Job Discussion Forums

Blebling · Joined: 27 Mar 2013 Posts: 6

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help me. I have seen some similar questions on here, but no definitive answers.
I am currently working in a language school and my contract ends at the end of June, along with my visa. I haven't had the best time here, so I am hoping to hand in my notice, leave the job at the end of May, and travel Russia until my visa expires.
My question is, if I voluntarily end my contract early, can/will my employer cancel my work visa? If so, how would they do this? Could they inform the authorities electronically so that I am stopped when I try to leave the country later, or is my visa sound as long as it's in my passport?

Any help would be appreciated. I'd hate to take a chance on my visa and then have serious issues when I try to leave at the end of june.

Thanks in advance!

coledavis · Joined: 21 Jun 2003 Posts: 1838

Tricky and I do not think that there is a definitive answer. As I think you realise, the issuing of the visa is predicated upon your employment contract. So I suppose if they were sore enough, they just might say that you aren't working any more and should not be in the country. However, whether or not a school would want to bring attention to itself is uncertain.

Is there any chance of a relatively amicable agreement to part company? I suspect not if they are expecting you to teach until the end of June. If I knew that you were leaving me struggling at the end of term and knew that that same period was being used a holiday, I would be pretty annoyed. Twisted Evil

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:50 pm Post subject:

Whatever about the ethical concerns about leaving a school, please be assured that your company cannot have your visa terminated. I advise confirming this with a lawyer, for peace of mind, but as has been posted here many times by me and others, so long as you do not hand over your passport to the school, there is nothing they can do. You are right in your assumption about this. The school would have to prove you were not working there, and provide all contract details to the immigration authorities etc etc.

For the sake of four weeks, no school would take the chance of any unpleasantness with the tax authorities, who may be involved if a legal dispute escalated.

We cannot tell you what to do, but it might be an idea to inform your boss of your intentions, including your travel plans, and see how that goes. But NEVER part with your passport, no matter what, until you are ready to depart the country.

In any case, I would be shocked if you had any problems leaving the country.

RoscoeTX · Joined: 06 Jul 2012 Posts: 56 Location: Moscow, Russia

Cole is absolutely right, there may be no definitive answer. I think it may vary from case to case. As Cole mentioned, it may depend on how you part with your employer and whether they choose to be vindictive.

Take it with a grain of salt, but I imagine if you have only 1 month left remaining on your contract when you quit. I would go out on a limb and say they would not go through the necessary channels to cancel your visa. Whatever those channels might be.

I've heard hearsay about schools/companies not being able to cancel your visa as long as you do not hand over your passport with your visa stamp. So if this stands to be true, as long as you don't hand over your passport and keep possession of it, you should be alright.

Also, personally, I went through a similar situation....parted with my old company in a torrent of threats about canceling my visa and back and forth bickering and pleads from them. I quit and my work visa was not canceled and I traveled in and out of Russia on that visa.

I guess it's kinda a crap shoot and would be great to know the exact laws on this and how an official canceling of a visa is done...

best of luck!

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Mar 28, 2013 6:03 pm Post subject:

I'm not a lawyer, so can not give a 100% answer with regards to this issue. So a 99.9% answer will have to do. Keep your passport safe, and unless you are astronomically unlucky, you'll be fine.

Look at it this way. School wants a visa cancelled. They go to the immigration boys and say "We want to cancel this teacher's visa." The immigration people will say, "Sure, where is it?" Whereupon, with no passport to present, the whole process stops.

Your visa is valid, so long as there is no big stamp plastered across it stating otherwise. This is more than hearsay.

Unfair dismissal cases get even more difficult for the school. They would have to prove that they had the right to fire a teacher, in a court of arbitration, win their case, and then still have to have the passport sent to the immigration office for visa cancellation. The whole legal procedure would take longer than the validity period of the visa anyway, so no school bothers with this.

Any school that threatens visa cancellation is merely trying to intimidate teachers.

But, as in all legal matters, contact a real lawyer to verify all the above : )

Best of luck!

Foma87 · Joined: 13 Sep 2011 Posts: 116 Location: Moscow

Happens all the time. Not to worry. Your visa is valid until its expiration date. As long as you are in possession of your passport, there's no way the school can cancel your visa, regardless of what they tell you. Sasha's correct.
Upon termination of your contract, the school is obligated to inform Migration, but this has no bearing on the validity of your visa.
Contact this agency and as for Vadim (he speaks English), if you're still worried: http://www.rusvisa.org

Blebling · Joined: 27 Mar 2013 Posts: 6

Thank you all for your help.
I'm still very wary. The school says that when the contract ends, teachers have 72 hours to leave the country. I don't know that trouble with the tax authorities would be a big enough deterrent for them not to cancel my visa, as they seem pretty legit in that respect. If they tell migration that I don't work for them, won't this void my visa, as they are the inviting organisation, even if they don't have my passport with them?

