immigration offers.
“We keep policy under review and are continuing to consider what more we can do to support frontline workers.”
But Ms Patel said she saw “no reason why” the Home Office should extend the deadline for applications to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) to help the thousands of EU citizens working in the NHS.
“The EUSS has been a great success. There is still over a year to apply yet. I think it’s important to recognise that throughout (coronavirus) support has not stopped.
“We are still receiving approximately 2,000 applications every single day.
“So at this stage, we see no reason why, to extend the deadline when there is still over a year to apply.”
