Pretty sure the new Green msp is in breach of his student visa conditions

[CurdinHenry]

By taking on work that will require more than twenty hours a week and that will prevent him from fulfilling his study requirements

Wibu to submit a complaint to the police and home office?

But seriously though, breach of visa terms should lead to deportation. The Scottish government is actually breaking the law. What hope is there for the country when the government is trolling its people by breaking immigration laws openly.

30 seconds of googling makes it clear that the msp already completed the PhD (hence being Dr) and so the student visa related outrage is not necessary as like anyone else who gets a job that requires a visa to work at, they apply for it after being successful at interview - just in this case the interview was an election that hundreds of thousands of people voted in!

They aren't even the first msp to be on a visa, just the first one the press has taken notice of...

Being an MSP (or indeed an MP) is not paid employment, legally speaking. They are “office holders” with no contract or any other employee or contingent worker rights. I’m not sure where this falls in terms of student visa restrictions on work. I suspect the HO would have to consider it very carefully.

The studen visa is important as its the only visa he has and under it he cant legally take up his seat this week. This is the problem he is ineligible to be a MSP and cant legally hire any constituency staff either.
No other msp has ever been elected when barred from the role by the limitations on their visa.

The Greens and Scottish government will wriggle out of it by saying it's not work, it's public service or something. But yes, absolutely ridiculous and go ahead and complain.

All constituency staff are employees of the msp.
Msp is a paid employment.
Both of these facts make him ineligible for the role under his visa

What on earth has this got to do with the Scottish Government?

Technically there is no such thing currently, but regardless, Q is not a member of the party looking to govern, and this is an issue for the Home Office, it's a Reserved policy area and nothing whatsoever to do with Holyrood.

The Scottish government is actually breaking the law

Complete bollocks.

The Greens are the ones at fault here. As usual.

I am an immigrant and I find this absolutely mind boggling. I thought it was a reporting mistake at fitst because this is just so incredibly ridiculous.
I don't think we should be able to stand for office if we are not permanent residents tbh.

Scotland is a binfire now.

But if it's not work what kind of visa is he going to apply for?

How eloquent. Exactly that kind of argument that the left can mange.

The Greens should also be sanctioned.

You don't need to mount an "argument" to dismiss total and utter shite for what it is.

Student visas usually have a couple of months tacked on at the end after the official date of the course, and holders can work full time during that period. If his course has just finished and he still has valid leave to remain, he's probably in that period now?

https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/student-advice/working/working-after-studies/

I guess he'll be applying for a graduate visa now. If I were him I'd pay extra for the fast track!

More info here about work conditions for student visas.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/points-based-system-student-route/student-and-child-student-accessible#work-conditions

Can Scottish politics get any more embarrassing 🙄The world must be laughing at our self sabotaging choices

Or he could pay from his £80,000 a year salary as an MSP?

Yes I don't see why he couldn't fund the visa costs himself! OP would appear to be barking up the wrong tree about him being in breach, and hopefully they come back to acknowledge that, but it's still cheeky to expect the party to pay.

I mean it does sound as if he has an extraordinary talent for being full of BS, having blagged his way into becoming an MSP. He seems perfect for a life in British politics among all the other corrupt cheaters who seek the power and money of political life.

Doesn’t the Green Party vet its candidates?

According to Google he has reached the age of 30 researching the below list of highly important topics. I do hope no public money has been spent funding this crap.

Reflexive Ethnography: Investigating the role of the researcher's emotions (guilt, discomfort) and power dynamics.
Feminist Security Studies: Analyzing the politics of grief, mourning, and the body in conflict scenarios.
Art and Activism: Exploring how visual and textual mediums (collages, writing) are used to (re)make worlds affected by violence

A graduate visa, as I posted before. He has just gained a PhD. He’s entitled to switch to a graduate visa and work FT for three years. Pretty stupid not to have done so beforehand, but this actually isn’t a big deal. It’s quite common, particularly with PhDs where the line between being a student and being a graduate can be a bit flexible time-wise. Which the HO recognises.

The visa really isn’t the gotcha people think it is. The story is the Scottish Gov changing the rules so people no longer needed ILR to stand.

Edited to add: I see @brownbookshelfalready posted what I said!

According to Google he has reached the age of 30 researching the below list of highly important topics. I do hope no public money has been spent funding this crap

Unfortunately for your blood pressure, they've just spent the past 5 years securing a Doctorate in International Relations at the University of St.Andrews, funded by ESRC.

Probably passed any vetting with flying colours. His immigration status evidently doesn't preclude him performing the role, and being a bullshitter perfectly qualifies one for a political career.

Let’s not criticise his PhD topic please. There’s plenty of academic stuff that sounds flaky to non-academics but adds to general academic discourse in a positive way. He was funded by a very competitive funder, and St Andrews is hardly a tinpot uni.