The following is a guide to what the Immigration Rules say about doctors and dentists traveling to the United Kingdom for postgraduate training.

Postgraduate training in the United Kingdom?

You can do postgraduate training if you are a doctor or dentist who has qualified either in the United Kingdom or abroad. You must register with the General Medical Council or the General Dental Council before you can start postgraduate training.

How can I register if I have graduated from a medical school in the United Kingdom?

You qualify for full registration with the General Medical Council if you work as a house officer in a hospital for up to 12 months.

How can I register if I am a doctor who has qualified abroad?

If you qualified abroad, you may need to pass a test set by the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board (PLAB) to show how much you know about English and medicine before you can register with the General Medical Council.

Doctors must pass an English test, known as the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), before they can take the PLAB test. You do not have to take this test in the United Kingdom. You can take it at over 100 centres around the world.

We may give you permission to stay for up to 18 months in the United Kingdom so that you can pass the PLAB test.

How do I qualify to come to the United Kingdom for postgraduate training?

You must show that:

you are a doctor or dentist; 

you are registered, or eligible to be registered, with the General Medical Council or General Dental Council; 

you plan to carry out postgraduate training in a hospital or the Community Health Services (or both); 

you have not already spent four years in postgraduate training in the United Kingdom (this does not include the 12 months you worked as a house officer); and 

you plan to leave the United Kingdom when you finish your training. 

You will be given permission to stay in the United Kingdom for up to three years in the first instance.

You can apply to stay for up to four years as long as you have a postgraduate job in basic specialist training or a similar job. If you have a job in higher specialist training, you may apply for permission to stay for longer than four years. We can extend your stay for up to three years at a time.

You must stay registered with the General Medical Council or the General Dental Council and you must plan to leave the United Kingdom when you finish your training. 

Can I take employment other than a training post?

You will need a work permit if you are coming to the United Kingdom to do work other than in a training post. Your employer in the United Kingdom must apply to the Department for Education and Employment for your work permit.

How do I apply?

Our firm can assist you in satisfying the above requirements and provide you with professional guidance and qualified legal advice

Case Studies

 

	DR. PUSHPINDER SINGH SANDHU
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