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Hi there,
We could really use some help from this community.

Me:
- EEA citizen
- Pre-settled Limited Leave granted. One more year needed to qualify for Settled status
- In a relationship for 10+ years with unmarried partner

Partner:
- Non-EEA citizen
- Tier 2 (general) leave to remain until 2023 - sponsored by her current employer
- On Tier 2 since Jan 2018
- Was on Tier 5 visa Sep 2016 - Oct 2017
- Was on Student Tier 4 visa 2012 - 2016

Ask:
- My partner is considering moving from her Tier 2 visa to a family visa as my unmarried long-term partner
- Why? Greatly simplify her ability to move jobs without needing visa sponsorship from her new employer
- We cannot figure out what the correct route is for her to apply. The family route seems to require that I be "Settled" (as opposed to pre-settled). And we don't think she is eligible for the EU Settlement family permit because she already is in the UK.

Has anyone encountered this before please? We could really use the help.

Thanks!

TA555 wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 14, 2021 3:14 pm

- In a relationship for 10+ years with unmarried partner

Please keep in mind that being in a relationship does not in itself automatically qualifies one as "durable partner" for the unmarried partner route. Please read this post.

- We cannot figure out what the correct route is for her to apply. The family route seems to require that I be "Settled" (as opposed to pre-settled). And we don't think she is eligible for the EU Settlement family permit because she already is in the UK.

You are right in wondering if she's eligible... but for the wrong reasons.

The difficulty is NOT wether you have Pre-Settled or Settled status. Any EU national residing in the UK prior to December 31st 2020 is able to sponsor their family regardless of wether they have any of the statuses, Pre or Settled, at all (EU sponsors usually have to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme themselves, but having the status at the time of their family member's application is not necessary): https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-ci ... ily-member

If you’re the family member of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen
You can apply as the family member of an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen if they started living in the UK by 31 December 2020.

The difficulty might be that your partner does not have a EEA-issued Residence Card, and now cannot get one since EEA RCs have been now phased out. The guidance texts have evolved continuously since the end of last year and it is not 100% clear if, as of today, a non-EU unmarried partner needs a EEA Residence Card to succeed an unmarried partner application to the EU Settlement Scheme.

One could interpret from the text highlighted in red below, either:

• that a EEA RC is mandatory except for partners of people from Northern Ireland, who can present alternative evidence

• that the EEA RC is preferred but there are alternative evidence anyone can present, not only partners of people from Northern Ireland

In this community we have one example of someone being refused on the unmarried partner route because of not having the EEA card; and one example of someone being successful in spite of not having it. Both non-Nortnern Ireland. So it all points to a case-by-case thing. See both examples in this post.

Guidance text of relevant evidence of family relationship for unmarried partners is quoted below:

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 EEA or Swiss citizen or person of Northern Ireland.

A relevant document here includes:

• a family permit

• a residence card

If you’re the unmarried (durable) partner of a person of Northern Ireland, you’re unlikely to have a relevant document.

If you do not have a relevant document, you’ll need to show evidence:

• of your relationship to your unmarried (durable) partner

• that your relationship existed by 31 December 2020

• that your relationship continues to exist on the date you apply

The list below gives some examples of evidence you can provide. This list is not exhaustive and other forms of evidence may be accepted. Each case will be considered on a case by case basis.

Evidence that you had lived together for at least 2 years by 31 December 2020:

• bank statements or utility bills in joint names at the same address

• residential mortgage statement or tenancy agreement in joint names

• official correspondence that links you at the same address

Evidence of joint finances, business ventures or commitments for at least 2 years by 31 December 2020:

• tax returns, business contracts or investments

Evidence of joint responsibility for a child by 31 December 2020:

• the child’s birth certificate which names both parents

• a custody agreement showing that you’re living together and sharing parental responsibility

The evidence will need to show that you’re still the unmarried (durable) partner of the EEA or Swiss citizen or the person of Northern Ireland, or that you are now their spouse or civil partner.

So I am afraid there is no guarantee of success if your partner applied to the EU Settlement Scheme without a EEA Residence Card. Not impossible, though.

The answer is more straightforward regarding the EUSS Family Permit: She would be eligible, but she would need to apply from abroad.

I must add two things:

• When I say she would be eligible for the EUSS Family Permit, that's assuming she meets the definition of "durable partner", and all other requirements.

• Regarding the EUSS FP option, there appears to be no deadline for joining family members who came to the UK after January 2021 to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme. June 30th is the deadline for EU sponsors, but apparently not for their joining family members. See this post.

I'm sorry for the long post, I hope this has been helpful.

I have laid out what I believe are the facts, and it is up to you to decide which course of action is best suited to your situation.

Just confirmed there is no deadline to apply for a EUSS Family Permit (bottom of the page):

Apply for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit
You must apply online for an EU Settlement Scheme family permit.

You must be outside the UK to apply.

There’s no deadline for applications.

Hi Kamoe,

Thank you so much for such a detailed response.

On the EU Settlement scheme family permit:
My take-away is that this route is not possible in our particular case as it would require that my partner quit her job, go abroad and then apply.

On the qualification for 'durable' partner:
Fair point, but I think we have a good chance of qualifying for this (joint accounts, joint mortgage, shared address for 4+ years). Only thing we don't have going for us are children and a joint business!