I plan to give them notice of my leaving but I haven't decided whether to tell them I will stay in the country. Stupidly, I'm a little scared that if I tell them they might cancel it vindictively, where they might have not even thought of doing so before.

Thank you again.

Grenouille · Joined: 01 Oct 2006 Posts: 62 Location: Moscow

As others have told you, I also believe that the school can't cancel your visa unless you give them your passport. Really, give your notice to leave, be nice, but don't under any circumstances give them your passport or tell them about your plans to travel. Then you will be free to travel for the last month and go home before the expiry date of your visa.

I think I can guess which school it is, I've also heard of the '72 hours to leave' warning, but unless you've given them your passport they can't cancel your visa. And if it's the school I'm thinking of, or one of the other big ones, then they should be afraid of the tax authorities, so call their bluff and leave when you plan to.

Honestly, don't worry about it.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:59 am Post subject:

72 hours after tha contract ends? Laughable! Whose 'rule' is this? The school's. It is not the migration authorities'.

What the school is afraid of is an employee, whom they are responsible for for the full validity of the visa, doing something mental or criminal. This would involve all sorts of state authorities and result in a massive financial penalty for the school. As far as I know, in order to get a visa for foreign staff, employers have to put up a deposit of sorts to guarantee that they will meet the costs of any infraction caused by the foreign worker.

I suspect this is why your school wants you out pronto. But too bad for them. You have every legal right to stay.

Also, if there is some dispute about final payments at the end of your working period, sign NOTHING, until you have your money. Legally, the school has to have all matters settled on your last day of work. If that is not the case for you, do not sign one document...

Consult a lawyer if you think things will get hairy. No school is fully legit with respect to taxes. Maybe yours are totally white, but what about other members, eh? That all gets investigated...

Best of luck!

Sashadroogie · Posted: Fri Mar 29, 2013 6:41 pm Post subject:

By the way, what do you mean by contract exactly? The English language sheets of paper that some schools try to pass off as a valid contract are meaningless.

The only document that counts is the Russian language work agreement that is submitted to the migration authorities. It is always interesting to see if it genuinely carries the teacher's signature, or not... Another point that would frighten off a lot of school owners.

Blebling · Joined: 27 Mar 2013 Posts: 6

Thanks again for your advice.

I'm feeling a little less scared about it all now. Just to fully confirm - they won't be able to do anything with a copy of my passport (they definitely have this)? My visa has to be actually stamped to void it?

Yeah, I've heard about the forged signatures on the Russian contracts being common. I can't actually remember if I signed a Russian version or not, to be honest...

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue Apr 02, 2013 7:29 pm Post subject:

Yes. As far as I am aware, only the original visa in your passport can be stamped to void it. A photocopy will not do instead. Much the same way that only your original passport will be accepted by bank officials for any transaction - even lodging money into your own account : )

Blebling · Joined: 27 Mar 2013 Posts: 6

Sorry to post in this thread again. Just wondering if anyone has had experience with the 'get out in 72 hours' rule. Does any of you know of anyone who has overstayed this without any problems, or do you have confirmation that this is a made-up rule?

Thank you!

RoscoeTX · Joined: 06 Jul 2012 Posts: 56 Location: Moscow, Russia

No reason to apologize Blebling!

So who has given you this warning? Your employer or former employer?

Again, can't imagine that this is legit. Again, my former employer threw every threat under the sun at me when I left....still left and my visa is still valid and has been for over a year now with no problems.

As long as you got your passport in your hands with your visa inside, wouldn't worry too much.

But again I would wait to feel totally at ease till the "usual suspects" from this forum speak their peace on the matter...

relax and enjoy your travels!

gaglen · Joined: 27 Apr 2012 Posts: 9 Location: Russia

As far as I understand this 72-hour thing, it has more to do with your registration than with your visa. When you leave your job, your employer doesn't want to risk getting fines of 50,000 rubles for not un-registering you when you leave the country, and they certainly can't be bothered to track your whereabouts when you're no longer their responsibility, so it's easier for them if you leave straight away. This fine thing is a real risk for them- my employer forgot to un-register me when I had to leave suddenly for my gran's funeral and got into trouble for it.
So, the 72-hour thing affects them more than you, but you need to be aware of the fact that you probably won't be legally registered when you leave your job. This could be a problem if your documents are checked by the police or anything like that.