Employer can ask for repayment of visa fees upon termination?

[sv-1697]

Hello,

The company who is sponsoring my employment is asking me to sign a contract to repay the visa costs they have paid if either I resign, or if they terminate my employment at their discretion for what "in their reasonable opinion" is a valid reason.

The repayment schedule is as follows:

a) if employment terminates on or before the first anniversary of your start 
date, all outlay on visa costs will be immediately repayable;
b) if employment terminates after the first anniversary of your start date but on 
or before the 18-month, two-thirds of those costs will be immediately repayable; 
c) if employment terminates after the 18-month point but on or before the 
second anniversary of start date, one-third of those costs will be immediately repayable.
Thereafter, no repayment shall be required.

Is this standard for any employment contract involving a Tier 2 visa sponsor? Does anyone else have similar clauses in their contract?

Thank you.

[Zerubbabel]

Hello

This is not an immigration question.

As an employer, they have the right to set some conditions regarding the fees they advance for you.

Like some companies offer relocation packages, visa fees... but they can, if they want to, make you sign a contract that you would have to refund these fees if you are to leave before date X.

You are also free not to sign and decline the job then find another sponsor.

It's up to you to see if this is reasonable for you or not. If your idea is to leave that employer within 6 months, there is no point signing.

[CR001]

It's up to you to see if this is reasonable for you or not. If your idea is to leave that employer within 6 months, there is no point signing.

And that is the crux of why some employers do this for Tier 2 migrants. To minimise their investment in sponsoring someone who only uses them to enter the UK on a tier 2 and immediately starts looking for a better job and another sponsor, as we see many times on the forum.

[SKJ1984]

Answer for your question : This is not a standard. It depends on the employer. Some big employers do not deter potential candidates by adding such clause. Others safeguard.

Thankfully your employer has sponsored your visa fee. Few employers like NHS do not even sponsor and the applicant must pay for visa and IHS.

As CR said this is to safeguard sponsors from being misused to gain entry in T2.

Only thing i could suggest is ask them to give exact amount that has to be paid in each of the periods instead of an ambiguous 2/3 or 1/3. You might not know what all do they mean by Visa fee. (There are some fees to be paid by employer to get CoS. Does it include IHS?