Urgent please leave on 15th of Jan or face martial court

[sam75]

Dear Sir/ Madam
I should first apologize for the lengthy text.

Can I please ask for your expert opinion on my situation and the possibility of getting an indefinite leave to remain and Citizenship in the United Kingdom?

I will start by general questions then describe my situation.
My main queries are:

1. Is a martial court sentence, in a military court due desertion from military service, of two years imprisonment, outside the UK, considered as a criminal record in the UK and is it going to affect my eligibility for the ILR?

2. Is it necessary to have a valid passport at the time of application for the ILR and / or Citizenship, and if so, what will happen if the approval of my ILR was delayed for any reason till after the expiry of my passport?

3. Is there any specific suitable scenario that you suggest to me to follow?

I am doctor working in the military of a non EU country; I was sponsored by a university in my home country to get postgraduate medical training in the UK , and to do subspecialisation . My sponsorship was done in agreement between the University and the Army, and started in Jan 2004.

I got an approved training post within an approved training programme. I am supposed to finish my training in Jan. 2012 , after which, I will be eligible to get the certificate of completion of training

Summary of my status:
Jan 2004: came to the UK on a student visa
August 2004: I got a job, and converted my visa to a (Permit Free Training Visa).
August 2005: Got a 5 year training programme (Specialist Registrar), and got another (Permit Free Training Visa).
Jan 2007: I converted my visa into a Work Permit Visa, under the transitional arrangements done by cooperation between the Home Office and the Department Of Health. At this point, I was given a 3.5 years work permit and Visa. This will expire in Aug 2010.
2008(Dec): I got a work permit till Dec 2012.

The training programme in the UK needs a total 7.5 years to finish (year 2012).

My sponsoring university are not giving me more than five years to get the qualification, and they are asking me to come back to home on the 15th of Jan 2009 . This means that I have to leave the UK before finishing my training.

In this case, I will have to choose one of two choices:
The first is to go back to my country without a qualification. I will not be able to practice medicine( as I will not have the necessary qualification) , and according to the Contract with the sponsoring body, I will have to pay the University £80,000.

The second choice is to stay in the UK against the instructions of the University and the Military, which will also result in an £80,000 fine and a definite martial sentence of 2 years imprisonment, (this latter is due to leaving the military service without permission/ desertion).

If I was not given an extension of my sponsorship to cover the required 8 years, I will have to choose the second choice for obvious reasons.

I will finish the required 5 years that count for ILR in Jan 2012.
My Passport expires in Aug 2012 (8 months after possibly getting the ILR, and 4 months before being eligible for the Citizenship, according to my understanding of the current immigration regulations).

I will not be able to extend my passport after that point, because of the prison sentence.

Based on this information, with apologies for too much details, I wish to have your advice.
Best Regards

[Mr Rusty]

If you were sponsored to come to the UK to pursue a course which would have secured the required qualification within 5 years, and you didn't do that, you have only yourself to blame. I can't believe that you weren't aware of your sponsor's requirements when you came.

If you apply for settlement you would have to declare any conviction in your own country. If you were refused on these grounds you might be able argue successfully that a military court conviction for something which would not consitute a civilian offence should be disregarded because of the circumstances which you have described. That's not an expert opinion, only mine.

There are provisions for someone who can not obtain a passport from his own country to be issued with a Home Office Travel Document. You would have to prove that you have been refused a passport from your own embassy.

[sam75]

If you were sponsored to come to the UK to pursue a course which would have secured the required qualification within 5 years, and you didn't do that, you have only yourself to blame. I can't believe that you weren't aware of your sponsor's requirements when you came.

Dear Mr Rusty.
Thank you very much for the reply.
Actually the course needs from 7.5 years to 8 years to finish, not 5 years, and I am progressing properly all the previous years without any delay or underperfomance. This is the minimum requirement (7.5 years ) for this course (which is both specialization and subspecialization). I have written documenttions for the requirements from the relevant Royal College and Post Graduate Deanary.
On the other hand, I already informed my sponsoring university that I will need this time (7.5 years) to get the qualification before they sponsor me. But they said at that time that the regulations there allow 4 years sponsorship in the first instance, which will be extended after that on an annual basis.
I wish to have your comment on this please.

