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I am a Romanian national and I have married my husband (who is a British citizen) in 2001 while living overseas, we have 2 children together both british citizens. I have been granted UK ILR visa in 2005 when we moved to England. My husband passed away in 2006 so ever since I have lived in UK, studied for few years, worked, leading a "normal" life with my two boys.
I am an accountant and few days ago a company asked me if I can work for them for few days as they are short staffed. I said yes as I was available and I was excited to experience work in a bigger company (currently I work for a small firm).
However, the HR manager asked me for documentation that shows eligibility of me working in UK (which is understandable) After showing her numerous papers (NI Card, my passport (romanian)- because it's under my maiden name I showed also marriage certificate, she then asked to see my husband's birth certificate as proof that he is UK citizen and I showed her my ILR visa.
As she is aware that my husband is deceased she is enquiring now if my ILR visa is still valid (!!)

So my questions are:
1. If my husband died do I lose my ILR visa status? ( as I know it is a permanent status unless obtained by deception or been involved in criminal activities)
2. When I apply for future jobs in UK in order to show my eligibility to work would it be enough to show my potential employer the documents that I have already mentioned previously?

I can't help but feel that this is an overzealous HR manager and is looking for extra evidence where no more is needed. (as from my understanding of the Immigration Act 1971 - eligibility to work, one of the criteria is to have a passport with ILR visa)
By the way, after 3 days of work she said that I can't work the extra day they asked me to as she is not satisfied with the evidence AND also can't pay me for the 3 days I've worked unless I provide a Registration Certificate. (which is a requirement for a romanian citizen). However, even in that case the Immigration act states that I am exempt from showing one if I have ILR visa but my point is that I live and work in the UK based on my "Settlement Wife" with "Indefinite Leave to Remain" status visa, not as a Romanian citizen with rights as ROm is part of EU. I think her questioning the validity of my visa because my husband is deceased is outrageous.

Does anyone has any ideas of what I can actually show to this employer as evidence (eg quotation of part of the Asylum and Immigration 1971 Act..) or is it a case of an employer should actually know the law and should know that an ILR visa entitles me to work in UK despite the fact that my husband passed away?

I appreciate your advice on this matter.

marinab4731 wrote: 1. If my husband died do I lose my ILR visa status? ( as I know it is a permanent status unless obtained by deception or been involved in criminal activities)
2. When I apply for future jobs in UK in order to show my eligibility to work would it be enough to show my potential employer the documents that I have already mentioned previously?

1) No. I presume that you initially applied for Indefinite leave to remain as the spouse of a BC. Once you obtained ILR (Settlement status), that status is not tied in anyway to your spouse. So in-effect you are free to live/work in the UK and will not be subject to immigration time restrictions.
2) Showing your passport which contains your Indefinite Leave to Remain stamp on its own, is sufficient to prove your current immigration status and right to work in the UK. I am assuming you have a stamp in your passport as you applied for ILR, before the time when Biometric Residence Permits (BRP) were issued?

In your case, I'm not sure whether there was added confusion due to your Romanian passport. Either way, that employer was not correct.

The UKBA does provide a facility for employers to check a potential employees' right to work in the UK. http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/busin ... l-working/

cs95tdg Thank you for you reply.

Yes I do have the stamp in my passport which states clearly my type of visa.
The HR manager that I have mentioned said that she needs to know if I am eligible to work under my visa if my husband passed away and I don't know how I can actually prove to her that I am entitled... Is there a Law or regulation that I can quote to her from an official website? I just don't know where to go from here...
Would it be her duty to be more informed on this situation?
I am quite upset about it as I know it is my legal right, it's just that I'm not sure how to make her understand.

I feel sorry for you. HR manager is either not updated or just acting funny, anyway you should tell her ILR is your legal stay for lifetime as long as you don't leave the country continuously more than 2 years.

May be ask her to ask you in writing and she might take a step back to think about it more! If she still insists, give her UK BA number or speak in front of her or tell her to get some immigration lawyer help.

I think the best approach is to put her on the back foot by questioning her competence to work in a HR capacity when she has what appears to be a very limited knowledge of immigration and employment laws. You have to tell her that you have a indefinite permanent residence permit that grants you permission to remain in the UK; that it is your individual immigration status and is not linked to any spouse or partner. Act surprised that she would not be automatically aware of this as someone who purports to work as a professional in a HR environment.

