Is it possible to take domestic helper to UK

[Nitig]

Hello
We are moving to UK from Singapore for my husband's work. We have a Tier 2 Intra-company transfer visa.
Is it possible to take our domestic helper with us to UK?
Earlier it use to be easy as the UKBA just needed the helper to have worked with the family for past 12 months. The rules changed in April 2012. I
have tried researching on Internet & calling related agencies but have not got a clear answer till now.
My helper has been with us for a long time and she is a part of my family now. My kids get very upset whenever her not being able to continue with us is talked about. She herself starts tearing up if I ask her to start looking for a new employer.
Please help me if you have any information regarding the matter. I am hoping that there would be a few of you who have moved in past 1 year and would know the procedure.
Also, just to put things in perspective, it is very common in Asia to have live in help. I always taught my kids to treat the helper like a family member and now that they think of her as an aunt, I can't let them feel that we are abandoning her!!
Please help

Bringing staff here if you are staying for longer than six months is not possible. As live in help is unusual in the UK there is very little cultural support for the idea. It is however possible to have live in help when you are here but you have to employ them from the UK. Leaving live in help is a hard part of moving to the UK. It is also the reason why several families I know will not consider a move here.

I lived in Singapore for 11 years and have had "helpers" so I understand why you want to bring her.

However, this may be irrelevant to you but the majority of people in the UK don't have this kind of help. I also am not sure where you get the idea that families here have neighbours and family to help them out. Most of us don't. I had far more help when I lived in Singapore and this is one of the reasons why a lot of expats don't want to leave the place.

I am sure that your helper is part of your family as from what I have seen they tend to do a lot of the upbringing of children and they become very attached to each other. That said, however much you think you helper loves you and your family, at the end of the day she is there away from her own family for only one reason and that is to earn money and send it back home to benefit her and her own relatives by buying a business or a farm or sending younger relatives to Uni to make all their lives better. I point this out to you because I know quite a few people who have brought their helpers back to the UK and without fail, every one of them has run off within 6 weeks. They get here, network and then realise they can earn loads more in a shop, restaurant or illegally. Their employers are left shocked that this person who was "part of the family" would do such a thing

Do you also know that if you bring your helper here you will not be able to carry on paying her the same amount as in Singapore? From what I remember the going rate for an experienced, great helper was up to S$500, which is £277.56 for a months work. Some of them are paid half of this If you pay her that in the UK you will end up in a lot of trouble. If I am right, there will be very strict laws about how many hours she can work and how much she is paid. In the UK we would view what other countries see as an acceptable way of treating and paying these women, as slave labour.

Exactly what pistachio said, only my experience, though very similar, is seeing people relocating from the ME to the UK, and trying to bring live-in Sri Lankan or Filipina maid/nannies with them.

The widespread illusion that the helper 'really loves our family' tended to be punctured quickly when, entirely understandably, these women realised they were no longer living under the kafala system, and, when the same employer had to start paying them UK minimum wage and limiting work hours etc, felt retrospectively exploited because of the terms under which they had been living in the ME -- and often, as a pp said, left the household, and become undocumented illegal migrants.

The new regulations were brought in for good reason, because of the extreme levels of exploitation to which 'imported' foreign domestic workers were often subject.

I work in a health care role where I come across women who had been brought to the UK for domestic work and then end up living and working here illegally.

There is no happy endings for the vast majority of these women. Life continues to be hard, most are very vulnerable and end up exploited in various ways. They live in poverty. I'm pleased the rules were changed on this. There is no shortage of 'help' in the U.K., you just have to be able to pay the going rates for it.

A friend of mine brought her Filipina helper with her from China to France. Eight years later the helper is still with the family. She is, however, paid a great deal more than she was in China, with better holiday and working rights. The Filipina community in Paris looks after its own and helps fellow citizens negotiate with employers.

Minimum wage?

Maximum hours per week?

Etc.

My sister's HK helpers got 1 day a week off and worked 20 hour days for a pittance - and were considered well treated. 2 of them shared a tiny bedroom off the kitchen.

I understand that the culture in many asian countries is to have live in help. It is almost the exact opposite in the UK. You will find available to hire nannies, housekeepers, gardeners, au pairs, cooks, dog walkers - everyone you need to fulfil all the roles your current helper takes on. But you will almost certainly have different people doing each job, each on her or his own hourly rate, and probably providing services to several different clients during the course of each week.

There are pros and cons to both systems, IMO. In Paris there is still quite a strong FT nounou (helper) culture but the role of specialized domestic services is growing.

A lot of the advice that has been given on this thread is wrong. UK immigration law is difficult and complicated. It is always best to consult a properly-qualified UK immigration lawyer or adviser. If you act on incorrect advice your visa application is likely to be refused.

@Nitig , If I were you, I’d pay my helper the 6 month salary so that she achieves her target. yes itll cost you a few thousand but this would be a good farewell present and will probably not break your bank. She then does not need to follow you to the UK monetary reasons and can return home to her family if she wishes. As for the children, would you be able to explain to them properly the circumstances and that you are not abandoning your helper but actually helping her return to her family/home? Thousands of people who have moved here from the far east were in your situation and have adapted fine and coping very well, and I’m sure you will too. I’m not saying your helper would definitely leave you once she’s here but imagine if she did that. What psycological effect would that have on your children? They would be more devastated! (and you’d be in a fix!).

@archipops Nitig posted in 2013; her husband’s 3-year contract is presumably over by now...

Great points Rusty. I feel sorry for these helpers being brought to the UK, it doesn't sound very promising.

@Rustybear . whooops, don’t know how that happened. I feel silly now. but thanks for pointing that out. Wonder what she eventually did though.

I'm sure Mr Oliver will be back any minute to provide a suggestion of "someone he knows" who happens to be an immigration lawyer