Originally Posted by Englishmum (Post 8727212)

Sueanne - here is the thread which Honeymommy started....OMG I can't believe it was so long ago! However, it is very relevant to the predicament you are in right now:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=227059 (Warning: it's a *very long* thread, go and make a cuppa before starting to read it! ;) )

Originally Posted by coastieexpat (Post 8735012)

Does anybody know what became of Honeymommy and her family? I read the story expecting a resolution..but it just stopped.

Originally Posted by Hubcaps (Post 8735167)

She did a "we're all fine" post here

Originally Posted by ian-mstm (Post 8735023)

She hasn't posted since November 30, 2007.

Ian

Originally Posted by Awesome Welles (Post 8725322)

All of the costs - attorney fees/filing etc must be provided by the petitioner, not the beneficiary, according to the lawyers that did mine (and my employer happily paid for all of it).
This became an issue, when they discovered that one small filing fee had been overlooked - and I offered to pay for it by check, in order to expedite the process. I was advised that this was potentially a risky move, because I could not be seen by the adjudicator to be funding (in part or whole) my own petition.
Their advice to me was "Don't do ANYTHING that could potentially jeopardise your application - this could".

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 8736068)

Lawyer costs they can get you to pay for, that and one of the other fee's, premium processing I think? Can't remember.

But any employer that asks you to pay those fees can't afford to repatriate you so you should know you're going to get bent over at some stage.

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 8736068)

Best advice is find another employer

Originally Posted by retzie (Post 8738132)

Repatriate? :rofl: They have never paid a cent more than my salary (no ticket, no moving expenses, no visa fees.) For what it's worth, the salary is rubbish also. Yay, academia!

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 8739167)

Part of the agreement of the visa is that they cover repatriation costs if you get sacked. All that means is they have to pay for airfare to send you home, not your contents.

Lawfully, they can't make you pay visa fee's.

Originally Posted by Bob (Post 8739167)

Find another job and transfer the visa and sue the current place is the best bet.

Originally Posted by retzie (Post 8739258)

Interesting. I didn't know that about the obligation to repatriate - I thought you would just be screwed (well, moreso.) Luckily, it would take some breathtaking dereliction of duty and/or criminal activity for me to get fired - there is no WAY they would open themselves up to having to find someone to cover my teaching unless they could not possibly avoid doing so. Mind you, they more than have job instability covered with the fact they have only ever given me 9 month appointments...



Oh, don't worry, I have tried. And tried again. And will continue to try. Unfortunately, the field is so competitive that if you don't want to put up with it, there were 600 other people who applied for your job who would happily do so.

Ugh, I hate it when I talk to normal people about academia - I realise what an incredible abusive relationship it is :unsure: