Tier 2 Visa (CoS) cancelled

[katchie1]

Hi,
A new Pastor 1 has just arrived into the UK on a Tier2 Visa in January. He got here and was totally ignored by the church that sponsored him. Apparently the Church has its HQ overseas and led by Pastor 2 who also got here on Tier 2 visa in 2005 but now a British citizen.

It is now understood by Pastor 1 that Pastor 2 just got him here under the pretences that he was going to leave the post as Head Pastor so Pastor 1 can take over, but Pastor 2 has no intention of leaving the church. Pastor 2 controls the Board of Trustees and everything looks legit from the outside but there are lots of issues going on inside of the church that people don't know about.

The congregation is split and a big part of it is financially supporting Pastor 1 because they want him here as their new Pastor.

Anyway my question is if Pastor 1 is allowed to work. He has turned up to take up his new post and he has been ministering to the congregation via zoom but Pastor 2 and his cronies have refused to communicate with him nor pay him. They just sent Pastor 1 an email saying they have cancelled the CoS and he should return to his country which is halfway across the world. There is no notice from Immigration or any official notice been sent to Pastor 1 to show that his visa has been cancelled.

Please advise if Pastor 1 has the right to remain and keep working because he is still serving a big part of the congregation, so technically the big part of his contractual work is being performed by him. Is his immigration status secure?

Thanks

[manci]

Assuming Pastor 1 has a BRP he can check his right to work, i.e. whether it is true that his sponsoring Church is no longer sponsoring him:
https://www.gov.uk/prove-right-to-work

If it is confirmed that sponsorship has been withdrawn Pastor 1 will get a letter from the HO curtailing his permission to 60 days from the date of that letter (not from the date when sponsorship was withdrawn).

[katchie1]

Thank you, I will get him to check that link.

[lolo2]

He has to be careful, I think that link is not updated as soon as someone is laid off from work.

When I was made redundant, I was able to check my status even a few months after leaving that job. It said that I had the right to work in the UK until the expiration date of my BRP and I was not working at all.

I could guess that the information on that site is updated when either you receive a curtailment letter or find another job (a new sponsor, new CoS, BRP, etc).

If Pastor 1 received a redundancy letter or email from his sponsor and worked his notice period, he cannot work anymore for that sponsor nor do any other job until he finds a new sponsor.

The curtailment letter can take weeks or months to be received, so he can stay in the UK until that happens and spend that time looking for other jobs.

[manci]

When I was made redundant, I was able to check my status even a few months after leaving that job.

Were you on T2 at the time and if so was your sponsorship actually withdrawn by the sponsor at the time they made you redundant?

[lolo2]

Were you on T2 at the time and if so was your sponsorship actually withdrawn by the sponsor at the time they made you redundant?

Yes, I was on Tier 2 at that time.

A week after my last day in that job, a received a call from the manager saying that they reported to the HO that I was not working for that company and not sponsoring me anymore.

However I always kept my right to work on that website with that BRP until I found a new job.