settlement visa - unmarried partner

[dtaylor]

I am a British national and my partner is a Chinese national. We met whilst working together in the UK for the same company whilst she was resident on an HSMP visa.

We have subsequently been living abroad together as ex-pats working for this company, 6 months in India and now 13 months in China. My company has asked me to return to the UK and as we understand her HSMP visa is now longer valid we are now planning on applying for an unmarried partner visa with me as her sponsor.

We believe we have sufficient evidence to show that we have been living together for over two years but are concerned about the following areas

1) As I am currently living abroad I have no property in the UK although as part of my repatriation the company will provide assistance with this. I also have a relatively large amount of savings.

2) My UK bank will not send me statements as they say it is a security risk to send them here so I only have an online statement

3) Similarly my companyt does not send me formal payslips but the monthly salary payment is clear on above statement

Please can you let me know if any of the above issues is sufficient to refuse her application?

Thanks in advance for your help

[Docterror]

Using your own numbering to answer-

1) You do not need to show that you already have accommodation for the Unmarried Partners visa application to be successful. Ask you company to help you lease a place big enough for you and your partner to stay when you arrive and that should be enough.

2)Online statements are not theoretically sufficient for applications and need to be atleast attested by the bank to verify as being genine. But, practically, sometimes they are known to work.

3)Mention in the Covering letter to the ECO, and highlight the deposit of income in the statement.

All these alone are not enough for refusal. But with no payslips and an online statement, I would be quite suspicious if I was the ECO and ask to reapply with proper documents.

[VictoriaS]

Sorry, I disagree.

1) You need to have an address in the UK, you must have accommodation, even if it is only a hotel.

2) You should have original statements, I think this is a must. Can your bank send them to family in the UK who can then courier them to you?

3) Get a letter from your company confirming salary.


Victoria

[Docterror]

1) You need to have an address in the UK, you must have accommodation, even if it is only a hotel.

Sorry, I totally disagree.

According to the DSPs governing settlement for spouses and unmarried partners, it says:-

Sponsors may be British Citizens. Strictly speaking, a British Citizen who has been resident abroad but who returns to the United Kingdom to live is not ‘admitted for settlement’. However, if he or she expresses the intention of returning to the United Kingdom to reside, you can regard him/her as present and settled here.

Where the sponsor has not been resident in the UK for some time, you should take care to ensure that the maintenance and accommodation requirements will be met.

and not, has already been met. Also...

Residence after arrival in the United Kingdom
A couple should have discussed and come to an understanding about where they are going to live, if only in the short term

Discussion is enough, no proof required.

So, even if there is absolutely no proof of any accomodation arrangement at all for the application just a letter from the British sponsor stating that he is headed back to UK to settle and there will be adequate accommodation would suffice. The bank statements will verify that he is financially capable of what he claims. No hotel bookings needed at all.

I just suggested the help from the employers to strengthen the application, that's all. Even without it, by itself the application cannot be deemed deficient.

The DSPs in question can be seen here

[VictoriaS]

You may disagree, but I would never send anyone off with an application which doesn't show where they will be living. Regardless of the DSP's, ECO refuse for lots of reasons, and while those reasons may be unlawful, they still do it.

If you make an application and say that there will be accommodation but don't say where then an ECO is likely to refuse. You need to show that the accommodation part of the rules will be met, so yes, it is future tense, but this means that there should be a provisional booking in an hotel at the very least. To not do this is just asking for trouble.

Victoria

[Docterror]

Your practical knowledge should trump mine any day and I also am acutely aware of various entertaining reasons the ECOs refuse applications with.

But that said, I am having trouble envisioning a refusal for an application in which the British sponsor is just returning back to UK, for the lack of a future accommodation even if in a hotel, provided that all other documents are in order. Sorry!

If refused, just like when the application is perfect, it should be overturned at an appeal.

Again, an accommodation arrangement should be helpful as suggested in my first reply.

[VictoriaS]

But that said, I am having trouble envisioning a refusal for an application in which the British sponsor is just returning back to UK, for the lack of a future accommodation even if in a hotel, provided that all other documents are in order. Sorry!

Accommodation is needed according to the rules. You read the rules and the IDI's differently from most ECO's. ALso, you need to remember that IDI's are not legally binding, so the ECO can ignore them if he feels that his decision is correct according to the rules.

Victoria