What a mess! Any advice?

[smarti]

I'm in the UK on a Student visa & my husband is on a dependent visa.
He applied for HSMP (has US MS degree, 5+ years exp in US, earned more than £40k) but got rejected, cos the paperwork wasn't clear enuf apparently.
He's reapplying, but the other big problem is this:

My visa expires in Oct 2004, but can be extended upto Jan 2005.
I got a permanent job offer from an IT company & am working on probation basis right now. See I thought the HSMP was sure shot, cos he was over-qualified for it, so accepted job.

Now the problem is that although I don't attend classes I am doing my dissertation. I'm planning on deferring it so that I can work full time (no dissertation will mean that right now it's holidays)
I am on probation so technically I'm not in a permanent job. (Right?)

His fresh application will take atleast another 4 months to come through, by which time I'll be in a permanent job & therefore have illegal status.

Will this be a problem in the future for either of us?

This job is a dream job & the thought of leaving it is killing me.



Please advice.
Any advice?

[noah]

Will this be a problem in the future for either of us?

As I understand it, your strategy is to switch from being a student to being a dependent on an HSMP holder and to work while writing your thesis. And in pursuing this, you accepted a job before your husband's HSMP was approved. His HSMP was refused, and he is going to apply again - you hope it will be approved.

In the interim, your options are...

[1] You can quit your job, recover your status as a student. No paperwork, and your immigration history is clean.

[2] You can get your university to agree that your job is part of your education. That would need some paperwork and some uncomfortable explanations. Eyebrows will be raised.

[3] You can get your employer to try to sponsor a work permit. Difficult. In the event it succeeds, they can expect sound and firm bollicking from wpuk - and that's at a minimum.

There's a few other options, like getting your employer to reduce your workload to 20 hours per week. Option [1] looks like the safest bet in the absence of any other information.

[smarti]

I am considering a reduced workload, or working 20 hours paid & 20 hours for free till the HSMP is approved.

Thank you very much for your advice Noah.

Cheers
smArti

[noah]

I am considering a reduced workload, or working 20 hours paid & 20 hours for free till the HSMP is approved.

To clarify, you will need to work not more than 20 hours per week. To go 20 hours paid and 20 hours unpaid puts you in breach.

[headmaster]

Prepare payslip with double rate instead of normal. ie. 40=20