Hello.
I have a few questions, but I’m mainly wondering if the immigration can check how much one earned per month. Or do they simply know the yearly amount from the tax-related documents?
The thing is that my company submitted the visa change application through a lawyer quite late. It got approved quite fast, but still nearly 3 weeks after my intended start that.
I wanted to wait until my visa got approved to start working, but my company insisted that everything was ok (apparently, their lawyer said there wouldn’t be any issues) and wanted me to start as planned, so I ended up working while my work visa was being processed (I was a student prior to this) so I’ll receive the full monthly salary.
I worked here for three months as a part-timer (about 10 hours a week or so) and I recently switched to a full-time contract. So, if the immigration only has access to the yearly amount, I don’t think I need to worry (as the income earned during the period in question could just be spread on these extra 3 months), but I wonder if they get access to a monthly breakdown of one’s earnings/hours and can track the amounts deposited on one’s bank account via the My number system or something.
Also, was what I was doing really acceptable or did my employer lie/was wrong? (In general, they’ve been treating me fairly so far.) Should I tell the truth if I’m asked during visa renewal when the time comes and how much should I worry?
3 comments
Immigration only has access to what you provide to them regarding taxes and income.
Put simply even if they did “catch” you for working without a visa all that would happen is they’d say please write an apology and don’t do that again because you’re currently legal.
Regardless if immigration is able to, or not, I would be wary of any company that asks it’s employees to violate the terms of their visa, and tells (lies to?) them that it’s ok to break the law (for them).
Until you have your new visa in hand, you should abide by the the current visa that you hold. If anything goes south, you’re the one who’d be left holding the bag.
> Should I tell the truth if I’m asked during visa renewal when the time comes and how much should I worry?
Worrying isn’t productive, so there is no good reason to do so. But if you’re asked by immigration (or any other government authority), you should *always* tell the truth. If they’re asking, they probably already have a pretty good idea, and lying will only make things worse for you.