another unmarried partner panic

Have read a lot of postings below and am desperate for some advice. I can't believe we will be railroaded into marriage, but it certainly seems that way!

My partner and I have been together since 24 March 2005. He is from NZ and I am a UK citizen. Our first child is due 24 March 2006. His 2 year work visa runs out 1 October 2006. We can prove our relationship back to April 2005 in terms of phone calls and emails, but cannot start proving cohabitation until Sep 2005/Oct 2005. It seems we fall short of the two years required for an unmarried partner visa by at least 6-10 months.

Couple of questions:

1. Does my partner have ANY other options to extend his stay long enough i.e. 6-10 months longer so we could then apply for unmarried partnership? He is working but not irreplaceable. I am going to be on maternity leave from 06.03.05 so not really an option for him not to work.

2. Does having a child provide proof of relationship from moment of conception? I.e. in our case end of June 2005.

3. If I went back to work Oct 2005 and he stayed with baby at home - if we could afford that (which I doubt) presumably he could stay on a holiday(?) visa or some other kind that does not require working, for 6-10 months at the end of which we could apply for unmarried partnership status?

4. What exactly is a fiance visa? Could he stay on that fro 6-10 months and then at end of it, we didn't marry but had enough time built up for unmarried partnership visa?

5. Do we have to get married if we want him to stay? If we do get married do we have to marry 3 or 6 months before his visa expires? Is it necessarily the case he will be able to stay if we did marry in time before his visa expired?

Thanks for all the help.

Kate

Kate, good to hear from you. Using your numbering :-

1. What sort of work does he do? Is HSMP a possibility?
2. Please don't take this comment the wrong way! The answer is no because until DNA tests are conducted there is no proof of the identity of the father. But in any case even if the identity could be proved, it is not really going to help.
3. I presume you mean Oct 2006. But he still needs a visa to be here to stay at home and look after the baby. But what sort of visa? He may struggle to get a visitor's visa.
4. A fiancé visa is issued to enable the person to come to the UK to get married during the six-month validity of that visa. If marriage is not planned then a fiancé visa is not appropriate. Also note that the holder of a fiancé visa is not permitted to work! Well not until after the marriage and the issue of a spouse visa.
5. I fear the answer is yes. Well at the very least it will considerably simplify matters. Given that he is not an EEA Citizen he needs to apply for a Certificate of Approval to Marry ("CoA"). He must make that application before the end of June 2006, to ensure that at least 3 months is left on his current visa. Following the issue of the CoA, the two of you would go to a Register Office and give the necessary Notice of Intention to Marry. Given the expiry date of his current visa, the marriage would need to be before the end of September, so that following the marriage he can apply for a spouse visa in the UK prior to the expiry of that current visa.

Please accept that no one on this Board made the rules! As much as we might sympathise with you, as you say, the rules do tend to encourage marriage.

Food for thought!

Thanks so much for that response John.

1. My partner is an engineer. He works as a contractor for various big engineering firms. We thought he'd have to be doing a job no British worker could do in order to get HSMP. He isn't. He is just one of many bodies crawling over Wembley stadium trying to get it finished ASAP.

5. You say it will considerably simplify matters if we marry. Is there any other way you can think of? I just have so many divorces in my family and never wanted to marry. Really not keen on doing it.

Having said that, if we were to marry, can I just get the timing correct in my head? We must marry before end of September. If we were to marry 1st September and apply on 10th September but did not hear back before 1 October - would he have overstayed? Does he just have to apply for spouse visa before his visa expires or does he have to actually get it?

I just can't get over the fact that if you marry, the only requirement is that you have met! But if you don't marry, a child and a year of cohabitation counts for nothing...

Thanks again for help.

Kate

Kate, you are confusing Work Permit and HSMP. Whether he qualifies for HSMP is a detailed subject. He should have a good look at this Board for advice and guidance.

If we were to marry 1st September and apply on 10th September but did not hear back before 1 October - would he have overstayed?

He will have so-called Section 3C protection. That is, if the application is made prior to the expiry of the old visa, but the application is still outstanding on its stated expiry date, then the old visa is "treated as continuing", at least until he hears the result of the application, and if rejected (but why would it?) until the final date for lodging an appeal.

Also the application for spouse visa could be made in person at a PEO. Usually a same-day service.

HSMP seems to be out for us. He doesn't have a degree and has almost no points that I can see.

I think we may be willing to try and survive on my income alone, so if he could get a visitor's visa for the 6-10 months - that would be great. Is that the best non-working visa for him to try for? What are his chances of success.

In any case, thanks for your advice. That is great news about the 3C protection so at least we do not have to actually marry until September.

Thanks again.

Kate

if he could get a visitor's visa for the 6-10 months

It is extremely unlikely he could get a visitor's visa, and even if he did the chance of it exceeding six months is remote.

But he has a visa valid until October so why does he need a visitor's visa at all, if the two of you are planning to marry in September?

Kate, just to add to what I posted earlier, if it is the case that the two of you are going to get married, albeit very reluctantly, then why not start the paper process in the near future?

That is it would be a good idea to get the application for a CoA in sooner rather than later. Your fiancé, as I shall now call him, needs to complete a CoA Application Form. The point is that such application must be made when more than three months is left on the current visa, otherwise the application will be declined automatically. And when submitted it will take two or three months for the CoA to be issued.

Then armed with the CoA the two of you can go to a designated Register Office and complete the needed Notice of Intention to Marry. That will cause the notice to be posted on the board for 15 days, following which the needed licence to marry is issued. That licence will be valid for 12 months .... well past September ... but for other reasons your marriage must take place no later than September!

Getting the paperwork out of the way sooner rather than later will stop any last minute panic at any stage. It will also mean that if you want to book the Register Office you should not have a problem getting exactly the date you want.

By the way, after the two-year spouse visa has been issued, near the end of that two years your husband, as he would be, would apply for ILR ... indefinite leave to remain. Based upon what you have already posted, as soon as he has that ILR he will be able to apply for Naturalisation as British. That is, he could be British in under three years from now.

John, your information is invaluable, as always and I don't know what we newbies on the board would do without you!

My partner and I are planning to apply for a fiancee visa to marry in the UK. Based on information we found at the General Register Office website we are under the impression that once you have the fiancee visa presenting this to the registry office will allow you to book a marriage. It's described as an either/or situation - EITHER you have a fiancee visa OR (if you're on another kind of visa) you will require the CoA.

Is that your understanding of the situation or are you saying that even if you are granted a fiancee visa you still have to apply for a CoA?

Thanks in advance!

we are under the impression that once you have the fiancée visa presenting this to the registry office will allow you to book a marriage.

That is right but you must go to a designated Register Office in order to give the required Notice of Intention to Marry.

You are right to think that anyone with a fiancé(e) visa ... or indeed a Wedding Visitor visa .... does not need a CoA before going to the designated Register Office.