HR manager with no knowledge of immigration & visa status. Are there not any foreign nationals other than British working in that company? In your case, you have got ILR which gives you rights to live and work indefinitely without any restrictions. That so called HR manager may not be familiar with the word INDEFINITE. I strongly think that the onus is on employer to call UKBA and confirm the rights to work if they are not sure/any doubt.

Thank you all, your replies are reassuring.
In regards to the HR Manager I don't think she is trying to be nasty but I believe it's a case of lack of knowledge of the law, which it doesn't show her in a good light from a professional point of view. The sad thing is that a friend of mine whom works for that company as a manager for enother department recommended me for this temporary job and the accounts manager was very pleased with my work (or so she said) therefore I was mortified when I was told by the HR lmanager that I can't work the following day due to uncertainty on my eligibility to work in UK.
I will contact her Monday via email and explain my rights with quotations from UKBA website and as you said if she has any doubts she will have to contact them herself. Then she better apologise for her incompetence and transfer the owed wages into my account

Note that Bereaved partners on spouse/unmarried with limited leave to enter/remain may apply for ILR. The death of British spouse is not grounds for revoking an ILR.

An ILR holder should face no uncertainty with right to work.

However, see also Sponsors, paranoia and unfair dismissal.

marinab4731 wrote:I am a Romanian national and I have married my husband (who is a British citizen) in 2001 while living overseas, we have 2 children together both british citizens. I have been granted UK ILR visa in 2005 when we moved to England. My husband passed away in 2006 so ever since I have lived in UK, studied for few years, worked, leading a "normal" life with my two boys.
I am an accountant and few days ago a company asked me if I can work for them for few days as they are short staffed. I said yes as I was available and I was excited to experience work in a bigger company (currently I work for a small firm).
However, the HR manager asked me for documentation that shows eligibility of me working in UK (which is understandable) After showing her numerous papers (NI Card, my passport (romanian)- because it's under my maiden name I showed also marriage certificate, she then asked to see my husband's birth certificate as proof that he is UK citizen and I showed her my ILR visa.
As she is aware that my husband is deceased she is enquiring now if my ILR visa is still valid (!!)

So my questions are:
1. If my husband died do I lose my ILR visa status? ( as I know it is a permanent status unless obtained by deception or been involved in criminal activities)
2. When I apply for future jobs in UK in order to show my eligibility to work would it be enough to show my potential employer the documents that I have already mentioned previously?

I can't help but feel that this is an overzealous HR manager and is looking for extra evidence where no more is needed. (as from my understanding of the Immigration Act 1971 - eligibility to work, one of the criteria is to have a passport with ILR visa)
By the way, after 3 days of work she said that I can't work the extra day they asked me to as she is not satisfied with the evidence AND also can't pay me for the 3 days I've worked unless I provide a Registration Certificate. (which is a requirement for a romanian citizen). However, even in that case the Immigration act states that I am exempt from showing one if I have ILR visa but my point is that I live and work in the UK based on my "Settlement Wife" with "Indefinite Leave to Remain" status visa, not as a Romanian citizen with rights as ROm is part of EU. I think her questioning the validity of my visa because my husband is deceased is outrageous.

Does anyone has any ideas of what I can actually show to this employer as evidence (eg quotation of part of the Asylum and Immigration 1971 Act..) or is it a case of an employer should actually know the law and should know that an ILR visa entitles me to work in UK despite the fact that my husband passed away?

I appreciate your advice on this matter.

employment tribunal, ACAS, sue the crap out of the company!

@ lookapooka -"You have to tell her that you have a indefinite permanent residence permit that grants you permission to remain in the UK; that it is your individual immigration status and is not linked to any spouse or partner." Thanks you're right!

@ vinny - you are spot on with everything. Thank you very much. The "Sponsors, paranoia and unfair dismissal" article made an interesting reading.

Update: I've managed to speak to an UKBA agent and all the info posted here has been confirmed. I have been advised to pass on their Employer helpline number to the HR Manager, I guess it's just a matter of time now to sort it out :-/ Thank you all