Nursing abroad

Every step from first year to working abroad. See all nine countries for Nursing.

2 routes

Nurse to the United Kingdom About 5years to moving Well-trodden2 836Nurses, midwives and nursing associates on the UK NMC register trained in South Africa (2026)2,990 in September 2020, so down about 5% in five and a half years

Where it leads: Registered nurse in an NHS hospital. Typical employers: NHS trusts and private hospital groups.

Worth knowing: About GBP 1,226 in NMC fees and tests (from 1 October 2026) if you pay them yourself. Demand for nurses is high, but registered nurses are not on the UK Immigration Salary List; they come in on the Health and Care Worker visa.

Study · 4 yrs Bachelor of Nursing4 years
Train · 1 yr Community service1 year
Register NMC computer-based testSat at a test centre in South Africa
Move Job offer from a sponsorMost NHS trusts cover the move and exam costs
Register OSCE in the UKPractical exam, usually within weeks of arriving
Work NMC PINRegistered nurse

Full Nursing pathway for United Kingdom

Nurse to Australia or New Zealand About 5years to moving Well-trodden1 458Nurses in Australia whose country of training is South Africa (2024)1,884 in 2015, so down about 23% in nine years

Where it leads: Registered nurse in a public or private hospital. Typical employers: state health services, Health New Zealand, private hospital groups and aged care providers.

Worth knowing: Allow 9-18 months from application to registration. The Australian practical exam (Adelaide or Melbourne) alone costs about AUD 4,000 before flights. New Zealand also needs at least 1,800 hours of nursing practice after registration, with documents verified by TruMerit before applying (Nursing Council of New Zealand).

Study · 4 yrs Bachelor of Nursing4 years
Train · 1 yr Community service1 year
Register SANC registrationYour registration is verified with the new regulator (through TruMerit for New Zealand, after at least 1,800 hours of practice)
Register Theory examNCLEX-RN for Australia or the IQN online exam for New Zealand; both can be sat in South Africa
Register Practical exam (OSCE)10 stations, in Adelaide or Melbourne (Australia) or Christchurch (New Zealand) only, so budget for the trip
Move Registration, job + visaNursing is on the skilled lists in both countries
Work Australia or New Zealand

Full Nursing pathway for Australia

Years are typical minimums from the first year at university. Steps after a bar take no set time. Open a route for where it leads and every step.

