Sponsorship, Residency and Associated Problems...
Discussion
Just looking for some advice for a mate in Oz.
He has been sponsored with same co for 2 yrs. They hired him as a graphic designer (stated in contract) and have him working in garden maint now after being packaging manager, shop assistant etc. They want rid of him, he wants to leave - but really wants his residency too.
He has got far enough into the app to get a case officer. KPMG are handling his application.
So far so good. Problem is they are saying there is now no work for him, but they will keep him on books (unpaid) to get his residency.
At the same time they need to send training records and expenditure for him, as requested by KPMG. These don't exist so have to be 'manufactured'. But they are taking their time (he has a crap relationship with his boss which isn't helping.)
Its a trixy and complex situation I guess. They haven't given him termination in writing, but don't plan to pay him either. He wont last long on savings waiting for them to submit these docs lord-knows-when.
My thoughts are:
If they wanted rid of him they would have just terminated his contract. End of. However they are keeping him at arms length with no pay. That leads me to believe that they are worried about their exposure to legal action by:
Him - for not supplying the docs that immigration want leading to loss of application fee, plus breaking their contract of employment.
Immigration - for falsifying records if he drops them in it, saying he would be employed as a graphic designer, but having him in warehouse, shops, garden etc. (its states 'garden maint' on his payslip !)
Anyway, I guess I want to know if:
a. immigration care that a company who is sponsoring a brit for 2 years arnt following the rules.
b. he can take his employers to small claims if they fail to provide the docs he needs for his application thereby causing him to loose many $$
c. he says he cant speak to the case officer directly, only kpmg. is that correct ?
d. is his employer legally obliged to provide: docs needed for his residency application, a written job reference, terminate his employment in writing according to his contract.
It all boils down to : does my pal have any power in this situation at all ?
Rambling post but any help\advice appreciated.
He has been sponsored with same co for 2 yrs. They hired him as a graphic designer (stated in contract) and have him working in garden maint now after being packaging manager, shop assistant etc. They want rid of him, he wants to leave - but really wants his residency too.
He has got far enough into the app to get a case officer. KPMG are handling his application.
So far so good. Problem is they are saying there is now no work for him, but they will keep him on books (unpaid) to get his residency.
At the same time they need to send training records and expenditure for him, as requested by KPMG. These don't exist so have to be 'manufactured'. But they are taking their time (he has a crap relationship with his boss which isn't helping.)
Its a trixy and complex situation I guess. They haven't given him termination in writing, but don't plan to pay him either. He wont last long on savings waiting for them to submit these docs lord-knows-when.
My thoughts are:
If they wanted rid of him they would have just terminated his contract. End of. However they are keeping him at arms length with no pay. That leads me to believe that they are worried about their exposure to legal action by:
Him - for not supplying the docs that immigration want leading to loss of application fee, plus breaking their contract of employment.
Immigration - for falsifying records if he drops them in it, saying he would be employed as a graphic designer, but having him in warehouse, shops, garden etc. (its states 'garden maint' on his payslip !)
Anyway, I guess I want to know if:
a. immigration care that a company who is sponsoring a brit for 2 years arnt following the rules.
b. he can take his employers to small claims if they fail to provide the docs he needs for his application thereby causing him to loose many $$
c. he says he cant speak to the case officer directly, only kpmg. is that correct ?
d. is his employer legally obliged to provide: docs needed for his residency application, a written job reference, terminate his employment in writing according to his contract.
It all boils down to : does my pal have any power in this situation at all ?
Rambling post but any help\advice appreciated.
k off...sorry.Need to know what visa he is on really.
If it's a 457 (I think), you are allowed in the country while you've got work.
Once your job is over, you have 28 days to get out (or find another job).
That's it. You can apply for residence, but if the job isn't there, frankly Australia doesn't need you any more.
I'd suggest he starts looking for another company, doing what he was brought in to do, and sharpish.
If it's a 457 (I think), you are allowed in the country while you've got work.
Once your job is over, you have 28 days to get out (or find another job).
That's it. You can apply for residence, but if the job isn't there, frankly Australia doesn't need you any more.
I'd suggest he starts looking for another company, doing what he was brought in to do, and sharpish.
Assuming the visa is related to the job role, The visa conditions will include having to tell Immigration if any of his circumstances change - when he stopped being a graphic designer he should have told them.
Carrying on doing other jobs means he has breached his visa conditions - the onus is on him to tell them what is going on, not carry on because his contract says "graphic designer".
I suspect he might get deported.
Carrying on doing other jobs means he has breached his visa conditions - the onus is on him to tell them what is going on, not carry on because his contract says "graphic designer".
I suspect he might get deported.
Why is the employer doing that? They can simply stop his employment, inform immigration and he has 28 days to get another sponsor or leave.
With regards to permanent residency, firstly the application is in two parts, the employer sponsorship and the applicant, in total it costs around $3k but if using someone to do it (which totally unnecessary) it's going to be at least $6k. Once the application is in it will take time to process, think in terms of about 6 months but also if the application is employer sponsored from a 457 there is also the expectation that they will work for that employer for a further two years.
The bottom line is if the employer isn't going to employ him properly he needs to find another to sponsor him or leave.
With regards to permanent residency, firstly the application is in two parts, the employer sponsorship and the applicant, in total it costs around $3k but if using someone to do it (which totally unnecessary) it's going to be at least $6k. Once the application is in it will take time to process, think in terms of about 6 months but also if the application is employer sponsored from a 457 there is also the expectation that they will work for that employer for a further two years.
The bottom line is if the employer isn't going to employ him properly he needs to find another to sponsor him or leave.
Not sure about 90 days, have they changed that? It was 28 days when I was on my 457. I left my employer and went to talk to the immigration dept and they told me that as long as I kept them up to date with my job search they would simply roll the 28 days. I was surprised how reasonable they were.
The reason he may not have been terminated already might be because they signed him on a 4 year fixed term contract. This is frowned on by the immigration dept but it does happen as a way to protect employers from bringing people over who then leave and join another company. In this instance it may be working in his favour.
However, if that's the case and they have stopped paying him then he might want to visit an employment lawyer as they may be in breach of contract.
The reason he may not have been terminated already might be because they signed him on a 4 year fixed term contract. This is frowned on by the immigration dept but it does happen as a way to protect employers from bringing people over who then leave and join another company. In this instance it may be working in his favour.
However, if that's the case and they have stopped paying him then he might want to visit an employment lawyer as they may be in breach of contract.
WeirdNeville said:
However, if they fire him within that two year period, they have to pay repatriation fees. Basically the flight home, a few thousand bucks. Sounds like that's why they're 'keeping him on unpaid' until the end of two years - to avoid having to pay that.
The responsibility for repatriation costs doesn't lapse after two years, surely? It's a sponsor's responsibility regardless unless the person becomes a PR.I suppose this bizarre thing for keeping him hanging around but not paying him could be an attempt to avoid repatriation costs but you'd have thought those would be less that getting KPMG to put him through the PR process, but maybe not.
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