Non-married partner route

My girlfriend is from Iran and has been in the UK on a Tier 4 General visa since September 2012; I am an EEA national living and working in the UK since 1983.

We want to apply under the non-married partner route of the family members category.

I meet the financial requirements and we have been living together since January 2013. I have a few questions which I hope someone can help me with regarding Annex FM Section FM 2.0 of the Immigration Directorate Instructions.

In the Annex the following is stated:

3.1 Factors which may be associated with a genuine and subsisting relationship

(i) The couple are in a current, long-term relationship and are able to provide satisfactory evidence of this.

What period is considered ‘long-term’? I have read about minimum of 2 years. Does this mean living together? We have been in a long-distance relationship for about 3 year, but only been living together since January.

(ii) The couple have been or are co-habiting and are able to provide satisfactory evidence of this.

Is a room in a shared house sufficient? I have read accommodation needs to be for the ‘sole use’ of the couple. Also, is there any minimum period? Again, 2 years has been mentioned.

(iv) The couple share financial responsibilities, e.g. a joint mortgage/tenancy agreement, a joint bank account and/or joint savings, utility bills in both their names.

How important is this? Currently only our rental agreement is in joint names as we have no separate bills and she cannot be put onto my bank account because of her immigration status.

Other questions I have:

There is a fairly large age difference between us (22 years). How important a factor will this be?

Is there any chance of success in this category without being married?

When is the best time to apply? My girlfriend's student visa expires in April 2014.

What happens if my girlfriend's visa expires during the application process? Will she have to return to Iran?

Thank you very much for your help.

What is your nationality? If you're a European citizen living and working in the UK you should be applying under the provision for partners of European nationals, not in the unmarried partner category which is for partners of British citizens or people with settled status.

I'm not familiar with the specific requirements for unmarried partners in the EEA category, but if the definition is the same as is used in the non-EU partner category you will need to have been living together for at least two years in a relationship akin to marriage.

erwinz, if you have been living in the UK for long enough to acquire a right of Permanent Residence then you can be treated as "settled" and your partner could apply under the Immigration Rules.

However, it's difficult to see why you would want to given that it's much more expensive and doesn't lead to settlement for her any sooner.

The Immigraiton Rules say that a "partner" is someone with whom you have been cohabiting for at least the past 2 years. If you only started living together in January 2013 then you are not going to meet this requirement.

The requirement under the European regulations is that you are in a "durable relationship". This is usually considered to mean 2 years' cohabitation as well: in your case you would probably striggle to show that 4 months' cohabitation qualifies.

If you marry then your partner has automatic right under European law.

anniecc and Kitty are absolutely correct. The 2 year co-habitation rule is mandatory with the evidence to support this.