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Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Use this section for any queries concerning the EU Settlement Scheme, for applicants holding pre-settled and settled status.

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Hope19
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Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:12 pm
Brazil

Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by Hope19 » Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:31 pm

Hello everyone,

I found this forum very interesting and helpful, therefore decided to seek advice regarding my situation.

I am planning to start the application for the UK unmarried partner visa. I am a non-EEA citizen who has been in a relationship with my Italian partner for the last 7 years, but we have no plans of getting married for now.

In August 2018, I started a Masters in the UK under a Tier 4 student visa. My course finished in July 2019 and my current visa expires in January 2020.

My partner has also been studying in the UK since September 2017 pursuing her PhD. She has recently applied and granted pre-settled status.

During my course of study, we have lived apart since our universities are in different cities. Nevertheless, we have seen each other and traveled together frequently during this time. In the beginning, some of my correspondence was also linked to her address as she was the first to move to the UK.

After my course finished in July 2019, we decided to live together in her city and signed a 1-year accommodation contract with both our names.

We lived together in Germany for a period of 4 months before she came to the UK. Previously, we have lived in the same cities but not in the same addresses.

Given this situation, I would like to kindly ask you the following:

1. Can we apply for the unmarried partner VISA under the scope of her pre-settled status? (all the information we see refers to applications with settled status);

2. We have been studying with financial support from full scholarships. Do these count as proof of income?;

3. Would you have any advice on how we could strengthen our application to demonstrate a relationship akin to marriage?

Thank you in advance for your attention and looking forward to hearing back from you.

sfljiaf
Junior Member
Posts: 60
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2018 2:47 pm

Re: Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by sfljiaf » Thu Aug 29, 2019 5:15 pm

Hope19 wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:31 pm
1. Can we apply for the unmarried partner VISA under the scope of her pre-settled status? (all the information we see refers to applications with settled status);

2. We have been studying with financial support from full scholarships. Do these count as proof of income?;

3. Would you have any advice on how we could strengthen our application to demonstrate a relationship akin to marriage?

Thank you in advance for your attention and looking forward to hearing back from you.
1. To be clear, if you're going the EEA route, this is not a visa per se, rather you would apply for an EEA residence card and/or pre-settled status. This is different than the visa you would apply for if your partner were a UK citizen.

2. In particular, for the EEA route there are no income requirements. But you do need to show that your partner has been exercising treaty rights. If he was a student, among other things you'll need to show that he has had comprehensive sickness insurance. NHS access doesn't count, but an EHIC card from another EU country would.

3. Have you received any mail to the same address, ideally bills or other official communication? Do you have a joint bank account? If not, open one right now, and use it. Joint address and joint finances seem to be the main things they look for in unmarried couples (plus children together if you have any). For joint address, the main kind of evidence they accept is mail. I would start by collecting any evidence you have or can generate in both those categories - try to think of any mail you might have received jointly, or even separately but to the same address. I think they want six items jointly, or six items each, spread over two years. The more official, the better, but worst case even Amazon deliveries are better than nothing. Any other "official" ties that you might have had to the same address, like being in any form on each other's rental contract (even as a guarantor for instance), registered officially (electoral roll or similar, or gave that address when registering with your doctor), etc.? For finances: Joint bank account as mentioned. Have you lent each other money, and do you have a record of it? Any other joint financial commitments - property or large purchases you made together, a joint business venture / company, etc.?

Any other things you can think of that show that you are more than just boyfriend/girlfriend?

In all cases, look for evidence that is as "hard" as possible. E.g. if you want to include joint travel, original boarding passes are better than an undated photo in an unkown location. If you want to include statements from "witnesses", those should be as specific as possible (e.g. I remember in December 2018 Ms X and Mr Y travelled together to Z to visit X's family for three weeks. Upon their return, Y told me about how close he became with X's father during a weekend when they went fishing together.) and perhaps from someone with professional standing and/or who knows you well, but not well enough to be partial (e.g. a professor or admin person at your university is better than your mum). Ideally such statements should say that the two applicants have been living together for at least two years, of course.

Moderator edit: sfljiaf has asked for the advice above to be disregarded due to a misunderstanding of the OP's situation regarding co-habitation.

kamoe
Moderator
Posts: 2945
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 10:57 am

Re: Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by kamoe » Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:29 pm

sfljiaf wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 5:15 pm
Have you received any mail to the same address, ideally bills or other official communication?
The OP has clearly said their couple has not lived together for more than 5 months. Your suggestion implies you are advising them to trick the Home Office into believing the contrary, which is strictly forbidden in this forum.
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.

kamoe
Moderator
Posts: 2945
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 10:57 am

Re: Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by kamoe » Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:43 pm

Hope19 wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:31 pm
During my course of study, we have lived apart since our universities are in different cities. Nevertheless, we have seen each other and traveled together frequently during this time. In the beginning, some of my correspondence was also linked to her address as she was the first to move to the UK.

After my course finished in July 2019, we decided to live together in her city and signed a 1-year accommodation contract with both our names.

We lived together in Germany for a period of 4 months before she came to the UK. Previously, we have lived in the same cities but not in the same addresses.
I'm sorry to say that you do not meet the 2-year cohabitation requirement for unmarried couples, for the EEA RC. Any attempt at supplying evidence to make it look like you have is deception, and it is strictly forbidden for anyone on these forums to suggest you do that. Unless you have the joint responsibility of a child or share relevant and substantial financial commitments (e.g. joint mortgage, joint utility bills), it is unlikely your application will be successful with only 5 months of cohabitation. Note that this does not mean your relationship is not genuine, it is simply not 'aking to marriage'.

