The move, first reported by the BBC early yesterday and confirmed by the Home Office in the afternoon, will be welcomed by recruiters. It means there will now be no restriction on the numbers of doctors and nurses who can be employed through the Tier 2 visa route.

The Tier 2 route has had an annual cap of 20,700 since 2011. But in recent months applications have exceeded the number of available places, with the Home Office confirming this has been driven, in large part, by demand from the NHS, which accounts for around 40% of all Tier 2 places.

Last month, recruiters called on the government to act after a Freedom of Information request indicated more than 6,000 skilled professionals from outside the EU were turned down for visas to take up jobs they had been offered in the UK.
 
The plans are being outlined in immigration rules laid before Parliament today.