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Hello all.

I hope this community can help my partner and me with our EUSS family permit application.

Some background:

Me: Italian, have been living in the UK since 2014, have settled status.

My partner: Japanese, lived and in the UK for 2 years as part of a working holiday visa, from September 2019 to September 2019. Has lived in Japan ever since.

We met shortly after she arrived in the UK in 2017, we lived together for 1 year and 10 months until September 2019, until her visa expired and she returned to Japan. We met 3 times in the span of almost 2 years since she returned home, partly because we have been impacted by Covid-19.
As far as official evidence, we hold proof of cohabitation for the whole year and 10 months. We also have the joint account as evidence of financial commitment.
Then we have lots of "soft" evidence of our relationship: photos, correspondence, chat logs, proof of travel together.

How likely would she be in being granted a EUSS family permit for unmarried couples with this evidence?

And at which stage f the application process would she need to provide evidence of our relationship?
The government website cites proof of cohabitation only, without mentioning if and when other evidence should be sent.

Many thanks in advance!

giojo wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 20, 2021 12:34 am

How likely would she be in being granted a EUSS family permit for unmarried couples with this evidence?

Each application is different, so it's difficult to tell exactly how yours will go. Yours is something that seems to fall in the middle: not a straight refusal, not straightforward either. The difficulty is that you are not currently living together, and that you did not complete two full years of cohabitation. But since you have proof of cohabitation and joint finances, this might have a chance (not a guarantee though).

And at which stage f the application process would she need to provide evidence of our relationship?
The government website cites proof of cohabitation only, without mentioning if and when other evidence should be sent.

You submit all the proof with the application. I suppose by cohabitation proof they just mean proof, proof of everything you need to prove, so do not take that too literally!

Usually, for unmarried partners you need 6 pieces of correspondence addressed jointly to the both of you, from three different sources, and covering a 2-year period. The bank statements will play a double role here, as proof of address/cohabitation, and as proof of joint finances (best if the joint account was regularly used to pay rent, etc.).

For tips and general guidance on unmarried partner applications, read this post, and this one.