Unmarried partner visa - Proof

[FirangInIndia]

Hi all,

I have joined this forum because I am genuinely stuck. I have been with my partner in India for 1.5 years, and we have been living together for almost a year. For various reasons (a whole other story!), marriage is not an option for us, and yet we are very much committed to one another and to our future together. My Indian visa is valid till 2011, but it does not entitle me to work, and besides I am ready to return to the UK after almost four years here. My partner is happy to come to the UK with me, but the question is: how? We have looked at the student visa (but it's prohibitively expensive for her to study in the UK at a very uncertain time in terms of post-study employment prospects). We have looked at the working holiday visa (a scheme that is no longer open to Indians). And we have looked at the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme (HSMP) (she works for an NGO here, so does not earn enough to get the required earnings points). The unmarried partner visa has seemed for a while to be our only option, but it too is proving to be a real headache.

The concept of 'unmarried partner' is not one that many in society accept in India. Sure, increasing numbers of people have girl/boyfriends before marriage, but the concept of 'living in' (living together) is socially frowned upon. It took us many months before we even found a landlord willing to let us sign a joint lease. Thus, the first five months of our proof documents for living together consist of letters from friends that we stayed with them for an extended period. Will these be accepted, I wonder?

Equally, there is the difficulty of an Indian being in any kind of relationship with a non-Indian, which brings us to the matter of the joint bank account. It seems totally reasonable to me that we should be expected to have one, given that it shows our joint commitment in a financial sense. But it has proven totally impossible to get one in India in our case. We have been to many different banks, and all have told us the same thing: that Reserve Bank of Indian rules state that a foreign national cannot share an account with or be party to an account of an Indian national, and vice versa. So if I had wanted to set up an account with a UK spouse, we could have done that. Similarly, if my partner had wanted one with an Indian spouse, that would have been fine. But once again, we fall outside accepted norms.

So my question is this: what options are left for us? How will be able to prove our commitment to this relationship sufficiently to satisfy a British official? We have letters to one another that went to our home address in Bangalore / my home address in the UK from when I visited home recently (including Valentines cards, postcards, etc.). We have a furniture rental bill that comes monthly, which is the only thing we have been able to get in our joint names (though it's only for the equivalent of some £10 per month - living costs are a lot less here). The electricity and water bills are in the landlord's name, and this apparently can't be changed because he is the owner of the dwelling place. The Internet bill comes is in my partner's name, but is online only (no physical bill comes). I am trying to get a landline connection in my name (we had to bribe a notary in order to get the requisite proof of my Indian address for this - again, another story!), but the telephone company is saying that all slots are full in our street. What else might be accepted?

All and any advice will be genuinely appreciated.

Many thanks.

[PaperPusher]

Requirements for leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement
295A. The requirements to be met by a person seeking leave to enter the United Kingdom with a view to settlement as the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or being admitted on the same occasion for settlement, are that:

(i) (a) the applicant is the unmarried or same-sex partner of a person present and settled in the United Kingdom or who is on the same occasion being admitted for settlement and the parties have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage or civil partnership which has subsisted for two years or more

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/polic ... xpartners/

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

You have to have been together for at least two years, and living together for those two years, although some time could have been spent apart. You also need solid evidence of that.

Other options are Tier 2 (similar to the old work permit scheme) and fiance/proposed civil partner with a marriage following within 6 months in the UK.

[FirangInIndia]

Hi PaperPusher,

Thanks for your reply and the URLs. Unfortunately, this is all stuff I read over a year ago and what I understood then still seems current, so this doesn't answer the specifics of my question. I mentioned that the work and fiance visas are not options, and the big moot point is these proofs.

Thanks so much.

[PaperPusher]

HSMP no longer exists, it is now a scheme called Tier 1 (general). Tier 2 is similar to the work permit scheme. Previous earnings are not important, what counts is the prospective earnings in the UK job.

Why is the fiance option out? The answer to this is important, it may also mean an unmarried partner visa is out of the question. If it is just your choice not to get married, but you could, fine.

