7 years in the country and now I can't stay much longer because company decides to make me redundant and market is too fucked to get a new job with sponsorship.
Only few months ago, my wife and I were planning to settle in this lovely country and now I've to leave.
It's also not that easy to go back and restart my life after leaving my country for 7 years.
So, I'm royally fucked and still have 8 hours of office to go through before I go to pub and get shitfaced.
Sorry to hear that, sounds like a horrible situation. I really hope it works out for you.
If they made you redundant do you really have to stick around the whole day? If that happened in my team I'd be sending them home or letting them look for jobs in work time...
Is there any chance of applying for PR or anything given how long you've been here? If you do have to leave, is there a good chance you can apply to come back? Appreciate you have probably explored all this so more out of curiosity than anything.
They have notified me to be made redundant. And the company is doing really good job in giving me plenty of time to be honest. I simply can't fault that. I'm expected to work full time though as my official notice will start from October or so.
I was on short-term and then ICT visa for first 6 years, which is non-settlement visa. Effectively I'm only 1.5 years in settlement visa. So, I can only get PR after 3 years under 10 year scheme or 3.5 years, under settlement visa completion scheme unless duration increased to 8 years.
Coming back is possible, but if there's 90+ days will cause break in constant residency and if I want to settle again, I've to start 5 (8) year settlement once again. And as I'm getting older, this might not be ideal for me.
To be honest, India is great option of software devs and I wouldn't mind going back if I wasn't here for 7 years. But hey, at least Bangalore shares almost the same weather with London, so I've that to look forward to.
That is shocking. They really have changed the system to be horrible to everyone trying to come in. I'm so sorry... my parents are immigrants but back when they were begging people to come in to do all the jobs locals just don't want to. They're already talking about opening up a bit because the labour market is so tight but who knows what will actually happen.
Our company has offices in India and it is quite regular that people move to other countries, not just from India and not just to the UK. Could be a long term option to find a global company, show you're a valuable employee and see what happens. Some people just show they're very good. Others just are the only ones who know certain systems so when they ask to move, it is easier for them to move than find someone else.
I thought you were eligible for settled status after 5 years of living in the UK for 6 months or more each year? Assuming you don't get citizenship through your wife. (Edit: I see you've explained this in another comment further down, that sucks)
Sorry to hear about your redundancy, that does suck.
Really sorry to hear that. One of my (American) friends finally got her permission to permanently remain today after a giant, lengthy battle and she's so relieved. I think those of us with settled / born status often don't appreciate how incredibly stressful, and expensive the process can be to move here.
Have you looked into any options other than sponsorship? Though, I wouldn't blame you for wanting to GTFO of here, the way things are right now.
Shit. Well I'm sorry to hear it's so bleak re staying, but you've got an excellent mental attitude there by focussing on the potential silver linings. Maybe you can try again if things get unfucked at some point in the future (though we won't be holding our breath ey)