THE NURSING AND Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) has agreed to extend the validity of English language tests for overseas nurses who have been offered jobs here, but have been delayed in coming here due to a logjam with visa processing. 

A group of roughly 1,000 nurses have been affected by the issue since the start of this year, as many have faced multiple visa rejections from the Department of Justice, despite having secured jobs in Ireland. 

Previously, a group of 20 overseas nurses who had to quit their jobs to accept offers of work in Ireland told The Journal of the hardship they have faced due to the delay in starting their new jobs. In some cases nurses had to give three months’ notice to their overseas employer. 

One of the most stressful parts of the delay for many nurses has been the worry that they will lose their job offer in Ireland, as waiting for their visas has taken months, and their English language qualifications are on the verge of becoming outdated.

Overseas nurses are required to have passed the IELTS or OETS within two years of their registration as a nurse in Ireland. It also costs hundreds of euro to train for the test and to sit it, so some nurses are in a position of not being able to afford to do it again. 

Back in June, one nurse in this position told The Journal that being out of work due to the delay with her visa left her “mentally depressed”. 

After applying in January, Ila had her AWS permit rejected twice. In June she was still waiting to hear anything further from the department, and is currently unemployed as she was advised by her future Irish employer to quit her job five months ago.

“I am very depressed. I am the primary breadwinner in my family, and I work to take care of them. As the months go on, the stress of this situation is becoming too much for me,” she said at the time. 

“Next month my OET (English language qualification) will expire. This could mean that I will likely lose my job offer. What can I do? I have been two years in this process holding out hope for my dream of working in Ireland,” she added. 

The group of nurses who complained about delays in June are all mainly in the same position, according to a representative from the advocacy group Migrant Nurses Ireland. 

The spokesperson added that AWS visas are now being processed within a normal timeframe, but that there is an ongoing backlog of applications from earlier in the year. 

The NMBI released a statement on nurses facing delays in securing Atypical Working Scheme visas on 10 October, stating that it would be extending the validity of English Language tests for a defined cohort of applicants. 

“This is in response to requests from applicants who were impacted by recent ATWS visa issues, with the aim of supporting more nurses and midwives to join our Register and become part of the Irish healthcare workforce,” the NMBI letter said. 

They gave a three month validity extension to nurses who had previously passed an English language test with a satisfactory score, have a test which expires within three months of their application for registration, and have evidence that they have faced delays in their registration application due to a visa issue. 

“NMBI continues to support applicants from outside of Ireland who wish to join the Register of Nurses and Midwives. We are keen to register more nurses and midwives to meet the demands of the health sector, while ensuring that all nurses and midwives working in Ireland provide excellent quality of care,” the nursing board said in its letter.