unmarried partner visa for Russian gf

Hi my name is David and 34 years old.I am English and lived here all my life.My girlfriend Maria is from Moscow and is 26 years old whom i first met in April 2002 and we have been living together at my mothers house since July 2003.
The problem is her student visa expires on August 31st so we are applying for an unmarried partner visa as we do not wish to get married yet and i love her very much.
Maria and i have documentation going back to August 2003 linking us at same address and the water bill is in her name but we have nothing with both of us on the same document.We went on holiday together last year to Cyprus and we have the docs for that.
What i would like to ask your good selves is is this enough?
What things do the Home Office look at when considering applicants?
And as a sponser what sort of funds do i need to show and how?
Anybody else had a similar experience to this?
Would it be better to send off documents to Home Office for £160 or make an appointment too see them for £250?
If the application fails what options are there?

Thanks in advance to those that can help me it will be truly valued.

maybe i should have posted this in another forum...
but Maria is like family to me....

Let's first deal with the easy point :-

Would it be better to send off documents to Home Office for £160 or make an appointment too see them for £250?

I fear you are proposing to use an out-of-date version of the form FLR(M). You need to download the latest version .... and then you will probably be disappointed to learn that the fee is now £335 by post or £500 in person at a PEO. Latest version? Click here.

Which is best? Depends how quickly you want to know the result of the application. Ask yourself "Is it worth paying an extra £165, and taking up probably a whole day, to get a much quicker result?".

For unmarried partner's visa you need to provide proof that the two of you have indeed lived together for at least two years. The form FLR(M), in Section 7, has lots of guidance. Also, your gf has to register with the Police? If so does that prove where she has been living for the past two years?

Also a letter from your mother confirming that the two of you have lived together at her house since (date) would be useful.

Finances? Accommodation? Have a good read through the form FLR(M) for further information. How much money? It has got to be clear that your gf will not need to claim certain Public Funds, but that is the same as her current visa.

I would suggest looking over the sample unmarried partners cover letter at http://www.londonelegance.com/transpond ... Letter.pdf

It gives a good idea of what to include and explain in order to submit a successful application.