You cannot get an unmarried partner visa if you have been together less than two years. When are you thinking of applying?

You do not need a joint bank account, but statements should be sent to the same address.

Reading your first post you have:

Letters of support - pretty poor evidence because they can be easily faked and are often self serving.
A tenancy agreement signed 7 months ago - ok
Online bills - pretty poor evidence in most cases
Bank statements - fine
Furniture rental bill - fine
Picture and cards to separate addresses do not show you have been living together in a relationship akin to marriage for 2 years.

Commitment is not the test. You do have to satisfy the Entry Clearance Officer that you intend to live together, however if you have not been living together for at least 2 years this is enough to get you a refusal.

[FirangInIndia]

Hi again,

Re working in the UK: we had gone through the following URL and it seemed that she had enough points for everything except earnings:

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/worki ... utoftheuk/

That's Tier 1, I see.

Tier 2: as far as I can see from the URL below, she does not qualify in any of these categories (she does not fill a skills shortage gap, most prominently).

http://www.workpermit.com/uk/uk-immigra ... grants.htm

Is Tier 1 not open to us? Even if it were, there is the earnings problem. I am thinking of signing her on as a consultant to assist me on an as-needed basis. Would that be ok?

Back to marriage: she left a troubled marriage not so long ago and no longer believes in the institution (I also struggle with the idea of the institution, given my parents' highly traumatic divorce). Also, it would be a massive deal as far as her family are concerned (who don't yet know about me and went through a huge journey in even accepting the divorce, given socio-cultural prohibitions of it). We've talked this one to death and it's just not a goer.

Time line: we would like to apply as soon as it seems we are likely to be accepted. We have a hotel receipt for six weeks while we were trying to get a landlord to accept us last summer. Then we moved cities, stayed with a friend for a while (her letter could be attested as genuine by a court notary here) and also in a hotel (but our receipt there in joint names was ripped up by some thugs posing as the moral police who raided our room, accused my partner of being my prostitute, roughed us both up when we could not prove we were at least engaged and stole our valuables - as you can see, this has not been an easy journey!). Coming back to the point, will the letters and bills that we have work, or can we only start this on the date that our joint tenancy commenced (15th November 2008)?

Thanks for clarifying the banking point: I will look into opening an account here in my name, then.

Is it five pieces of proof for each of two years that we need? How many of these are seen as sufficient, and do they need to be spaced sort of beginning-middle-end over that time?

Thanks again!!

[Wanderer]

Is Tier 1 not open to us? Even if it were, there is the earnings problem. I am thinking of signing her on as a consultant to assist me on an as-needed basis. Would that be ok?

Isn't Tier 1 Masters degree holders only?

[PaperPusher]

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/worki ... 2/general/

To qualify for Tier 2 you need to have a job offer with the certificate of sponsorship from an employer, and then be able to get the required points. The "skills shortage gap" is not necessary if the post cannot be filled by a resident worker and she scores enough points. The employer has to be licenced however.

Tier 1 requires high previous earnings. Check that you have applied the "India uplift" to the earnings. Any earnings have to be genuine and with evidence. I do not know if she would qualify because you haven't given us much to go on. Go through the Tier 1 part of the board.

her letter could be attested as genuine by a court notary here

A notary would be pointless. They just say that the piece of paper is genuine or write down what they are told. It would not make a letter of support any more believable, and they are easily got hold of. The notary will not add anything to your case IMO. Having said that letters of support would not hurt.

