UK govt announces free visa, GHc 142k offer for Ghanaians

Free visa, The UK government has announced a £10,000 (about GH₵142,705) international relocation payment (IRP) to non-UK teacher trainees and teachers to come work in England.

Ghanaian graduates who can teach languages and physics courses are qualified to apply before October 31, 2023. The payment is designed to help cover the costs of moving to England, such as visa fees, immigration health surcharge, and other relocation expenses.

A statement from the UK office reads:

“The IRP offers financial support to teachers and trainees from all over the world who wish to come to train and work in English schools.

It will be paid around the end of the teacher’s or trainee’s first term. It will not need to be repaid. If eligible, trainee teachers can receive both the IRP and a bursary or scholarship.”

How the scheme will work
The statement further noted that the scheme works differently for fee-paying trainees, salaried trainees, and teachers.
It added:

“Trainees on fee-paying courses do not need to apply for the IRP. Training providers will pay the IRP directly to these trainees along with any bursaries they are entitled to.

“Teachers and trainees are encouraged to express an interest in the IRP by emailing IRP.ExpressInterest@education.gov.uk if they: Start their job or course after 31 October 2023, while successful applicants should receive the £10,000( about GH₵142,705) by 31 January 2024.”

Interested applicants are advised to apply now. However, for those who miss the October 2023 application deadline, the UK government has promised that another round will commence in January 2024.

What are the requirements to be eligible
Be a non-UK citizen
Be coming to England to teach or train to teach languages or physics
Have a degree
Have recognized teacher-training qualifications
Have at least one year of teaching experience
Be able to speak English at an undergraduate level.
The languages eligible for the payment are Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Urdu.
The physics courses eligible for the payment are physics, astrophysics, and nuclear physics.
It is important to note that at the embassy, interested applicants must apply for a skilled worker visa.
Criteria for teachers
To be eligible for the international relocation payment (IRP), you must meet all 3 of the following requirements.

1. Teaching subjects for teachers
You must be employed by and in an English state secondary school on a contract beginning in the 2023 to 2024 academic year (which runs from 1 September 2023 to 31 August 2024). Your contract must last at least one year and you must be working as:

a physics teacher
a general or combined science teacher – you must teach the physics element of these subjects
a language teacher – any language is eligible except English
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If you are employed to teach more than one subject, physics, general or combined science or a language or languages must make up at least 50% of your time in the classroom. The Department for Education will validate this with the school as part of the application process. Check with your school if you’re not sure whether you are eligible.

Examples of eligible teaching jobs include:

50% modern foreign languages (for example, French, Spanish, or German) and 50% another subject (for example, history)
50% modern foreign languages (for example, French, Spanish or German) and 50% English language
50% physics and 50% maths
50% general or combined science (must include the physics element) and 50% maths
State schools are schools funded by the UK government. Secondary schools teach children aged 11 to 16 or 11 to 18. You will not be eligible if you teach in a school for pupils aged 16 to 18 only.

2. Type of visa for teachers
You must come to England on one of the visas listed here.

For the following visas, you must have applied for your visa from outside the UK:

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Skilled worker visa(opens in new window)
Youth Mobility Scheme(opens in new window)
India Young Professionals Scheme visa(opens in new window)
Family visa(opens in new window)
UK Ancestry visa(opens in new window)
British National (Overseas) visa(opens in new window)
High Potential Individual visa(opens in new window)
For the following Ukrainian and Afghan visas, you can apply for your visa from within or from outside the UK:

Afghan citizens resettlement scheme(opens in new window)
Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy(opens in new window)
Ukraine Family Scheme visa(opens in new window)
Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme(opens in new window)
3. Date of arrival for teachers
You must move to England no more than 3 months before the start of your job.

Non-eligibility for teachers
You will not be eligible for the international relocation payment if you are:

a UK citizen, including citizens of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
an Irish citizen
a non-UK citizen who moved to England to live permanently more than 3 months before the start of your job
in England on a dependant partner visa linked to your partner’s skilled worker or student visa
teaching only English language
employed on a contract lasting less than one year
employed by a recruitment agency – an agency can find and place you in a school, but your contract must be with the school and your salary must be paid directly to you by the school, not by the recruitment agency
How to apply for IRP
The UK government said that to be eligible, teachers or trainees must be willing to come and work in England for the 2023 to 2024 academic year.

Also, interested persons must first visit the UK Teaching website using this link to ensure their certificates match the requirements for teachers and trainees.