I GOT A SKILLED WORKER VISA…THEN GOT MADE REDUNDANT

This is the story of a Nigerian’s journey towards permanent residence 

In September 2012, I came to the UK to start a Masters in Computer Science at the University of Sussex in Brighton. I had left a decent job as a programmer in Lagos and I believed a Masters degree would land me an even better job. At the time, my plan was simple – complete my Masters program, and return to Nigeria.

During my masters program, I got into a relationship with a lady I had decided I wanted to be with. She was based in the UK and didn’t plan on moving to Nigeria. Even though my original intention was to return to Nigeria after my masters program, this relationship changed my plans. So, before I finished my masters program, I started applying for jobs that will allow me remain in the UK after completing my program.  

GETTING A JOB

My search for a job was significantly more difficult than I imagined. With a Computer Science degree and a few years work experience, I expected it to be a lot easier. I will come to learn that my challenge actually started back in March 2011, when the UK Home Office, under the leadership of Theresa May closed the post-study work visa route, which gave students two years to find employment after their course had ended. With those changes, only those graduates who have an offer of a skilled job from a sponsoring employer, in Tier 2 of the points-based-system, will be able to stay to work.

I had a number of phone interviews that went well, but as soon as it became clear I would require sponsorship to work for the company, the employer lost interest. I realized that finding an employer that was eligible and willing to sponsor would be difficult. So I started pushing harder at the applications – completing around 5 job applications every day.

The consistency paid off. In the last week of August 2013, shortly before submitting my dissertation, I received a job offer from a company in London, to resume work in September. The timing was perfect. Since I would have submitted my dissertation, I wouldn’t be restricted to working for only 20 hours per week. I was now allowed to work full time. 

MOVING FROM BRIGHTON TO LONDON

Even though Brighton is only about an hour away from London, I never visited London during the course of my Masters program. I landed in Heathrow Airport, London when I arrived in September 2012. From the airport, I made my way straight to Brighton and never made the trip to London again. It was not because I didn’t want to. On the contrary, I love trying out new things and visiting new places. But I came into the UK with a fixed amount of money that needed to last me from the start of my masters to the end (and get me back to Nigeria). There was no additional source of income. Every penny mattered.

Now that I had a job based in London, I needed to move there from Brighton and find a place to stay. Again, this experience proved more challenging than I thought. First of all, I was nearing the end of my Masters in Brighton so my tenancy was also about to expire and there was no value in trying to renew it or find another place in Brighton since I was due to move anyways. I used different channels to try and find anyone that could house me in London for a few nights while I tried to find accommodation. All those attempts failed initially. For a few days I was moving from place to place, with a job offer, but with no place to stay.

Eventually, I caught a small break through a cousin I hadn’t spoken to in years. His brother, who I didn’t know was based in London, was willing to house me for a few nights while I found a place.

It didn’t take long for a new challenge to set in. On my first day of getting into London to start my search for accommodation, I was bamboozled by the London train system. I couldn’t understand the different train lines and stops on the underground. I kept catching the wrong train or getting off at the wrong stop. I had booked several appointments to view rentals in London. But after 8 hours, I was only able to catch one appointment because I had missed all the others while getting lost in London.

Every day for a week, I got up in the morning and went out for viewings, trying to find a place to stay in this new city. Eventually, i found a room in a 7-bedroom house, with 2 bathrooms, a kitchen and no living room. It cost me £500 per month. It wasn’t perfect…but I was running out of time. 

THE JOB

I started the new job on the 10th of September 2013. At the time, they had not given any guarantees that they would sponsor me. That decision would be considered after my 3-month probation which was to end in December 2013. Meanwhile, my student visa was going to expire at the end of January 2014.

So I worked as hard as I could on that job to make a case for my sponsorship. Thanks to my performances, they decided to sponsor me in January 2014 before my student visa expired. At the time, I was offered a starting salary of £24,000 per annum which was the minimum salary that the company could sponsor me on. It meant my take-home pay each month was about £1,600. I was simply relieved to be getting the sponsorship so I didn’t bother with the fact it was the minimum. I was confident I could work my way up quickly.

