Can dependant work in UK when principal migrant is not in UK

[nehasharma]

Dear,

We moved in UK in Dec'14 as my husband was transferred by his organization for a three year long project. He was granted a tier 2 long term visa which is valid from Dec'14 to Dec'17 and I joined him immediately on a dependent visa.
Since, Feb 15 I am working here as a full time employee.

My husband's project which was initially for 3 years has met an unexpected road block and will be halted for 3-4 months. During this period i.e between Sep 16 to Dec 16, he will be transferred back to home office in India (all payroll/taxes will be in India) and will join back UK office in Dec 16 again.
During this period his UK visa will continue to be valid and will not be revoked.
Query:--
Can I continue to work in UK during that period i.e between Sep 16 to Dec 16 while my husband (primary visa holder) is not in UK and working elsewhere?

Thanks and regards,
Neha

[geriatrix]

Yes. As long he intends to return in the near future you can continue to live and work in the UK.

[nehasharma]

Dear,

Is there a max limit to untill when the principal migrant can be away. What if his return gets postponed, then can i continue to live and work untill my end of visa term even while my husband is away. Will it impact my future visa requests? I plan to switch to a tier to gen in future?

Thanks,
Neha

[geriatrix]

No, there is no prescribed or published time scale. The bottomline is that dependant''s right to live in the UK rests on the principal migrant's stay in the UK. If the principal migrant leaves to not return, but the dependant continues to stay in the UK, there may be implications to entry clearance applications in the future.

[moonlight55]

Just to add my 2 cents. I'm assuming that your husband is here on ICT visa. Normally (I repeat - Normally), when someone in ICT relocates back to home country, the company don't tend to keep the visa active unless they are sure that the employee will definitely be back to UK. If the current engagement ends, they are required to report the relocation to UKVI. Hence, please ask your spouse to get a confirmation on this from his organisation. I have personally seen a case where sponsor license was suspended due to non reporting of such relocation cases. I don't see a big risk if your spouse is paid his UK salary while in India. If he's moves back and all his UK benefits end (which means he will also stop paying UK taxes and NI), UKVI may question the employer. Hence, as sushdmehta suggested, better to be doubly sure to avoid any implications on your future visa.

[nehasharma]

Thanks for your responses Guys,

There's one more thing I wanted to add here:--

During this period(while my husband returns to India), I will be on maternity leave and will be accompanying him there too.
Now in this situation, Can I continue to be with the job (I ll be on Maternity Pay)? In case my husband doesn't get a go ahead to return, I can resign while we are in India only.

All I am trying to find is a perfect balance, where
a) I get to keep the job while we go over this time of uncertainity?
b) and be in a possition to join my job as soon as we are back in country, and not have to go through job hunt again.


Thanks,
Neha