Also note that as an unmarried couple you cannot apply for Settled nor Pre-Settled Status if you do not already have a EEA RC as an unmarried couple, so that route is not available to you: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settleme ... eu-citizen

If you’re their unmarried (durable) partner
You must hold a relevant document issued to you under the EEA Regulations on the basis that you’re the durable partner of an EU citizen.
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.

sfljiaf
Junior Member
Posts: 60
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2018 2:47 pm

Re: Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by sfljiaf » Thu Aug 29, 2019 8:54 pm

kamoe wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 6:29 pm
sfljiaf wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 5:15 pm
Have you received any mail to the same address, ideally bills or other official communication?
The OP has clearly said their couple has not lived together for more than 5 months. Your suggestion implies you are advising them to trick the Home Office into believing the contrary, which is strictly forbidden in this forum.
Ah, sorry, I misread the OP, I thought they were saying they were just temporarily staying elsewhere for university. Given that that can mean as little as eight weeks at a time and many UK students maintain a residence "at home", I imagine that would still be within the unmarried partners criteria. If they've genuinely lived apart, that's a different situation, obviously. My apologies for that, I should have read the post more carefully. I can't seem to edit my previous response now nor delete it, but if a moderator wants to do so please go ahead.

sfljiaf
Junior Member
Posts: 60
Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2018 2:47 pm

Re: Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by sfljiaf » Thu Aug 29, 2019 9:51 pm

OP, my apologies, I misread your post. I thought you were saying you had been living together, but that you didn't have evidence of it due to the university situation. That's a common issue, since people don't often think to keep mail and other evidence just on the off chance they might need it for a visa application later, and indeed as students often you're subletting or getting mail to your parent's place, so you might not have a lot of evidence in the first place.

But it sounds like you're in a different position: Living together less than two years. That is a lot trickier. It's not entirely impossible, as the rules are a little vague, but you would need very strong additional evidence. Re-reading your post, the length of your relationship, and that you have lived together previously, could both work in your favour. Joint financial commitments would be the other main thing, but it would probably have to be substantial.

Since your visa is still valid a few more months, you could wait to apply until a few weeks before it expires, as this would give you a few additional months of cohabitation. But this is dependent on how Brexit ends up going - if no-deal happens, the EEA route might be closed off by then. And you'd still fall short of the two years by a lot anyway, so it might not make a huge difference.

You could try applying now and see what happens. If you get rejected, you could still try again in a few months in the event of an orderly Brexit, or at least you'd still have a few months to figure out a plan B. But do keep in mind that it's a long shot in any case.

kamoe
Moderator
Posts: 2945
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 10:57 am

Re: Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by kamoe » Fri Aug 30, 2019 10:11 am

Further to the already explained, I suppose it also helps to address your specific questions one by one:
Hope19 wrote:
Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:31 pm
1. Can we apply for the unmarried partner VISA under the scope of her pre-settled status? (all the information we see refers to applications with settled status);
No, as the Settlement Scheme is not open for unmarried partners who do not already have a EEA residence card.
2. We have been studying with financial support from full scholarships. Do these count as proof of income?;
There is no income requirement for either the EEA RC or the Settlement Scheme.
3. Would you have any advice on how we could strengthen our application to demonstrate a relationship akin to marriage?
Again, although your relationship seems perfectly genuine, you are only long-term boyfriend and girlfriend / long-term girlfriends, not unmarried partners in a relationship that can be defined as 'akin to marriage'. Being considered 'akin to marriage' does not reside on the duration of the relationship, but weather you have actually lived together and have shared financial responsibilities for 2 years. None of this seems to be the case, I'm afraid.
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.

Hope19
Newly Registered
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2019 2:12 pm
Brazil

Re: Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by Hope19 » Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:33 am

Thank you very much sfljiaf and kamoe for your attention and comprehensive answers, they were very clarifying.

As you mentioned, it seems that the first step is the application for the EEA residence card, but only once we are sure that our relationship can be considered as "akin to marriage".

We understand that we are in a difficult situation because we started living together in Germany from April 2017 to July 2017, then had to live periods apart because of our work and studies, and only now in July 2019 started living together again in the UK. In between, we lived some months together when we could during vacation periods, but we were not living together 100% of the time.

We are aware that anyways it is a long shot. Thanks again for your consideration and wish you a great day.

kamoe
Moderator
Posts: 2945
Joined: Mon Sep 07, 2015 10:57 am

Re: Unmarried Partner Visa - Need Advice Please

Post by kamoe » Fri Aug 30, 2019 12:11 pm

Hope19 wrote:
Fri Aug 30, 2019 11:33 am
We understand that we are in a difficult situation because we started living together in Germany from April 2017 to July 2017, then had to live periods apart because of our work and studies, and only now in July 2019 started living together again in the UK.
I have no professional expertise on this, and purely from the top of my head I'm thinking you might, just might, have a shot by filling in the gaps of the cohabitation period with solid proof of constant communication and frequent travel to see each other regularly (not for holiday but purely to see each other) during the periods you have lived apart. Many married couples have similar arrangements due to job locations. Depending on your situation and how often you saw each other during that time (weekly? every other week?) I believe it could be considered to describe 'akin to marriage' if this was frequent enough and you have very strong proof.

Do keep in mind that, as we have all agreed, this is still a long shot. Nothing stopping you from trying though (it's free). Last but not least: If you decide to go for this, the longest you can wait to complete uninterrupted cohabitation, the better.
My posts express what I believe are the facts, based on the best of my knowledge, about the topics discussed in this forum. They do not constitute immigration advice.

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