But because of the difficulty with sponsorship, it was tough to negotiate a salary increase. If you didn’t like the job, you had to look for another one to sponsor you. If you chose to quit, you had 60 days to find another one that would sponsor you, or leave the country within 60 days. So I worked for 3 years, with no salary increase. In those 3 years, I had tried to find other job offers, but again, the requirement for a sponsorship visa got in the way.

At this point, I decided I had to ask for a raise. I had earned it. But more importantly, I needed it. I was now 3 years into my Tier 2 General visa (which is now called the Skilled worker visa). In about 2 years, I was supposed to be eligible to apply for permanent residence based on my 5 years on the work visa. But, for me to be eligible to apply for permanent residence, I needed to be earning a salary of at least £35,000 at the time of the application. Yet here I was, still on £24,000. Getting such a huge increase in the space of 2 years was going to be near impossible.

Then a miracle happened. My salary was increased to £31,000 a few hours before a meeting I had requested with my manager. At the time of setting up the meeting, my manager didn’t know I wanted to discuss the issue of a salary increase with him.

Now things were looking a lot better. I was on £31,000 with another 2 years to go before becoming eligible for permanent residence. It shouldn’t be too difficult for me to stretch myself to a performance that easily earns me another £4,000 after 2 years. At least that’s what I thought. 

REDUNDANCY

Do you remember that relationship I mentioned at the beginning that prompted me to start looking for sponsorship in the first place? Unfortunately, the relationship ended about a year after I got sponsored. Since I already had the job and was getting good experience, why not continue?

Then one day in July 2018, about 6 months before I became eligible to apply for permanent residence, my manager called me into an impromptu meeting. The company had hit financial issues and I was being made redundant. I had 4 weeks left in the company. That was it.

I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what was happening. How could I come so close to applying for permanent residence only to lose it? Four and a half years of building up my status to apply for permanent residence gone down the drain.

There was a minor detail about that impromptu meeting with my manager that didn’t seem relevant at the start of that day, but suddenly became important. There was an engagement ring in my pocket when I went into that meeting with my manager. (Don’t worry, I wasn’t planning to propose to my manager)

You probably have at least two questions about this? If my earlier relationship had ended, why was there an engagement ring in my pocket? Secondly, why does it matter?

I’ll answer both.

I had started a different relationship in 2017 with another lady, who is now my wife and I was planning to propose to her that day. The engagement ring in my pocket when I was told I was being made redundant was for her.

Why does it matter? Well, if I went ahead with that proposal, having just been made redundant, the timing might look suspicious – if not to her, then to the UK Home Office. This introduced a dilemma. I had always sworn to myself, even before getting sponsorship in 2014, that I would never get married to anyone just to help me retain a legal status in the UK. It was never an option I would take. But I had already been in this relationship and was planning to propose. If I went on to propose right after being made redundant, and with 60 days left to remain in the UK, it would obviously look like I was trying to marry my way into a legal UK status. Given the reputation of Nigerians in the UK, it would also have been difficult to convince the Home Office that I wasn’t getting married simply to remain legal in the UK.

The reality of moving back to Nigeria after 6 years, without a job waiting for me, suddenly became a possibility.

So, i made a decision – I was going to shift the proposal and spend what was left of the 60 days burying myself in job applications. I had less than 60 days to find another job that would sponsor me, even though I had tried several times in my first 3 years to achieve the same thing and didn’t succeed.

As God would have it, on my final day at the company where I was being made redundant, I received a job offer from another company. They were willing to sponsor me, and the salary put me comfortably above what was required to qualify for my permanent residence application. That was a miracle!

And now, I could return to my proposal.

Fast forward a few months, I got my permanent residence, and got married (in that order). 

LESSONS LEARNED

• If possible, get some work experience before going abroad for a Masters or PhD. It helps your job search
• Don’t undersell yourself if you have experience. If you have the right skills, negotiate and get what you feel is fair pay from the start.
• Find a network of people with experience of the country you are moving to. If possible, find fellow immigrants who have gone through the system before you. They can help you avoid pitfalls.
• Understand the culture of the country you are moving into. Understanding the culture educates you on the communication style and makes it easier to understand how to progress in your career when you get started.

To learn more about getting a Skilled worker visa, check out our post here