UK nurses living in India, Malaysia, the Philippines or Sri Lanka: the green list and the government agreement
If you live in India, Malaysia, the Philippines or Sri Lanka, your UK nursing plan now says that the UK's Code of Practice puts your country on its green list, where employers may recruit actively, and that the UK has a government-to-government agreement with it. The Code goes by the country you live in, not where you trained.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · GOV.UK (DHSC) ↗
- Who it affects
- Nurses in the UK
What it means for you
United Kingdom (nurses)
The UK's Code of Practice for international recruitment, read on GOV.UK on 2 November 2026, grades countries red, amber or green, and active recruitment is permitted from green countries, which are all those not on the red or amber list. Its Annex B names the green countries that also have a government-to-government agreement with the UK: India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. An agreement may set terms, applied by the country of origin, for how UK employers and agencies recruit, and the Code encourages them to recruit on those terms. For the Philippines, the agreement covers nurses and some allied health professions, and an employer that plans to hire more than five people from the Philippines has to apply for accreditation and should partner with a Philippine recruitment agency, or a UK foreign placement agency. The Code goes by the country you live in, not your nationality or where you trained, so your plan shows this by where you live, as it already did for the red and amber lists.
Doctors
Nothing changes on doctors' plans: India's agreement with the UK and the Philippines' name nurses and allied health professions, not doctors.
What to do next
Tell us where you trained, your English and the countries you want, and we show which steps you have left in each, with every fee and how long it takes.
Sources
outcomeOS describes each regulator's published rules; it does not advise on your individual case. · What changed · Privacy · Terms