Help needed r/e leave to remain and loss of job

[RichPratt]

Hi all,

MY girlfriend finds herself in an awkward situation and we don't know what her status is.

She moved over to the UK as a maths teacher and got a 5 year leave to remain to work at a school.

Last summer she found herself a new job at a different school. She started work in September. In December she realised that they hadn't given her a new work permit. Upon querying this she was informed that they hadn't applied for one.

After much blaming and arguments she gave her passport and details to the school who took it forward. Today she received a letter informing her that her employment must be suspended as she has been working illegally. The school intend to dismiss her.

How does this affect her status in the UK? Can she still remain in the country on the inital visa/LTR? Will this incident (entirely the schools fault) affect future work permit applications for her?

Although she has been working without a permit (illegally if you will), could the school still get a permit for her should they not have grounds for dismissal?

Any help or advice will be gratefully received. Needless to say we are extremely concerned and down about this.

Thanks,

Richard

[stedman]

Hi there

What is her country of origin? Does she qualify for HSMP? And how did she enter the UK in the first place?

[RichPratt]

Hi,

She's from the US.

She entered initially in 2004 to work at a school for 6 months. She then found a new job, they successfully applied for a work permit and a 5 year leave to remain.

Then this year she applied for and started working at her new school. However they didn't apply for a new work permit so she still has the same visa and WP from the previous job.

Thanks,

Richard

[RichPratt]

And to follow up, she's degree educated and a maths teacher so I'm pretty sure she qualifies under the HSMP. I'm not sure how her visa and leave to remain is related to the work permit however.

[stedman]

I asked as there are other options besides work permit which can buy her time, but this doesn't apply as she's from the US. Can't she apply for HSMP? And why can't she put pressure on the school to apply for a work permit?

I asked about what visa she entered on as you wondered if she could remain here on her initial visa.