Visa Company Witholding Passport - Legal Rights?

fluffnutter

Jinx has the best solution if the passport doesn't turn up soon. Report it stolen/lost, apply for a new one. Charge the expense back to the employer.

Does her employer know this company's withheld her passport whilst they 'drag this through a solicitor'?! What a gross dereliction of duty to their employees if they do. They'd be the ones I'd be cross with! She's not the pawn in their don't-fancy-paying game.

One more try to get the passport back, then a strongly worded letter to her employer telling them a) why and how they've failed her and b) that she'll expect the cost of a replacement to be borne by them. Load of bloody nonsense, quite frankly.

bengalknights

I read the OPs question as the OPs girlfriend organising it and not the employer, therefor why would it be upto employer to to get involved if it wasnt organised by them?

On the passport side report it stolen and give them details of company who hold it.

Equaliser123

bengalknights wrote: »

I read the OPs question as the OPs girlfriend organising it and not the employer, therefor why would it be upto employer to to get involved if it wasnt organised by them?

On the passport side report it stolen and give them details of company who hold it.

Trouble is Plod won't see it as stolen.

vikingaero

So what's the difference between a passport being withheld for non-payment or a car not being released because you refuse to pay for a service?

I realise that there is a company involved that are doing the dirty on the employee.

bengalknights

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Trouble is Plod won't see it as stolen.

In this case i would say report it lost and just get and LS01 form from passport office although the police will generally issue a crime reference number regardless of whether the passport is stolen or not.

heretolearn_2

What the visa company has is right of lien. We do the same thing with documents we hold for clients if they are getting funny about paying the bill, no money, no return of documents. It's a legal right.

'When goods are delivered to a tradesman or any other, to expend his labor upon, he is entitled to detain those goods until he is remunerated for the labor which he so expends;'

bengalknights

vikingaero wrote: »

So what's the difference between a passport being withheld for non-payment or a car not being released because you refuse to pay for a service?

I realise that there is a company involved that are doing the dirty on the employee.

You cant sell the passport even when held you can hold the car and sell it to get your debt back if allowed to by court.

Therefore OP just has to report it lost, she gets a new passport and its down to Visa company to sort out there problem as its not like they can do anything with passport

MrC_Beds

heretolearn wrote: »

What the visa company has is right of lien. We do the same thing with documents we hold for clients if they are getting funny about paying the bill, no money, no return of documents. It's a legal right.

'When goods are delivered to a tradesman or any other, to expend his labor upon, he is entitled to detain those goods until he is remunerated for the labor which he so expends;'

Sounds like a quote from an United States law book to me.

I'd have thought passports were Crown property which the agency would have to surrender to the IPS if pressed.

Equaliser123

heretolearn wrote: »

What the visa company has is right of lien. We do the same thing with documents we hold for clients if they are getting funny about paying the bill, no money, no return of documents. It's a legal right.

'When goods are delivered to a tradesman or any other, to expend his labor upon, he is entitled to detain those goods until he is remunerated for the labor which he so expends;'

A lien cannot exist as a passport cannot be sold to settle the debt.

DVardysShadow

heretolearn wrote: »

What the visa company has is right of lien. We do the same thing with documents we hold for clients if they are getting funny about paying the bill, no money, no return of documents. It's a legal right.

'When goods are delivered to a tradesman or any other, to expend his labor upon, he is entitled to detain those goods until he is remunerated for the labor which he so expends;'

Apart from the obvious Americanisms, of course this cannot apply. The contract is with an employer for arranging visas for employees. The passports belong to the employees - they do not belong to the visa company's customer.

Anyone claiming lien on these passports would make a fool of themselves.