On the family route:
I don't think we were actually looking at the EUSS for her but at an "application to remain in the UK on the basis of family life or private life" - https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse; https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... ily-routes
This route does not seem to require an EEA residence card, or did I miss something?
That being said the website is inconsistent with the application form on the sponsor's Pre-settled status. It states:

You can apply to remain in the UK as the family member, partner or child of a:

• British citizen
  person settled (with indefinite leave to enter or remain) in the UK
  person with pre-settled status under the EUSS in the UK
  person who has refugee leave or humanitarian protection in the UK
  person who has leave as a Turkish ECAA worker or business person in the UK

Yet, when completing the application, the forms requires that the sponsor selects one of the following:

• I am a British citizen
  I am settled in the UK (I have indefinite leave)
  I have leave to remain in the UK as a refugee / or as a person requiring humanitarian protection

On the EUSS:
I suppose we could take a chance and apply for this one instead as it gets her a Settled status immediately while she would have to wait a few years via the family route above
Can I just check that if her application is declined it wouldn't impact her current Tier 2 visa situation? I don't think it does but just double-checking!

Thanks

TA555 wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 12:11 pm

On the EU Settlement scheme family permit:
My take-away is that this route is not possible in our particular case as it would require that my partner quit her job, go abroad and then apply.

It is indeed not convenient, and possible only if her employer is flexible enough to let her work abroad for a few weeks (the FP is a 6-month entry permit and as such how long this takes depends on the country of application, but it is usually much faster than long-term permits).

On the qualification for 'durable' partner:
Fair point, but I think we have a good chance of qualifying for this (joint accounts, joint mortgage, shared address for 4+ years). Only thing we don't have going for us are children and a joint business!

You don't have to have children or have business ventures together to qualify. Joint tenancy/mortgage and bank accounts are enough evidence of your joint financial commitments.

On the family route:
I don't think we were actually looking at the EUSS for her but at an "application to remain in the UK on the basis of family life or private life" - https://www.gov.uk/uk-family-visa/partner-spouse; https://visas-immigration.service.gov.u ... ily-routes
This route does not seem to require an EEA residence card, or did I miss something?

That is not the right route. That is the route for all other nationalities, not EU nationals. You can apply through that route, but it is much more expensive. What's sad is that the Home Office will not let you know you have made a mistake and would let you apply regardless of the fact that the EU Settlement Scheme is a free alternative for you.

That being said the website is inconsistent with the application form on the sponsor's Pre-settled status. It states:

You can apply to remain in the UK as the family member, partner or child of a:

• British citizen
  person settled (with indefinite leave to enter or remain) in the UK
  person with pre-settled status under the EUSS in the UK
  person who has refugee leave or humanitarian protection in the UK
  person who has leave as a Turkish ECAA worker or business person in the UK

Yet, when completing the application, the forms requires that the sponsor selects one of the following:

• I am a British citizen
  I am settled in the UK (I have indefinite leave)
  I have leave to remain in the UK as a refugee / or as a person requiring humanitarian protection

Inconsistent indeed. I think, at the end of the day what matters is that both applicants apply. And that the dependant adds the application number of the sponsor, so both applications are linked.

On the EUSS:
I suppose we could take a chance and apply for this one instead as it gets her a Settled status immediately while she would have to wait a few years via the family route above

I doubt she will get Settled status immediately, why do you think that is the case?

Only time spent as family member of a EU national counts towards the 5 years. Time spent in any other category, including Tier categories DOES NOT count. There are numerous threads in this forum explaining that, as this is a common misunderstanding, of people thinking their work visa years count towards the 5 years for Settled Status. It does not.

So she needs to complete 5 years as the family member of a EU national. As unmarried partner, that clocks does NOT start when you started your cohabitation, but when she is issued her first document as your family member, in her case, her first status under the scheme. If she had had a EEA Residence Card her clock would have started when she was first issued that card, but that's not the case. So no, no advantage whatsoever time-wise here. She has 5 years ahead of her in any case.

Can I just check that if her application is declined it wouldn't impact her current Tier 2 visa situation? I don't think it does but just double-checking!

No, it will only be affected/cancelled if the application is successful, since she can't have two visas at the same time. If it is unsuccessful, no impact.

kamoe wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 16, 2021 1:07 pm

She has 5 years ahead of her in any case.

I want to paraphrase a bit my last sentence here, since that is not true. The EU Settlement is convenient as it is free, but it's not her only option.

Looking at her timeline, she is 3 years short of reaching the required 5 years for ILR on her own right (ILR 5-year route); and 1 year short of the required 10 years via all her combined history (ILR 10-year route). She is not required to be your family member for either of these.

If she switches to the EUSS, she effectively gives up the ILR 5-year route (since this requires 5 years on Tier 2) but not the 10-year route (since this allows any combination of visas or permits).

So if she is successful in her EUSS, she would still have two options down the line:

In 2022, ILR via the 10-year route, on her own right (£2,389).
In 2026, Settled Status, as your family member (free).

So my sentence above should really say: She has 5 years ahead of her if she wants to avoid the hefty fee of ILR and get Settled Status for free!

Hi Kamoe,
Bit of a delayed response as we took a few steps since.

We thought that we'd give the EUSS (long-term partner route) application a try since it is free.
Side note - strangely with the EUSS online application they limit the number of docs we can upload to prove our durable relationship to a max of 10 docs - so we had to be a bit selective.
We are now waiting for her biometric appointment and later the actual result.

If we are not successful via this route then we will probably revert back to the more expensive family route for non-EU nationals or wait for her to reach the 10-years mark.

Thanks for the help so far! We'll let you know how it goes

Hi Kamoe,
Bit of a delayed response as we took a few steps since.

We thought that we'd give the EUSS (long-term partner route) application a try since it is free.
Side note - strangely with the EUSS online application they limit the number of docs we can upload to prove our durable relationship to a max of 10 docs - so we had to be a bit selective.
We are now waiting for her biometric appointment and later the actual result.

If we are not successful via this route then we will probably revert back to the more expensive family route for non-EU nationals or wait for her to reach the 10-years mark.

Thanks for the help so far! We'll let you know how it goes

Thanks for the update, and good luck!