What if we break up ://

Hi 

My partner is considering moving from the US to the UK by securing Fiance and then Spouse visas. We are very much in love and very excited about getting married and living together indefinitely/forever!

However..

We are both relentlessly pragmatic and know that many other relationships have started with the same intentions only to fall apart down the line. The risk in this instance is a lot higher than for other couples in that if we did break up within five years then he would potentially have to leave the country :/

Does anyone have any experience of what happens in this situation? Would he have to leave immediately or would it be at the 2.5 or 5 year dates?

Is it possible to get sponsored by your employer in this instance if you have a particular job or meet a particular income threshold? Is it possible to meet the extension and ILR requirements even if a couple have broken up?

Any advice much appreciated

To reiterate, of course we are different to other couples and will never break up but just in case..

It's wise to know the ins and outs.  I do and I don't plan to ever divorce!  But I never expected to divorce in my first marriage.  It takes two people to marry but only one to divorce.   

If your relationship were to break down, you both have a legal obligation to notify the Home Office of that fact.  We do caution people to not notify the Home Office until you REALLY know there is no going back.

After that, the sponsor is "off the hook" and the visa holder is no longer their responsibility.  The Home Office will then notify the visa holder of a curtailment of leave.  They will have a short window to find another sponsor (such as a work visa) but otherwise must leave.

There are exceptions and other routes if there are minor children involved (but those children must be British).

Know you know and you'll never need to use it.   

In addition to what KFdancer has already said.

If the visa does not have long to expire, the UK do not need to curtail it as it will just expire. To avoid becoming an overstayer, he would need to leave the UK or put in a valid application for another visa before his visa expires.

Is it possible to get sponsored by your employer in this instance if you have a particular job or meet a particular income threshold?

It would be under the same terms as anybody else who wants to come to the UK on a Tier 2 General visa. He would also need to apply for this visa from the US.
https://www.gov.uk/tier-2-general

However as he has been a student in the UK on a Tier 4 visa, he might be able to be exempt from the RLMT. Once he is on a partner visa, he won't be exempt from the Tier 2 General RLMT anymore.

As he wants to live and work in the UK, was he unable to find a work sponsor while he was on his Tier 4 visa? If he could have, then he would have been able to switch (in country) to a Tier 2 General visa from his Tier 4 visa.

Is it possible to meet the extension and ILR requirements even if a couple have broken up?

His 5 years to ILR clock would stop. It would start at zero again on another visa route that leads to settlement (ILR).

However as he has been a student in the UK on a Tier 4 visa, he might be able to be exempt from the RLMT. Once he is on a partner visa, he won't be exempt from the Tier 2 General RLMT anymore.

Unless the rules have changed, you are only exempt from the RLMT if you are still in the UK on a VALID Tier 4 visa. If your visa has expired, you have switched to a different visa, or you have left the UK and are applying from outside the UK, you are no longer exempt and you have to pass the RLMT.

Unless the rules have changed, you are only exempt from the RLMT if you are still in the UK on a VALID Tier 4 visa. If your visa has expired, you have switched to a different visa, or you have left the UK and are applying from outside the UK, you are no longer exempt and you have to pass the RLMT.

You're right. No rule change. If applying from outside the UK, a RLMT is needed, unless the usual exemptions. 

Interestingly, that switch for Tier 4s to Tier 2 General now doesn't apply to everyone, after a rule change in 2015. I didn't realise that.

From the January 2018, Tier 2 General guidance for employers
The bottom of page 118
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/672688/Tier_2_5_sponsor_guidance_01-2018_v1.0.pdf

Thanks all for your answers! This helps inform our decision