dcwcapital

Hi

I am a British Citizen and my partner has an unmarried partner visa. We are both living and working in the UK. However, we are permanently relocating to Hong Kong. My partner's employment contract has a 3 month notice period. I am required to permanently move to Hong Kong as soon as possible. From the time I leave, I have no plans to return to the UK. Because of my partner's notice period, she will be living and working in the UK for 3 months on her own (assuming she is unable to negotiate to reduce the period). From the time I leave the UK, we have no intention of living together permanently in the UK - which is a condition of the visa.

If she complied with her employment contract and worked the notice period, would this not be a breach of the Immigration Rules? Is it correct that an English court would not enforce the notice period as this would be contrary to the Immigration Rules?

(My partner does not actually want to live in the UK on her own for such a long period and would like to join me in Hong Kong as soon as possible - so this could actually be a helpful set of circumstances. I spoke to the Home Office who couldn't answer my question and directed me to write a letter to the curtailment team.

Wondering if anyone else has had a similar set of circumstances?

Many thanks

moneypenny20

A three month notice period is really long! Has she explained the situation to her employers? If she just tells them that due to circumstance if she were to complete the notice period she'd actually be in the UK illegally I can't see that they wouldn't let her go early. Is it the sort of job she could do off site so go with you but continue online?

formula

Why would she be in the UK illegally? She has a valid visa.

Even if her sponsor (the OP) told UKVI that they had split up and that he no longer wanted to be her sponsor, she would still have 60 days to leave after she received her letter telling her to leave the UK, but that letter takes at least a month to be sent out. The employer can easlily find that out by phoning UKVI on the employers phone number for checking the immigrtion status of their employees.

Talk to the employer to see what she has to do to get an early release from her contract. If no joy then perhaps talk to an employment law solicitor.

dcwcapital

Hi - Thank you both for the the quick replies!

Her 2015 bonus isn't paid until for a few weeks (and her employment contract says she will be ineligible for any bonus if she gives notice) - so she isn't able to raise this with the employer until the bonus is paid, for fear of losing the bonus.

I agree formula, she has a valid visa, but that visa was granted subject to conditions (the subsisting relationship, permanently living together in the UK etc.). The rules have a clear process for informing UKVI following a change of circumstances following a relationship break-down (ie. one of the conditions no longer being met) but are silent on notifying a change of circumstances relevant to the other conditions (eg. permanently living together in the UK). I guess it is a slightly unusual set of circumstances, as the rules are not designed for people who are voluntarily seeking to curtail their visas. Thank you for setting out the timeframes around what would happen if there was a relationship breakdown.

She will definitely raise it with her employer as soon as the bonus is paid and try to negotiate a shorter period which works for everyone or an alternative arrangement (eg. work some of the notice period remotely). She doesn't want to cause disruption to the employer, but then again doesn't want to be forced to live in the UK for such a lengthy time period.

BritInParis

How long has your partner been living in the UK? When does her current visa expire?

dcwcapital

She has been living in the UK for around 4 years (initially on a Tier 5 and then moved to an unmarried partners visa, which we have subsequently renewed). Her current visa doesn't expire until the end of 2017.

BritInParis

Okay, so an application ILR is not a possibility.

I wouldn't worry about you being absence from the UK for three months before your partner can join you in Hong Kong as the requirement you describe is Paragraph 295 of the Immigration Rules which states "the parties intend to live together permanently".

The words 'intend' and 'permanently' are very important. You fully intended to live together permanently at the time of application and her visa which was issued on that basis will remain valid until the end of 2017. Given that your separation is only temporary you don't intend to live permanently apart so you're not in breach of the Immigration Rules on that count either.

If your partner's employer won't permit her to curtail her notice period then she won't fall afoul of the Immigration Rules by remaining in the UK until she is able to join you in Hong Kong.

dcwcapital

Hi - Thanks again for the quick replies.

BritInParis, I think you are correct. I have taken a look at Paragraph 295 and agree - there is no mention of a requirement that we live together permanently in the UK.

If this is correct, it seems a bit strange that, provided we intend to live together permanently (even though this will not actually occur for some time) and provided the relationship is subsisting, she could continue to live in the UK on her own until the end of her visa (Dec 2017) even if I permanently relocate to another country with no intention of returning. Appreciate we would need to explain the long periods apart if we ever applied for ILR or renewed the unmarried partners visa, so may run into issues at that point in time. Nonetheless, on the basis of the Rules it looks like BritInParis' conclusion is correct. I guess this also explains why there is no obligation to inform UKVI of our living apart, unless the relationship is no longer subsisting.

Pulaski

Notice periods for office/managerial jobs in the UK have increasing dramatically over the past decade. The jobs I had in London, which were all on one month notice, are now on three month notice periods. I was shocked when I found that out a coupled of years ago.
If you're leaving the UK permanently, there is no practical reason why your partner can't get on a plane and leave the UK at any time. Breaking an employment contract is a civil matter, and quite frankly it wouldn't make much difference if she skipped out early even if she was staying in the UK - though it might make getting a reference problematic. The chances of her employer persuing her in Hong Kong is approximately zero - the legal costs alone would make it pointless.

Pollyana

Many couples live apart for a few months now and then - often for job-related reasons. Think of all those couples who do fly-in-fly-out jobs on oil fields etc. As BritinParis says, you are still a couple, you are still in the relationship, you are just temporarily apart for reasons of jobs and emigration. And you intend to live together permanently. Perfectly legit and within visa rules.

formula

It is renewing the visa that would be the problem if you spent long periods in different countries. You could live outside the UK together for a time on that partner visa and that would be ok for the next visa for her (as long as she met all the other visa requirements).

I got the impression that you wanted the visa ended so she was let off her 3 months notice and could then move with you? That's why I said it wouldn't work becasue of the time UKVI give for the person to pack up their life and move home, or to find another sponsor.

We have a deadline for our bonus too at work, but the firm still paid out the bonus to one guy even though he left earlier to persue a masters, because he had been such a good worker and had given plenty of notice that he was leaving. It's worth asking as you having to move abroad is a good reason. It's not like she is just moving to another company. Companies bring that bonus rule in as it stops their staff moving firms as they don't want to lose their bonus.