Tier 5 to FLRM?

Hello, I have read quite a lot about my visa from gov.uk and relevant posts online, however I am still a bit confused. Can anyone help please?

I am from Hong Kong currently holding tier 5 visa which allows me to stay until Nov 2017. My boyfriend (British national) and I have been together for 9 years. He was staying overseas with me for the past 9 years and we want to stay in England for a bit longer with family and friends.

I think I can change my visa to FLRM but that's where I am stuck.

My situation is...
We have been living together for the past 5 years. We do not have any official tenant agreement at all because we were renting from a friend. But since we moved back to England, we have opened a joint account in the bank, joint name in bills etc. But that was only since Aug 2016. Is there any other way to prove we have been co-hibitating for the past two years? We have letters sending to the same address from the bank in Hong Kong. Also we had a joint account back there but now it is closed. We kept some bank statement though.

I have just started my first job in October and it is unsalarised. For the first month I got paid £500 before tax. My boyfriend gets a £9000 bursary (he is studying) from October 2016 to July 2017. We have around £18,500 saving in our account but I know we need way more than that to meet the financial requirement. I have talked to my family and they would support us by giving us around £10,000. Is it necessary to prove that extra money from my family is my money, I mean it is a gift instead of 'borrowing'?

Also, can I prove our finanical status with my UK and overseas account?

I am holding BNO passport, by any chance it will make it easier (just my thought!)?

I know the story is a bit long but any advice is much appreciated! Thank you!

Babispaghetti wrote:Hello, I have read quite a lot about my visa from gov.uk and relevant posts online, however I am still a bit confused. Can anyone help please?

I am from Hong Kong currently holding tier 5 visa which allows me to stay until Nov 2017. My boyfriend (British national) and I have been together for 9 years. He was staying overseas with me for the past 9 years and we want to stay in England for a bit longer with family and friends.

I think I can change my visa to FLRM but that's where I am stuck.

My situation is...
We have been living together for the past 5 years. We do not have any official tenant agreement at all because we were renting from a friend. But since we moved back to England, we have opened a joint account in the bank, joint name in bills etc. But that was only since Aug 2016. Is there any other way to prove we have been co-hibitating for the past two years? We have letters sending to the same address from the bank in Hong Kong. Also we had a joint account back there but now it is closed. We kept some bank statement though.

I have just started my first job in October and it is unsalarised. For the first month I got paid £500 before tax. My boyfriend gets a £9000 bursary (he is studying) from October 2016 to July 2017. We have around £18,500 saving in our account but I know we need way more than that to meet the financial requirement. I have talked to my family and they would support us by giving us around £10,000. Is it necessary to prove that extra money from my family is my money, I mean it is a gift instead of 'borrowing'?

Also, can I prove our finanical status with my UK and overseas account?

I am holding BNO passport, by any chance it will make it easier (just my thought!)?

I know the story is a bit long but any advice is much appreciated! Thank you!

Welcome.

BNO doesn't help.

For unmarried route you need an unimpeachable papertrail, you won't be given benefit of doubt.
After 9 years you must have left some footprint.

Pro tip: always look to your next visa application (and the next);
determine the requirements ahead of time and work to generate the papertrail (whether you really need it or not, regardless of being a millennial and living in the cloud etc);
also begin to cultivate professional contacts to be utilised as future referees etc;

My understanding is lump sums cannot be borrowed, must be gifted.
£60K+ required (from memory).
Must be held for 6 months (not sure).

noajthan is correct that money must be gifted (not loaned) and held in an accessible account for a minimum of 6 months.

Thank you for replying!

We have papertrail like joint account bank statement and our letters sending to the same address (but not both our names on the same letter). So I guess they might not be unimpeachable. We went backpacking for a while and we had no fixed address. I am told we do not need to prove the history of co-habitating as a married couple, is that true? So instead of applying FLRM as unmarried partners, we just go for a 'spouse visa'. We do not want to get married because of this, but if we have no other options, we may do...

Will it help if my family writes a letter about the gifted money? If so, should it be a personal one or a formal one?

Thanks again!

Babispaghetti wrote:Thank you for replying!

We have papertrail like joint account bank statement and our letters sending to the same address (but not both our names on the same letter). So I guess they might not be unimpeachable. We went backpacking for a while and we had no fixed address. I am told we do not need to prove the history of co-habitating as a married couple, is that true? So instead of applying FLRM as unmarried partners, we just go for a 'spouse visa'. We do not want to get married because of this, but if we have no other options, we may do...

Will it help if my family writes a letter about the gifted money? If so, should it be a personal one or a formal one?

Thanks again!

Yes you need to prove co-habitation.
Otherwise you'd just be borderline girlfriend/boyfriend and that won't do at all (in this context).
The relationship needs to be akin to marriage.

No need to explain about the money, personal letters from interested parties won't carry much weight;
just show you (have) held the £60K or so for 6 months.

Hello

I am currently holding Tier 5 and planning to apply for FLR(M) in a few week's time. As part of the application, applicant is required to apply for a biometric residency permit according to the guidance note.

The question is, I already have a BRP for my Tier 5 which is valid till November. Do I still need to apply for another one before posting off my FLR(M) application please? In section 9, I just put my current BRP details on... I am confused!

Thank you for your help!

Babispaghetti wrote:Hello

I am currently holding Tier 5 and planning to apply for FLR(M) in a few week's time. As part of the application, applicant is required to apply for a biometric residency permit according to the guidance note.

The question is, I already have a BRP for my Tier 5 which is valid till November. Do I still need to apply for another one before posting off my FLR(M) application please? In section 9, I just put my current BRP details on... I am confused!

Thank you for your help!

You will be sent a letter requesting new biometrics after you have submitted your FLR(M) application.

Topics merged.

Kindly keep all your FLR(M) questions in this topic.

Thanks for the reply!

So in section 9, should I just put my current BRP details on then? Or just to leave it blank do you think?

Thanks for your help again!