PhD course: vocational training?

[muraenidae]

Hello!

I am wondering whether my husband has any chance to obtain permanent residence, and in particular, what constitutes vocational training.

He is an EU national and came to the UK in 2010 for a PhD course. Somewhat unusually, his PhD funding came through a three year full time employment contract with the university, meaning that he was definitely a worker for the first three years.

When his funding ended after three years, he had not finished his degree yet. He submitted his thesis in late 2014 and had his viva in January 2015, officially passing his degree in March 2015.

He then looked for a job for a few months, but was not officially registered with a Jobcentre etc. He commenced employment in June 2015.

He never had any CSI, being unaware of the requirement.

In summary, here is the timeline:

10 / 2010 - 09 / 2013: Employment contract with the university, and also PhD student
10 / 2013 - 03 / 2015: PhD student, no CSI
03 / 2015 - 06 / 2015: Looking for job, not registered with jobcentre, no CSI
06 / 2015 - present: Employment (job requires PhD)

Is there any chance that the period 10/2013 - 03/2015 could count as vocational training, so that he would have retained his worker status? Has anyone ever tried using a PhD course (or other degree course) for this purpose? A PhD degree is definitely relevant to the job he held at the university (the one that provided funding for his PhD...), and it is also a requirement for the job he has held since 06/2015.

IF this is the case, how about the period 03 / 2015 - 06 / 2015? Would a short period of unofficial, non-registered job seeking break his worker status continuity?

Thank you!

[muraenidae]

Anyone? Do you think it's worth the trouble trying to apply for PR and to declare the PhD as vocational training?

Or does the 3-4 month unregistered job seeking break continuity either way?

[muraenidae]

Has anyone ever successfully declared a PhD (or other degree) course as vocational training? (For the purpose of retaining worker status.)

[muraenidae]

Here is an update, in case anyone finds this topic with a similar problem:

My husband's permanent residence application was approved - the rest of his PhD course was recognised as vocational training, allowing him to retain his worker status. He did include a letter from the university which stated that a PhD course constitutes suitable vocational training for a career as a researcher.

[Richard W]

Here is an update, in case anyone finds this topic with a similar problem:

Thank you for reporting the outcome to the community.