Visa Holidays

[privateeye]

As the home office site for immigration/visas is currently down I can't get the answer but someone may know to save me waiting until the home office gets their act together.

A large client is bringing in skilled workers, when their visa expires they return to India for what is termed as a Visa holiday. After this they then return back to the UK and start work again picking up from where they left off.

I suspect they are on a Visitor type Visa not a work permit so this is illegal. If anyone knows what the law is here I would appreciate a pointer to it.

[mcquiggd]

'The Stationery Office' - formerly part of Her Majestys Stationery Office, employed the same tactics. Suddenly the Indian guys would dissapear for two weekds and be replaced by another two 'to visit their families in India', then they would be back for another 6 months or so.

Never got much done and used to have to ask another worker how to do ANYTHING.

[privateeye]

The home office website is back and it seems from reading it a large uk company is abusing the visa system by using visitor visa's for workers which limit the rights of stay to 6 months but these visa's can be used any amount of times up to 10 years hence why these workers keep disappearing.

What the visa holder is not allowed to do is

* take paid or unpaid work
* produce goods or provide services in the UK

They are allowed to complete work in the UK but not provide a service in the UK. They are operating as paid contractors in the UK providing a service - none of the work is performed in India. I'm talking 50+ people here that have conveniently been put in a seperate office out of site from the company HQ.

[NoddY]

The home office website is back and it seems from reading it a large uk company is abusing the visa system by using visitor visa's for workers which limit the rights of stay to 6 months but these visa's can be used any amount of times up to 10 years hence why these workers keep disappearing.

What the visa holder is not allowed to do is

* take paid or unpaid work
* produce goods or provide services in the UK

They are allowed to complete work in the UK but not provide a service in the UK. They are operating as paid contractors in the UK providing a service - none of the work is performed in India. I'm talking 50+ people here that have conveniently been put in a seperate office out of site from the company HQ.

Report it today - they'll look into it in seven years. We need workers llike these, especially in an era of rising unemployment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4527492.stm

[Spartacus]

The sad thing is that if you report it the Home Office won't give a flying fart about it and will do precisely nothing.

[privateeye]

The sad thing is that if you report it the Home Office won't give a flying fart about it and will do precisely nothing.

It can be reported "indirectly" to the home office.

[cojak]

How?

[privateeye]

How?

...via the press or an MP who have more power than little me to get answers quickly.

The home office got back to me this morning via email confirming that if people are being forced by the company they work for to go on visa holidays then they cannot be using the correct visa that permits them to work which would not have such a restriction. They must be on visitor visa's which allow numerous visits of no more than 6 months at a time and no paid/unpaid work is allowed - it is the only visa that requires you to return home.

[XLMonkey]

I'm talking 50+ people here that have conveniently been put in a seperate office out of site from the company HQ.

PE, you aren't, by any chance talking about a large telecoms company based in Newbury, are you?

[privateeye]

PE, you aren't, by any chance talking about a large telecoms company based in Newbury, are you?

No - can't really give the name of the company as further action is being taken and even hinting at it will really give the game away. Not sure when/if a result will come of it but the Home Office have pretty detailed info to go on. Must admit didn't expect a civil servant to get back to me at 9.30 on a Saturday morning - must take this issue rather seriously.