EEA app unmarried - insufficient evidence of relationship

[Becjoho]

Hi everyone,

I am an unmarried partner (Canadian) of an EU citizen (German). I entered the UK on a Tier 5 Youth mobility visa when we moved here on 15 July 2014. We have lived together for two years in Canada, went backpacking in Asia together for eight months, then lived together in Australia for a year, prior to moving to London. We are both permanently employed and we would like to remain in the UK, thus we submitted the EEA application for my residency card.

I'm feeling worried because in our CoA letter it stated that I was not given the right to work because "the applicant has not provided satisfactory evidence of his or her identity or of his or her relationship to an EU citizen." We included a letter from our landlord in Canada, tenancy agreements for Australia and the UK, as well as combined itineraries from our backpacking trip to Asia, bills statements, and photos of us over the past five years, so I'm not sure what more we could have provided. Has anyone else had this experience?

I recently saw on the timeline forum that another Canadian, who is the unmarried partner of an EU citizen and applied at a similar time, has already received her residency card, so I am growing increasingly concerned that we somehow appear to be illegitimate in the eyes of the Home Office. Any advise would hugely appreciated!

Application timeline
Application sent: 23 July 2015
CoA without right to work and Biometrics letter received: 29 July 2015
(I am able to continue working as my youth mobility visa is still valid)
Biometrics submitted: 7 August 2015

Many thanks!

[noajthan]

Hi everyone,

I am an unmarried partner (Canadian) of an EU citizen (German). I entered the UK on a Tier 5 Youth mobility visa when we moved here on 15 July 2014. We have lived together for two years in Canada, went backpacking in Asia together for eight months, then lived together in Australia for a year, prior to moving to London. We are both permanently employed and we would like to remain in the UK, thus we submitted the EEA application for my residency card.

I'm feeling worried because in our CoA letter it stated that I was not given the right to work because "the applicant has not provided satisfactory evidence of his or her identity or of his or her relationship to an EU citizen."

...

I recently saw on the timeline forum that another Canadian, who is the unmarried partner of an EU citizen and applied at a similar time, has already received her residency card, so I am growing increasingly concerned that we somehow appear to be illegitimate in the eyes of the Home Office. Any advise would hugely appreciated!

...

Many thanks!

HO will be looking for evidence of a durable & subsisting relationship 'akin to marriage';
ie not a fiance or boyfriend/girlfriend-type of relationship.

There is no hard & fast definition of what such a relationship looks like, particularly in the context of EU immigration.

This HO guidance may help inform you of the official mindset & what a caseworker may be looking for:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publicati ... ners-set05

[kamoe]

My two cents is that as far as I understand that is a standard response to any unmarried couple. I got that same letter too. It does not mean you have supplied insufficient evidence of your relationship, it just means that because you are unmarried, establishing the validity of your relationship is not straightforward (and hence your CoA will not give you the right to work). I have seen at least three similar posts from people asking the same question, so I would not worry too much.

I think.