How many have done this: 12 official counts, with sources

31 a year · Australian permanent skilled visas granted to South African citizens nominated as registered nurses or midwives (ANZSCO 2544, 2541) (Australia, 2025)
Trend: 30 in 2023-24
Programme year 2024-25.
Source: Department of Home Affairs, BP0068 Permanent Migration Program (Skilled & Family) Outcomes Snapshot, to 30 June 2025
1 458 · Nurses in Australia whose country of training is South Africa (Australia, 2024)
2.2% of Australia's foreign-trained nurses; 7th largest country of training
Trend: 1,884 in 2015, so down about 23% in nine years
Counts country of training, not nationality. Australia reports only a short country list to the OECD and publishes no country-level workforce data of its own.
Source: OECD Health Workforce Migration dataset: South Africa-trained nurses, stock · confidence medium
131 · Nurses in Canada whose country of training is South Africa (Canada, 2024)
0.2% of Canada's foreign-trained nurses; 28th largest country of training
Trend: 252 in 2008 and 231 in 2015, so roughly halved since the peak
Built from CIHI's Health Workforce Database, which omits country of graduation for some provinces in some years, so treat as a floor. CIHI itself publishes no South Africa row.
Source: OECD Health Workforce Migration dataset: South Africa-trained nurses, stock · confidence medium
30 a year · Nurses trained in South Africa newly entering the German nursing workforce in the year (Germany, 2024)
a very small flow; Germany recruits nurses mainly from the Balkans and the Philippines
Trend: 3 in 2021 and 6 in 2023, so 2024 is a sharp rise from almost nothing
Counts country of training, not nationality. Only isolated years are published for Germany (2015, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024); there is no stock figure.
Source: OECD Health Workforce Migration dataset: South Africa-trained nurses, annual inflow · confidence medium
2 836 · Nurses, midwives and nursing associates on the UK NMC register trained in South Africa (United Kingdom, 2026)
10th largest country of training outside the UK, behind Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ghana
Trend: 2,990 in September 2020, so down about 5% in five and a half years
Figure is as at 31 March 2026. Country of training, not nationality. Includes nurses, midwives and nursing associates on the permanent register.
Source: NMC register data, 31 March 2026, UK data tables ('Training Country ALL')
25 a year · South Africa-trained nurses and midwives joining the UK NMC register for the first time (United Kingdom, 2026)
0.1% of the year's new joiners; South Africa is a small source next to India or Nigeria
Trend: 122 in the year to March 2025 and 125 in the year to March 2024, so a sharp recent fall
Year to 31 March 2026. South Africa is not on the WHO health workforce support and safeguards list (the red list in England's code of practice) or the amber list, so UK employers may recruit South African nurses directly.
Source: NMC register data, year to 31 March 2026, UK data tables ('Training Country Joiners')
11 a year · UK sponsored work visas granted to South African nationals in nursing professional occupations (SOC minor group 223) (United Kingdom, 2025)
Trend: 110 in 2023 and 76 in 2022 (nurses and midwives, SOC 2010 minor group 223), before the UK tightened health and care recruitment
Understates the route badly: most nurses now switch in-country. 816 South Africans were granted Health and Care Worker extensions in 2025. The trend figures come from the older SOC 2010 table (Home Office occupation visas dataset, March 2024).
Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics data tables, table Occ_D02 (Sponsored work visas by occupation and industry, SOC 2020), year ending June 2026
109 · Nurses in Ireland whose country of training is South Africa (Ireland, 2025)
0.3% of Ireland's foreign-trained nurses; 15th largest country of training
Trend: 105 in 2021, so essentially flat
Counts country of training, not nationality. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland publishes no South Africa breakdown of its own.
Source: OECD Health Workforce Migration dataset: South Africa-trained nurses, stock
32 · Nurses in the Netherlands whose country of training is South Africa (Netherlands, 2024)
1.0% of the Netherlands' foreign-trained nurses; 13th largest country of training
Trend: 13 in 2016, then a step up to 38 in 2017; broadly flat since
Counts country of training, not nationality or birth. OECD compiles it from the destination's own register.
Source: OECD Health Workforce Migration dataset: South Africa-trained nurses, stock
640 · Nurses in New Zealand whose country of training is South Africa (New Zealand, 2025)
2.2% of New Zealand's overseas-trained nurses; 6th largest country of training
Trend: 712 in 2011, down to 545 in 2019, back to 640 in 2025
Counts country of training, not nationality or birth. OECD compiles it from the destination's own register.
Source: OECD Health Workforce Migration dataset: South Africa-trained nurses, stock
71 a year · Nurses trained in South Africa newly entering the United States nursing workforce in the year (United States, 2025)
South Africa is a marginal source for the US next to the Philippines or India
Trend: 7 in 2015, 26 in 2021, 89 in 2024, 71 in 2025: a clear recent upturn
Counts country of training, not nationality. The OECD publishes no stock figure for South Africa-trained nurses in the US, only this annual inflow.
Source: OECD Health Workforce Migration dataset: South Africa-trained nurses, annual inflow
125 a year · South Africa-educated nurses sitting the NCLEX-RN for US licensure for the first time (United States, 2025)
only 34 of the 125 passed (27.2%), well below the rate for most other countries
Trend: 60 candidates in 2022 of whom 32 passed (53.3%): numbers doubled but the pass rate halved
Exam candidates by country of nursing education, not nurses working in the US. Passing the NCLEX is one step; a visa and state licence are still required.
Source: NCSBN, 2025 NCLEX Examination Statistics, Table 9 (candidates by country of education)

How to read the board

Timelines are typical minimums from the first year at university; visas, exams and job searches often take longer.

“Well-trodden” means at least 1 000 people counted on an official register (or 200 a year); “Established” means at least 200 (or 50 a year). Counts come from regulators and statistics offices and are never estimated.

Register counts are people working there today, by where they trained. Visa counts are people per year, by occupation, because no country publishes visas by degree. UK visa figures count visas issued abroad only and understate every route: in 2025 South Africans received 793 Skilled Worker visas from abroad but 2 256 more by switching from inside the UK.

Illustrative, well-trodden routes assembled from the MatricMap research. Employers named are examples of the kind of organisation that hires on each route, not endorsements or job offers.