Immigrationboards.com

Hi all,

I am looking for help on how my girlfriend can come live with me in the UK.
Back story: I (french citizen, pre-settled status) lived in Singapore for 2 years before coming to the UK for a new job in august. There, I met my girlfriend (from the Philippines) in September 2018. We have not "officially" lived together (she had her own apartment), so we have no official document proving our relationship. We do however have lots of photos, evidence of traveling together, friends who can testify etc... We also tried to register a PACS (french equivalent of a civil partnership) before I left, but could not get the documents from the Philippines in time.

My question is: is the EEA unmarried partner route hopeless due to lack of official evidence? Is there any other way?
She started preparing to apply for jobs in the UK to obtain a work visa, but this is quite long (she had to take IELTS, now needs to take exams to register as a nurse in the UK, find a job etc... and there is no guarantee on how long this process will take). We are also considering the option of getting married/in a civil partnership next time we are able to meet, but due to COVID, it is very difficult to plan.

So, yeah, I guess my question is, what would be the best way to proceed from here? 2020 is really a hard time to be separated, and we are both looking forward to finally being together again.

Meerlion wrote: ↑

Sun Dec 13, 2020 11:54 am

We have not "officially" lived together (she had her own apartment), so we have no official document proving our relationship.

The unmarried parter route is not a route for boyfriend/girlfriend couples. It is a route for couples that can reasonably be considered as 'akin to marriage', in other words, as having operated as a married couple for some time. This is not trivial. Even cohabitation for two years it not enough requirement. A cohabiting couple also has to prove that they have joint financial commitments (joint rent, mortgage, bills, or bank account) or the joint care of a child to be considered 'akin to marriage'.

From the way you describe your relationship, your issue is not that you cannot prove it exists. The issue is that you do not appear to have a relationship that meets the qualifying conditions. This does not mean your relationship is not genuine, only that your relationship has not yet reached the stage where it can be considered you are operating as a married couple, and therefore, it does not seem to qualify for the unmarried partner route.

My question is: is the EEA unmarried partner route hopeless due to lack of official evidence?

Again, not for lack of evidence, but for lack of qualifying requirements.

Is there any other way?

Under the EU Settlement Scheme, your only option would be to get married in 2020 (which I'm afraid is not very realistic at this point).

Under other UK immigration routes, there are at least three possible options for her. Which one is the best, depends of course on her life plans: Student, Skilled Worker, Family Member. More details in further answers below.

She started preparing to apply for jobs in the UK to obtain a work visa, but this is quite long (she had to take IELTS, now needs to take exams to register as a nurse in the UK, find a job etc... and there is no guarantee on how long this process will take).

A non-EU Tier route (e.g. Skilled Worker) could still be open to her. But not my area of expertise, and really a question outside of the scope of this section. The best best section to ask any related questions is the point-based section.

We are also considering the option of getting married/in a civil partnership next time we are able to meet, but due to COVID, it is very difficult to plan.

Again, this will only make a difference, for the purpose of the EU Settlement Scheme, if you managed to get married this year. Getting married in 2021 will not make her eligible for the EU settlement Scheme, since the family relationship to the EU Sponsor needs to have started before the end of the transition period, December 31st 2020. For immigration purposes the start of the family relationship is the wedding date, since you are not considered family until you get married (time dating, or being only boyfriend/girlfriend does not count).

However, if you get married in 2021 you could still pursue the Family Member visa, but outside the EU Settlement Scheme.

So, yeah, I guess my question is, what would be the best way to proceed from here? 2020 is really a hard time to be separated, and we are both looking forward to finally being together again.

Given the main reason for her coming seems to be her relationship with you, then technically speaking, the family member seems to be the straightforward option. Again, this would be outside of the EEA / EU Settlement Scheme route. Any questions are best addressed in the Immigration for family members section.

I am in a very similar situation (if I was supposed to open a new topic I'm sorry, I'll fix that right away).
I should get pre-settled status soon and my partner is non-EEA citizen. We are not married but been living together since early 2018 in Italy (unfortunately no joint bills, rent, ecc... but for example I've got the required official statements from 2018 onwards, signed by me and provided to our "Home Office" in which I granted her hospitality in my house).
She should join me in the first half of next year. So unless we get married this year (!) the EUSS FP route is unavailable. But what about EEA FP for extended family members? Is that route maybe being taken down after 31 December 2020?
If not, am I right assuming we could get married also at the beginning of 2021? The additional requirements of the latter compared to EUSS are that we should prove her financial dependence on me or that she is self-sufficient (btw she's working in Italy)? I'm very sorry if I sound naive. Even just pointers to past discussions would help me a lot.
Thank you very much, really.