[Mr Rusty]

So go back before the 15th and apply for the annual extension which they promised.
If you are no longer reliant on funding from them, why would they deny you? If you are still reliant on their sponsorship, how can you afford to complete your studies here if you just stay on without their support?

It defies logic that a government would sponsor somebody for a 7-year course to become a doctor, and having already invested £80000 would just withdraw their support for no reason. I can understand why thy would not commit themselves to the whole term without evidence of progress, but you say you've supplied that. There's something missing here.

[sam75]

So go back before the 15th and apply for the annual extension which they promised.
If you are no longer reliant on funding from them, why would they deny you? If you are still reliant on their sponsorship, how can you afford to complete your studies here if you just stay on without their support?

It defies logic that a government would sponsor somebody for a 7-year course to become a doctor, and having already invested £80000 would just withdraw their support for no reason. I can understand why thy would not commit themselves to the whole term without evidence of progress, but you say you've supplied that. There's something missing here.

Dear Mr Rusty
Thaks for the reply.

I already applied for the one year extension, but they refused it.I applied again and they only approved an unpaid extension. This unpaid extension was not considered enough by the military( as i think they ssumed that it is unnecessary) and they themselves refused the extension.
My argument with the University that they should give me a paid extension so that the military consider this extension essential for completing the studies.
The University was used to sponsor poeple for a master and PhD programs, which together need 4 years to be finished usually. Based on that, they used to give a 4 year sponsorship that is extendable for one more year as extension, and a sixth year as unpaid extension After they opened a new medical school
Unfortunatly, I was the first peson to be sponored for for postgrduate medical training(clinical course not a master/PhD) , so they only gave mean initial period of 4 years as other people who are doing PhDs, they extended one year paid, but now they did an unpaid extension which is not approved by the military.

If I go back home now, it well become impossible rather than difficult to get the extension approved. And even if they approve it after a long while, I my loose my training number in the UK and ased to apply for a new training position again. Under the current regulation for the employment of non-EU postgraguate medical trainees, thie chance is almost zero.

Many thanks. Hoe to hear from you.

[Mr Rusty]

Clearly someone in your own country has decided that further investment in you would be a waste of money because you have no intention of repaying it by returning to work there. They may well be right as your original message shows you intend to apply for ILR and British Citizenship.

If you can't make a deal with them you'll have to take your chances.

[paulp]

The training that you are talking about is to become a consultant (usually up to 8 years). Does your country need training to that level and aren't you exaggerating a little bit about not being able to practice?

Wasn't your country's funding for you to go back and improve the health service back home?

[sam75]

The training that you are talking about is to become a consultant (usually up to 8 years). Does your country need training to that level and aren't you exaggerating a little bit about not being able to practice?

Wasn't your country's funding for you to go back and improve the health service back home?

You are right. It is a training to become a consultant. The aim of my sponsorship was to get a qualifaication that will allow me to teach medical students, to training postgraduate doctors and to provide clinical service in a teaching hospital. This wil only be accomplished by having the certificate of completion of training, i,e to be qualified to a consultant level.
And on the other hand my sponsor clearly specified the membership of the Royal college that I need to gain. And that specific qualification needs a minimum of 7.5 years, according to the Royal College guidance.

[sam75]

Clearly someone in your own country has decided that further investment in you would be a waste of money because you have no intention of repaying it by returning to work there. They may well be right as your original message shows you intend to apply for ILR and British Citizenship.

If you can't make a deal with them you'll have to take your chances.

Dear Mr Rusty
I am not sure how you came to the conclusion that I have no intention to go back home or not to repay the money.

I definitly want to go back home, but not without the qualification that I am supposed to get. I am writing to them for the last 6 months, and only got a refusal reply last week. There is a conflict in interset between the University and the military, in addition to the lack of experience with such degrees in the postgraduate deanary.

I am only thinking of applying for the ILR if I did not manage to get extension of the sponsorship.

Thanks or the reply