Help with unscrupulous employer (working on tourist visa)

Hello,

My wife and I moved to India about six months ago. We took a job with a company in Kerala teaching adult ESL. Our conversations with the owner of the company prior to going to India had assured us that we could come over on tourist visas and then once here they would give us a letter of sponsorship for an employee visa.

In addition to never fulfilling their promise, they have so far used the fact that we are here on tourist visas to repeatedly blackmail us.After we told them that our tourist visas were going to expire soon,they assured us that they were working on getting us a letter of sponsorship, and continued to tell us this every time we inquired, up until no less then four days before our visas expired. They then admitted that they had never made any calls to the government at all-we had to go up to the train station in the middle of the night and begin a 4 day long trip to Nepal to get new tourist visas with only several hours to prepare.

Our employer here has fired me no less then three times.

Once for our incredulity at being lied to about their calls to the government in regards to our visas, once for our refusing to let our then 10 month old daughter be watched by anyone who happened to be in the office after we went to another city where they have another branch, and once for an internet bill that we felt we should not pay since our boss set up the internet for us without showing us the contract, which stipulates that we pay for certain services he told us were free.

Each time he has fired us he has ordered us to immediately vacate "his" house (rented under the company name from a local business-owner) and even sent workers to our doorstep to threaten and intimidate us. The last time he fired me he said to my face "theres nothing you can do about it-your here working on a tourist visa and if you try to prove you've ever worked for me I'll strike your name from the records".

This is all the more disturbing since,as mentioned,we have a daughter who is less then a year old.

We have spent our savings,since they neglected to pay our salaries for the first two months we were here,and when they eventually did they took exorbitant pay cuts out of them for reasons they could never adequately explain. Recently they have told me that I will now be required to work ten hours a day, with no pay increase, under the usual threats of throwing us out of the house if I do not comply.

My wife has started a small business selling items from India to people back home in the states, so we are soon planning to move - but my question is,what can I say or do against them to report the treatment they've given us,and if I say anything would it invalidate my tourist visa?

Im not just saying this for my own personal revenge (though honestly I think they deserve to be taken to account for their actions) but also to prevent their doing this to people in the future (I know from talking to co-workers that this has happened at least once in the past).

Any help or advice that could be given to me on this subject would be greatly appreciated.

A quick check of the visa rules would have told you this was total bullshit right from the start.

The ONLY way you can get an employment visa is by applying in your home country, with a contract of employment setting out the employment dates, and an undertaking to pay Indian taxes. A "letter of sponsorship", whatever that is, would be of no use to you whatsoever once you are already living and working in India.

He is right, as you are working illegally in India, and both you and your wife have comprehensively broken the terms of your tourist visas. That in itself is enough to potentially get you deported, and at the very least blacklisted so you won't be able to get another India visa for many years, if ever.

I'd say that the very last thing you want to do is to draw the authorities' attention to your situation.

Don't try to report this while you are in India. Once you are back home, write to the local press folks about your experience. The New Indian Express reporters would be the best people to contact. You can get one's address from the link below, the other one's ID is her firstnamelastname at gmail.com

http://www.keralapressclub.com/membe...atid=&pageno=1

Ask them to change your details. Don't worry about getting blacklisted because of the report, it would require your boss to get in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi, which he is not going to do, because then he will also be in trouble.

One wonders why you put up with this for half a year, but whatever. It sounds like you've been convincing yourself you were bona fide till the very end; that's too bad, it's a pity you didn't get yourself informed on your legal position much earlier (as in before heading over even). If it hasn't been stated clearly yet, "working on a tourist visa" in any country is an obvious contradiction in terms that should give anyone pause.

(btw It's not clear from your story if you see the need even now to extract yourself from this situation. I'd say that is precisely what you have to do though, and asap. If you're afraid to hang around in the area, go for a holiday somewhere else in India, if you don't go straight home.)

I'd have to concur with the others, you've been working there illegally all this time, I don't think there's anything much to do about it inside the country. Tackling it somehow once you're back home as suggested by Mazha could give you some satisfaction, and hopefully help others to not make the same mistakes -- and get people like your employers slapped on the fingers perhaps.

i understand what everyone says about the issues surrounding working on a tourist visa, and we did know that such is prohibited. that's part of the rub, though; our employer assured us that, while technically against the rules, it's a simple matter for their bosom buddy the police chief to pull a few strings and land us an upgrade. while you won't see that advertised anywhere, he assured us, that's 'the way things are done' in India.

obviously we were naive, but it's true that sometimes local procedure differs from what's officially on paper, and we trusted his word - all of which we do have documented in e-mail. it seems rather a low thing to do to anyone who doesn't yet know the ins and outs of a country, and we want to prevent others from being similarly scammed.

we're definitely getting out of the situation post-haste, with plans to spend the rest of our visa in Varanasi. the reason we've posted is that we rather want to quite immediately, before our new 10-hour schedule begins, and wonder what kind of authority he has to boot us out of the house without giving us any time to prepare for our move, or try to report us to the authorities. we certainly wouldn't put it past him....

thanks for the advice thus far!