Where a couple claim that they have maintained their relationship during the 2 year period by merely visiting each other as often as they can, this will not be sufficient to satisfy these provision of the Rules. However where a couple have been living together in a committed relationship for the preceding 2 year period, barring short breaks, but have been dividing their time between countries (for example, by using the "visitor" category), this will be sufficient to meet the requirement.
Evidence of a committed relationship and proof of its length can take the form of:
- joint commitments, (such as joint bank accounts, investments, rent agreements, mortgage, death benefit etc);
- if there are children of the relationship, a record of their birth entry;
- correspondence which links them to the same address;
- any official records of their address (eg Doctors records, DWP record, national insurance record etc);
- letters from third parties may be of evidential value but should not of themselves form the sole basis of a claim;
- any other evidence that adequately demonstrates their commitment to each other.
It will not be necessary to provide all of the above, but caseworkers should be looking for sufficient conclusive evidence of the relationship.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitec ... iew=Binary

Just try to get as much as evidence as you can, and then look at it all again closer to the time. I don't know of a specific number of pieces of evidence you need, but it makes sense that the more official sources there are the better, and the more spread out the better.

Please think again about a student application. There are some decent private colleges out there that are cheaper than universities, but where students are external students of a UK university. These colleges tend to focus on just a core group of subjects such as law or business.

If you are thinking of a private college it is worth bearing in mind what has been going on with some of them in the past few months (do a search on Times Online).

If you want advice about avoiding bogus or poor quality colleges let us know.

Regards
PP

On a side note, there is no need to marry as far as I am concerned, that is a decision for both of you. However, the parents thing will have to be faced at some point unless you want to spend the rest of your life moving out when they come to visit. I am just pointing this out from experience rather than criticism. They may take it remarkably well but be hurt that they have been lied to for so long. Just do what seems best for the both of you.

[FirangInIndia]

Hi there,

I just logged on several weeks after my last post to this thread to discover that the post is not there! I can only assume that there was some error last time. Well, I wanted to post an update to the saga, so I guess I will repeat some of the things I said last time.

Am I correct in understanding that if one has enough points for Tier 1, one can come to the UK even if one does not have a job in hand? I am currently boosting my girlfriend's monthly income by around £200 per month, which gives her more than enough points once the India uplift is applied. I HOPE this is legit, as I am actually using her services as she is doing consulting work for me / my business. Is that acceptable?

I don't think Tier 2 will be an option, as one has to secure a job before leaving for the UK.

In terms of getting thing together for the UPV, we now have:

1. Joint rental agreement from 15 November 2008.
2. Furniture rental receipts in our joint names dating back to the same time.
3. A landline in my girlfriend's name, started within the last month.
4. An Internet connection in my name (this is in the process of being put in) - they will give paper bills, whereas the last company would give only online ones.
5. We are both registered at the same doctor / hospital. We both have computer printouts from the reception desk from the time we registered, and I have a whole load of receipts that mention my address, as I had to have some tests done. However, they do not actually send anything to our address or give anything like an NHS medical card.
6. I am in the process of getting my Indian Police foreigners registration shifted from Pune (where I used to live) to Bangalore. This will not get completed until September sometime, but it will state my address once it's done.
7. I will be able to open a bank account only once I have Bangalore Police registration.
8. In the meantime, my partner is in the process of getting her bank to change her address to our residential address (until now her statements have been going to her office address), but this can be done only once we have a landline bill as proof.
9. Ditto for my partner's mobile phone bill - will take time.
10. We will be able to ask our banks to state each other's names as beneficiaries in the event of our deaths. However, the only proof we get of this is a tiny tear-off slip at the bottom of the form, signed by the teller at the bank. Is this enough?
11. We will ask two friends who we stayed with while house-hunting in Pune and then Bangalore (nobody would give us a place to rent while unmarried!) to give us signed letters stating that we lived with them from June to November 2008.

In the meantime, we are asking anyone who sends us letters to state c/o my name on her mail and c/o her name on mine. We hope that this will count for something - do you think it will? It is such a pain that in India, nobody (with the exception of the company we rent furniture from) will give anything in a joint name unless (if you are lucky) one is married!

My main concern is that we don't satisfy the 'beginning, middle and end of each of two years' criteria for supplying these proofs. Any thoughts on that, as well as the potential weight of the documents we are getting together, would be sincerely appreciated.

Many thanks,

FII