Skilled worker visa - What to do when employer declares bankruptcy in a day

[poonamamin15]

Hello Immigration Board Forums!

I'm in a bit of a sticky spot and was hoping for some guidance as to how to proceed in this case.

Last Monday, our parent company declared bankruptcy and insolvency, and went into administration. The administrators informed around 450-550 employees here that we were made redundant immediately. There was no prior information about this weeks/months before it actually happened.

I was on a skilled worker visa, sponsored by my company, first in July 2022 for 2 years, and then again in July 2024 for 3 years. On both occasions, I took massive loans from the company to bring my family here so that we could stay together. Last year, we paid around 14000 GBP out of pocket for us to be together.

Can this group please advise me as to what will happen now? Will we have to exit the country within 60 days? Usually people in my line of work are given intimation several months before their contracts are not extended. In my case, we were let go without warning in a day. I am confident that I will find work, but need a bit of time.

Our visas have been paid for till August 2027, not that it matters, according to what I'm hearing.

Thanks for listening to my long post, and I hope you have a nice evening!

[lolo2]

Will we have to exit the country within 60 days?

No

Can this group please advise me as to what will happen now?

Redundancies happen on a daily basis. However you can stay in the UK, find a new sponsor and then apply for a new Skilled Worker visa.

[poonamamin15]

Hello lolo2

Thanks for your reply.

At the risk of sounding like a broken tape recorder, I do have a follow up question.

https://www.gov.uk/employee-lose-sponsor-licence

What's your take on this page in the link above, in light of the answer that you've given and my original query.

Thanks.

[lolo2]

From your original post, I understand you're no longer working for your employer/sponsor, so the guidance you cited doesn't apply to you.

Whatever happens with the sponsor's licence after you left the company is irrelevant to you. Initially I could have thought about a cascade effect on every sponsored worker, e.g. curtailment letters would be expedited but I haven't seen that happening, even to myself when I was in a similar situation.

The 60 days mentioned there are related to the curtailment letter UKVI send to migrant workers. Nobody can predict when UKVI send them, sometimes these letters are never sent.

I understand the concerns around the situation but I think you should focus on finding another sponsored job and don't overthink about this.

[poonamamin15]

Hello Lolo2,

Thanks for the sane and sound advice. Apologies for my late reply, but I've been following your advice without reading your post. I'm going to keep calm and focus on what I can do with the time and resources I have.

Thanks once again and have a great weekend ahead.