It wouldn't be much good to report the employer to the authorities and the media once you leave India.

I know it sounds crazy, and it may require you to pay a very hefty price in terms of never being able to enter India, but if you are really serious about bringing this guy to books, you will have to take it up with the authorities while you are here.

The media, or the police won't care if you simply write to them or phone them from your own country, you presence in India could possibly make all the difference.

There's 2 ways you can look at it, either you don't do anything about it and continue to be harrassed and exploited, or you take it up with the authorities.

There is every chance you will be denied a future India visa, even if you take up the matter when back home, cos the immigration will find out and put you on a 'watch list'

But then again, who is to say the police wouldn't harrass you if you sought their help. They may give you the run around, they may try and extort money from you.

Who know's, perhaps your employer is well connected and knows people in high places. It is indeed a very tricky situation and there's no easy solutions.

Whatever you do, I hope it works out for you.

Well, I guess you've learned he's not one to be taken for his word. Over and done now, right.

I'm not sure if I get you right, but I think you mean if he finds out about your leaving? So don't let him (or anyone who could tell him) know I'd say, just be gone one of these mornings. Local friends you can always contact later to let them know what happened, if needs be. If you need some time to get yourselves together, maybe take a cab or bus to some town at a little distance with your belongings, check into a hotel there and take the time you need. Whatever salary he's not handing over to you anyway I'm sure would be worth it. I'd agree with Mazha, I don't see a person like this stepping over to the authorities so easily, he'd basically be reporting himself. Mostly bluff and hot air no doubt (his great contacts have hardly landed you your job either, right).

Varanasi's nice, try and take a breath there

Strayoff, once you have extracted yourselves please name names. Where are you in Kerala? Anywhere near Kovalam?
Clive

Hm, yes. On that note: Should this person have it in him to do any web searching on the matter once you're gone, IndiaMike ranks very highly on most things India-related. He might just stumble over a thread like this. (Certainly if at some point he gets literally mentioned.)

I wouldn't give your present whereabouts before you're well and truly out of there; and you might want to move somewhere that you haven't mentioned in public.

Paranoia, perhaps; or just common sense & safety first and all that.

There are no "authorities" to report to in Kerala, because breaking visa rules is not a state subject, it is a federal problem, and requires him to go to Delhi, with papers showing that he employed you, which is illegal. Not going to happen.

If he threatens you again, start a vocal confrontation in public, most people will support the foreigner. Also, he can't afford the bad publicity as he is running a business.

You may have bigger problems if he is a thug, so I would suggest getting out as early as possible. Also getting in touch with your embassy. If you are not in a position to get out soon, I suggest you go to The Indian Express office in Tvm and talk to the people there. They will help you get out.

Strayoff, I asked where you were - I meant approximately. In the event that you have to extract yourselves rapidly I may be able to help. If so, please email me as soon as you have read this.


Update: I'm out of email and IM contact between 08:15 - 18:30.

Ah, that's very nice of you, Clivington. Strayoff being a new member won't yet be able to PM you (send you a private message) though.

... So I was going to suggest either of you create a disposable webmail address for the purpose; however I now notice on your profile page you provide a way to contact you So Strayoff, just go there, namely here: http://www.indiamike.com/india/membe...ington-u32107/ .

Overall, agree with mazha. Don't do anything while in India, especially if you are in a smaller city/town, where this group or connections will be more powerful, and you with a small child in tow.

You can create enough of a nuisance once you are back to meet your stated objective. Officially and unofficially- the extent to which you pursue stuff will be up to you then.

Suggest you to return back so that your chances of coming again (if you want to) is not impacted.

I am curious to understand how could you bear it all for these 6 months, and that too with 3 different employers. What sort of work is that Adult ESL? I fail to understand how could you work for no pay inspite of having an agreement. Didnt you do any sort of homework on the job before you landed here?

A lot of what the OP describes is common practice with ESL jobs in other East Asian countries (South Korea, Taiwan, etc.). With this in mind, it is perhaps not quite as shocking they put up with as much as they did for so long. That being said, what "works" in Seoul can get you into a right mess in India (as seems to be the case here).

More generally, the itinerant ESL industry has a large, dark, underbelly that aspiring teachers need to be aware of. Reliable, trustworthy employers seem to be (unfortunately) the exception and not the norm just about everywhere (not just Kerala!) Asia, South America, the Middle East - I've heard horror and sob stories from them all!

My advice? Go home, lick your wounds, and be smarter the next time. It sounds harsh, but a lot of people I know who have taught ESL abroad had horrible first experiences and used their gained knowledge to land much better positions on the second try.