gaps in living together for unmarried partner visa?

[tevian]

Hello,

I'm staying with my british boyfriend for 6 months on a visit visa. I am thinking about returning to the UK as a voluntary worker for 12 months. If after that I went home and then came back again on another visit visa, and our time living together totalled 2 years, would we qualify for the unmarried partners visa?

I know that to qualify for this visa, you must prove that you have lived together for 2 years. Do these 2 years have to be unbroken, or can I return home for several months at a time and just count the overall time we have lived together?

Also, does my time on a visit visa here count as time we have lived together, even though I am not legally allowed to work here? For instance, I don't have bills in my name, am not registered with anything, etc. even though my plane tickets are proof that I am here. If I don't have enough proof to link me to living with him now, what are some specific things I can do next time to ensure that we have solid proof of living together?

[sakura]

Hello,

I'm staying with my british boyfriend for 6 months on a visit visa. I am thinking about returning to the UK as a voluntary worker for 12 months. If after that I went home and then came back again on another visit visa, and our time living together totalled 2 years, would we qualify for the unmarried partners visa?

I know that to qualify for this visa, you must prove that you have lived together for 2 years. Do these 2 years have to be unbroken, or can I return home for several months at a time and just count the overall time we have lived together?

Also, does my time on a visit visa here count as time we have lived together, even though I am not legally allowed to work here? For instance, I don't have bills in my name, am not registered with anything, etc. even though my plane tickets are proof that I am here. If I don't have enough proof to link me to living with him now, what are some specific things I can do next time to ensure that we have solid proof of living together?

Well, as a visitor you would have no proof that you lived with him - no bank records, payslips, letters, nothing. So how would you prove to them you were here? Bearing in mind you plan to do that for 6 months x2 (12 months out of the total 24 months)...that's playing it tricky. What is your nationality? The 24 months have to be continuous and unbroken.

Bear in mind that, if they know you used up your whole 6 months living with your boyfriend, the Immigration Officers would suspect you are trying to use the visitor's visa as a settlement visa, thus making it hard to enter the UK again. Too risky, IMO.

[VictoriaS]

Actually, there can be short breaks (of up to six months) within the 24 months, as long as you can show that you maintained the relationship throughout this time.

But I agree that plan tickets will not be enough evidence, you will have to do something more to get evidence that you are actually living together.

Victoria